For summertime stayers, life on Geneva Lake is a ritual
By Maureen Vander Sanden
SLN Staff
For nearly four decades, schoolteacher Kathy Elwood has been making road trips from suburban Chicago to spend her summer months unwinding in a quaint 1908 cottage that sits in the rolling hillside of Buena Vista Park in Fontana.
The deep-rooted getaway’s cozy-yet-spacious screen porch is where Kathy spends most of her time – swaying comfortably from a cushioned three-person swing buried in a book or chatting with a friendly neighbor.
The porch still smells like the fresh white pine that makes up the cottage’s turn-of-the century prefabricated walls and floors. Built on wooden beams, with rocks serving as a foundation and no furnace, the two-bedroom cottage offers its fortunate guests a feel for the more simple life.
Vintage furnishings, Victorian-esque linens and antique embellishments add to its charm. Outside, hostas skirt tall, shady trees, with a few birdhouses dangling from branches right outside the screen porch.
Callers are greeted at the porch by a classic “Welcome to Geneva Lake,” sign depicting a young couple cruising the waters on an antique wood boat.
“This is the best spot in Buena Vista,” Kathy’s neighbor Doris Mosser said during a recent afternoon visit.
While Kathy has enjoyed the cottage since 1975 as a renter, it wasn’t until 2001 that she and husband Tom became the proud owners of the cozy, weekend retreat.
Life at Buena Vista is second to none, Kathy says.
Whether it’s taking a midmorning bike ride along the north shore of Geneva Lake, or rising early for a 10-mile trek from the breezy west end to Lake Geneva’s Riviera Docks to catch a boat ride back – it’s just another day at the cottage for Kathy.
“The fabulous lake,” is the biggest lure back year after year, she said. The couple and their three kids enjoy sunsets and swims from their sailboat docked not far from the signature Buena Vista pier.
The sparkling water is the main attraction, but it is the relationships the pair have made in their friends at Buena Vista that make their lifestyle on the lake most complete.
“We really enjoy the community. It’s different than being home,” she said. “Oftentimes we have impromptu gatherings. You’re sitting here visiting on the porch and all of a sudden you’re having dinner with three of your neighbors.”
“It’s a nice getaway from the normal routine,” she added.
‘All about family’
Like those who have been coming to the area seeking refuge since 1875, for residents of Buena Vista, lakeside summer living is all about family.
Each summer, new memories are made,” Mosser, said.
Aside from the few year-round residents, behind the association’s gates, Mosser says, “it is very much Chicago.”
“Here is someplace we really get to spend time with our kids,” she said. “In the city, you go out with your friends, but never get to do things so directly with your kids.”
“Here, it’s all about family,” she added.
During the peak season, families get together in the park for potluck dinners. This tradition stems back to the early part of the century when cottages were not equipped with kitchens so residents would prepare meals and eat together in a dining hall, which has since been razed.
Families also gather annually for Buena Vista Day, the last Saturday in July.
The day is filled with kids’ activities, water races, food and entertainment. Year after year, families face off in old-fashioned games like tug-o-war, three-legged and sack races, and the favorite, greased watermelon race.
The celebration also includes the crowning of a Buena Vista Day king and queen – a little boy and girl who judges picked for entering the best project among their peers. Boys are challenged with designing boats they take floating down the park’s clear, bubbling stream, and girls create the most stylish hats to match the said theme.
Many think back to past years when they were crowned to reign over Buena Vista, as they watch their kids take the honor.
Because of the strong family connections, Mosser said there has been little changeover in the association’s 66 properties since her parents purchased a lot 60 years ago.
Homes stay in families, and in rare cases, sell by word of mouth, like in the Elwood’s case – they bought their cottage from friends. The Elwoods are only the third family to own the cottage in its 104 years. Homes hardly ever hit the market.
“Many families at Buena Vista actually own two or three homes as their kids grow,” according to Mosser.
At 71, she has enjoyed watching her kids and their families begin to branch off and purchase lots of their own, she said.
It is not uncommon for residents to celebrate weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones at the retreat.
Just last month, Doris and her husband Don, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
“We met here on the lake,” she said. “There is a lot of romance and bonding here.”
To Kathy, the family values and activities “hold it all together.”
“I think that for many of us, we would like to keep some of the simpler family traditions we had over the years so we can watch our kids enjoy them too,” she said. “We’ve been bringing our kids here since they were born, and now we’re expecting our first grandchild in September.
“Everyone enjoys the tradition and family, and community feeling we have here,” she added.
The centennial celebration
On July 21 and 28, Buena Vista celebrated its 100-year anniversary with the traditional Buena Vista Day activities meshed with some history.
Five homes, including the Elwoods’, were opened for tours, giving many visitors a glimpse at the beginning of Geneva Lake as a tourism hub.
Like other private communities in Fontana, Buena Vista Park was purchased as a large piece of lake property, then subdivided and sold off parcel by parcel until an entire vacation neighborhood was formed.
According to Kathy, in1901, Albert Cotsworth, the man who built her present-day cottage, sold off lots within Buena Vista Park.
The park was started that year by Warren F. Furbeck, the private secretary to Charles T. Yerkes, a streetcar magnate, according to Arthur B. Jensen’s “Shawneeawkee,” a history on Fontana.
Furbeck bought the land from Doric C. Porter, who opened the area as a public summer tent colony named Porter’s Park in 1875.
In was in 1912 when Buena Vista became incorporated.
More than 300 people came out to celebrate the centennial that has been in the works for more than two years.
A number of residents, including Kathy and Tom, dressed in period clothing during the celebration to realyl experience life as it once was.
After dinner, the adults hopped aboard the “Grande Belle” for a sunset cocktail cruise, just as their counterparts from the past were known to do.
Buena Vista – “It’s great living in the summer,” Kathy said.
