Peter Cober

MINOQUA BOATHOUSES

Peter Cober
MINOQUA BOATHOUSES

We have a long history with the Minoqua area. My wife's family co-owned a place on Lake Minoqua until she was in her early teens. Then when we got married, we honeymooned at Lornor's Portage on Lake Tomahawk which is part of the Minoqua chain. 

We had some friends visiting and one day we decided we would take the guided pontoon cruise on Lake Minoqua to see what had changed over the last 40 years. 

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From 40 years ago, we remembered that there were some boat houses on the lake most of which looked similar to this. They were nondescript but functional. And they fit with the houses most of which were modest, with a small sprinkling of fancier houses.

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There are still some modest boat houses but the modest bungalows and fishing cabins have been replaced by humongous mansions. While we were on the tour there must have been at least a dozen private jets land at the local airport bringing the rich and famous to their weekend getaway "up north." The Minoqua chain is now in the same class as Lake Geneva in terms of the value of the properties. 

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Another little shack in the north woods. These houses aren't anomalies, they are now the norm on Lake Minoqua. They give a whole new meaning to the concept of a single family house.

What I found even more shocking than the houses was the boat houses. Most of them are now high end luxury structures on their own, never mind the mansions that are with them. Keep in mind that a boathouse is basically a shed for storing your boat (or in some cases 3).

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On water boat houses were banned statewide in 1966 due to environmental concerns, so the basic structures for all of these have to be over 50 years old. Any that existed at the time were grandfathered in and you can remodel them but not build new ones.

What follows is a boathouse tour of Lake Minoqua.

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This one was my favorite.