In 1898, Tracey Drake, the developer of The Drake and Blackstone Hotels, was looking for a summer family getaway property that was easily reachable from Chicago, so he decided to purchase a 12-acre parcel of land on the south shore of Lake Geneva in Wisconsin with 368 feet of lakefront. The original purchase price was $10,500. Drake employed the services of renowned architect Howard Van Doren Shaw to design a southern-country-style estate with construction begining in 1900 and the family moving into the home in 1901. Shaw was the architect for the Fountain of Time installation in Washington Park in Chicago, a sculpture with a reflecting pond designed by Lorado Taft, and he designed the Lake Geneva house with a similar reflecting pond, Geneva Lake, in the back.

Uniquely enough, Drake called the estate Aloha Lodge, a name inspired by time he had spent with his wife, Anne Daughaday Drake, in Hawai’i. The Drakes lived on the property during summers for 35 years until the Great Depression took its toll on Drake’s finances and they were forced to give up the estate. Drake passed away in 1939.

Aloha Lodge has undergone renovations over the years. James Long bought the property in the late 1970s and tracked down Drake’s sons in Ohio and Portugal to garner memories and insights as well as photos of the property. Long was especially interested in restoring the original verandas in the main house.

But nothing came close to the full restoration and additions that were started in 2007 and completed in 2011 by the home’s current owners. The estate now features over 20,000 square feet of living space. The main house has eight bedrooms with 10 full and five half baths. The estate has two separate attached garages each with two spaces-one on the east side of the home and one on the west.

The other living areas include a top-of-the-line kitchen, dining room, china room, office, bar area, library as well as a pool house that has two bedrooms and two full baths. There is also a home theatre, game room, and a third-floor children’s retreat. There are lake views from every room.

Besides the main structure and pool house on the property, there is the Captain’s House with three bedrooms and two and a half baths along with a detached four-car garage, a train house, and a greenhouse. There are also five boat slips for those who enjoy water recreation.

Safe to say Tracey Drake, the original owner, would be impressed.

“Beautiful, historic estates like Aloha Lodge that have been fully renovated to perfection do not come on the market very often,” says Brandie Malay Siavelis, the exclusive listing broker with @properties Christie’s International Real Estate. “This is truly a special opportunity for the right buyer to purchase this gorgeous property and be a part of its iconic history.”

Brandie Malay Siavelis is with @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, 773-968-4550, atproperties.com/site/BrandieMalay.