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November 20, 2007
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Enchanted Estate: Broadway's Time Capsule in Rural Wisconsin

 
Continued...

After Joe’s first visit to Ten Chimneys, he was blown away.

“He couldn’t get Ten Chimneys out of his mind…it was so evocative,” said Sean Malone, president of the Ten Chimneys Foundation. “He wanted to see it again.”

After numerous failed attempts to contact Bugbee to schedule another visit to Ten Chimneys, Garton discovered Bugbee had died and his heirs had agreed to sell the estate to developers, who planned to level Ten Chimneys and replace it with condominiums.

The destruction of Ten Chimneys was more than Garton, a man who had never met the Lunts or watched the couple in a live performance, could bear. Acting quickly, Garton used his personal assets as collateral to take out a million-dollar loan, and fought to ensure the memory of Fontanne and Lunt would remain forever embedded in the history and culture of Wisconsin and the nation. Only through what Malone describes as a “series of fortunate twists of fate”—the developers narrowly missed closing on the property and Garton quickly stepped in—did Ten Chimneys survive.

“I think it’s a great story, and I think the Lunts would truly appreciate all of the drama involved in saving this place,” said Cait Dallas, Ten Chimneys curator of collections.

mansion picture
Michael David Rose
 
Ten Chimneys was sealed for more than a decade before Wisconsin native Joe Garton fell in love with the estate.

“Joe saw a real gift in all of this,” Malone said. “He saw [its] potential and had the faith in his ability to convey the story of Ten Chimneys to others.”

Through years of hard work, Garton, his staff, a team of restoration experts from around the world and hundreds of volunteers pieced back together and breathed new life into the Ten Chimneys estate, awakening the stories of Lunt and Fontanne.

Bonnie Roth, from Wales, Wisconsin, was one of the many volunteers who helped with the early restoration process of Ten Chimneys.

As one of her early assignments, Roth patiently spent 20 hours cleaning hundreds of blown glass flowers framing Fontanne’s makeup window. Running a q-tip dipped in ammonia solution over each colorful glass lily and tulip, Roth revived the window from which Fontanne would anxiously prepare and wait for guests of Ten Chimneys to arrive. Now, years later, Roth continues to perform periodic touch-ups of the flowers throughout the year.

“As I’m in there by myself, I feel real connected. I feel the spirit of Lynn,” Roth said. “To me, coming over to Ten Chimneys [early on] was like a therapy session. You’d come over here and you’d come into a different world.”

It is a world Garton opened to the public in May 2003 less than two months before cancer would claim his life.

“Joe had the extraordinary passion for making things happen. He was very Quixote-like,” Malone said. “If you look at Ten Chimneys from a business perspective, it shouldn’t have succeeded, but Joe recognized its importance and believed that if we told the story of Ten Chimneys to enough people, we’d make it happen. He was a Renaissance man.”

Today, two-hour tours guide patrons through the 18-room main house, studio, 5-room cottage and along the edges of the Lynn’s flower garden and Alfred’s creamery, several barns, and the in-ground pool and pool house, offering patrons a short glimpse into what it felt like to be a guest at Ten Chimneys. By using the belongings stored for years in Ten Chimneys and the historical records of photographs and old correspondence between the Lunts and others, the estate largely stands just as it was when the Lunts were alive. Ten Chimneys is one of only ten national historical landmarks dedicated to the arts.

“Ten Chimneys has such an incredibly rich history,” said Patricia Boyette, UW-Madison professor of theater and drama. “It is especially special to be here in Wisconsin, because the Lunts really were top international stars.”

According to Dallas, what visitors see at Ten Chimneys are “things chosen by the Lunts' own hands.”

“You can see by the placement of things what they were interested in having about them,” Dallas said. “You can see their eclectic selection of furniture. Their ideas of color and design are right out there for you to see. [We] aren’t guessing what [these items] were and, better yet, [these items] aren’t influenced by our modern sensibilities of design.”

“Ten Chimneys is genuine,” Dable said. “When you walk through Ten Chimneys you get what was here when Alfred and Lynn were still alive.”

inside the house image

Michael David Rose

 
The Lunts' eclectic selection of furniture and decor can be found in each room of Ten Chimneys.

At Ten Chimneys, guests are welcomed with Claggett Wilson murals at the front door, a china tea set sits patiently on the small table in the garden room, a game of solitaire appears temporarily interrupted in the drawing room of the main house, a bathrobe lies neatly on a guest bed, a simple, worn arm chair once known only as “Alfred’s chair” rests in the corner of the library and Meissen china and Stuben crystal place-settings decorate the Lunts’ dining room table. There are no ropes to hold patrons back. And, even though guests cannot touch, the unscripted stories told by the docents allow visitors the opportunity to experience the vision of Lunt and Fontanne and to examine what Ten Chimneys once was and what it now is. These stories, like the storytellers and the guests themselves are always changing and create an experience of newly discovered whimsy and enchantment for guests upon each visit.

“Ten Chimneys is not about history, but far more values driven. The values themes serve as a guide,” Malone said. “Themes of whimsy, style, grace, friendship, pursuit of perfection and a work ethic to do the best you can surround you at Ten Chimneys. The Lunts integrated all of it, creating a design for living.”

“No matter who you are, you are looking for balance; how to design [your] life,” Malone said. If for only two hours, the rich stories of Ten Chimneys will help this balance of life appear within reach."
 
 
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