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A country club that didn’t survive the Great Depression

Photo at left: Delavan Lake Yacht Club. More Mystery Place photos are GALLERY

The former Delavan Lake Country Club is located just north of South Shore Drive and Bailey’s Road on the south side of Delavan Lake.

The club was a stop for top musical groups in the 1920s, featuring the likes of jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke.

The original building was constructed in 1904 on he west end of what now is Delmar Beach. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, it was built for the Delavan Lake Yacht Club.

In 1911, the Delavan Lake Golf Club was organized. It featured two tennis courts and a nine-hole golf course.

The yacht club’s clubhouse was used by the golf club from 1913 to 1916.

In 1916, members voted to combine the golf club and yacht club because both organizations included many of the same members. The new group was called the Delavan Lake County Club.

The Frank Lloyd Wright building was razed to make way for a terraced park and larger clubhouse to be built next to the golf course. The clubhouse now is the private house you see at this location. It was one of the lake’s most prestigious buildings.

The first nine-hole layout of the private golf course was completed in 1913. A second nine was added in 1923 when members bought the 70-acre Buckles farm.

The Country Club and golf course didn’t survive the Great Depression, however and was discontinued and sold.

The former clubhouse at 2810 South Shore Drive now is a private home and the golf course is now the Del-Mar Subdivision.

If you drive on Bailey’s Road and look to the north, you can see the vine covered silo. It also was part of the old golf course, and was used by caddies to store their equipment.