Ten Chimneys Restoration and Stabilization

Engberg Anderson breathes life into Ten Chimneys

By Rebecca R. Konya

Ten Chimneys is a living testament to the theater and the arts.

Located in Genesee Depot, 30 miles west of Milwaukee, the 60-acre estate once served as a summer retreat for Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, the "first couple" of the American theater scene from the 1930s to the 1950s. The actors, who enjoyed entertaining at Ten Chimneys, frequently hosted famous guests, including Noël Coward, Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Olivier.

But time wore down the estate, and it narrowly escaped a curtain call in 1996 when a commercial developer eyed the property for a condominium development. The late Joseph Garton, a Madison restaurateur and theater historian, rescued the decaying estate and established the Ten Chimneys Foundation to restore the property to its original grandeur.

The Foundation enlisted Engberg Anderson Design Partnership to renovate the property in 1999. Firm partner Chuck Engberg said the first matter of business was to stabilize the exterior and interior of each building. Each structure was then methodically restored.

"The estate was finished between 1938 and 1940," he said. "We brought the property back to that era."

Among the main buildings on the estate are a three-story, 18-room main house, an eight-room country cottage, an 18th century Swedish log cabin, a pool and pool house, a creamery, a greenhouse, barns, stables and other outbuildings.

While Engberg Anderson focused on winterizing seasonal rooms and installing a concealed heating and cooling system, other contractors restored wallpaper and furniture, refinished wood paneling and rewired electrical fixtures.

"We like to say we did the macro work while others focused on the micro work," said Engberg.

Passionate about the theater, Lunt and FontanIne carefully dressed each room of their home as if it were a stage. Much of the contents of the estate are still intact and unchanged, from historic furnishings to hand-painted murals and diverse collections.

Preserving those hand-painted murals and antique wallpaper posed the biggest challenge during the renovation process. Whenever structural improvements were done that might have created vibrations, spotters were brought in to halt the work if it began causing damage.

"There was a lot of forethought and craftsmanship, not only in restoring the historic fabric of the building but also in working around it and not affecting it," said Engberg.
Engberg Anderson also designed and built a new program center, located across from the historic estate.

	Project name: Ten Chimneys Restoration and Stabilization Location: Genesee Depot Submitting Company: Engberg Anderson Design Partnership, Milwaukee Construction Manager: The Bentley Company, Milwaukee Architect: Engberg Anderson Design Partnership Engineer: Harwood Engineering Consultants Ltd., Milwaukee Owner: Ten Chimneys Foundation Project Cost: $4.3 million Start Date: Fall 1999 Completion Date: May 2003

"We built it across the street so you don't see it in the same context of the other historic buildings," said Engberg. The program center, which serves as the starting point for tours of Ten Chimneys, also has the capacity to host conferences and private receptions.

Today, Ten Chimneys is listed as an official project of Save America's Treasures — a public-private partnership between the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historical Preservation. The estate also appears on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ten Chimneys opened to the public last year on May 26, the Lunt and Fontanne wedding anniversary. Tours of the historic house and grounds — conducted seasonally - are expected to attract upward of 20,000 visitors annually.