From the book History of Walworth County Wisconsin, by Albert Clayton Beckwith, 
publ. 1912 - Pages 604 - 608
 
CEYLON COURT.  One of the most attractive villas of southern Wisconsin is 
Ceylon Court, the Lake Geneva home of John J. MITCHELL, at the east end of the 
lake, which comprises about thirty acres of the most beautiful grounds in the 
lake region of Walworth county.  
 
The original structure of the residence was the Ceylon building at the 
Columbian Exposition at Chicago, 1893, which was brought here in sections and 
rebuilt.  It stands on high ground overlooking the lake, every part of which 
can be seen from the tower and, in fact, nearly all the lake shore places can 
be seen, the point of view being nearly three hundred feet above the water.  
Approaching from the lake, one lands at the pier beside which rides at anchor 
the splendid white steam yacht, "Louise," with its gold mountings and luxurious 
furnishings.  There is also a sailing yacht and a motor boat.  A short distance 
up the lake is the convenient bath-house from which the family and friends 
bathe in the lake.
 
The shore rises somewhat steeply and is built up in narrow terraces of boulders 
and large field stones into an attractive grotto overgrown with Boston ivy and 
on each terrace grow many varieties of flowers in season.  Winding up along the 
terraces, the walk leads to the tunnel through which one goes to the hydraulic 
elevator that takes one up into the residence.

 
The house is octagonal in general outline, decorated with exquisitely carved 
wood work from the island of Ceylon.  The roofs are red tile, of Ceylonese 
architecture.  Additions have been made to the original structure, making it 
roomier and enhancing the general beauty of the building.  Even the chimneys 
are of terra cotta and are fine works of art.  The furnishings match the carved 
Ceylon wood, much of the furnishings being of Japanese style.  Throughout the 
house are to be found the comforts and furnishings that one would expect a man 
of Mr. MITCHELL's means and esthetic tastes to have.  About the grounds are a 
number of other buildings, all built after the same general style of 
architecture.
 
The boat-house is commodious and well arranged, handsomely finished, adjoining 
which is the laundry, finer than the average good residence, and equipped with 
the most approved machinery and appliances for high-grade work.  Not far from 
the boat-house, about two hundred feet from the lake, is an immense never-
failing spring, lined with marble, over which is a little open house, in the 
same style as the other buildings, with seats around the sides for the 
accommodation of visitors to the grounds.  The latter being thrown open to the 
public, visitors are usually taken here the first place after their arrival at 
the lake, when they start out to view the places of interest and most 
attraction.  All about the front of the main residence, in summer, may be seen 
a great bank of tropical plants.  The grounds have been set with many hardy 
plants which remain alive all winter, and in addition to them about thirty 
thousand other plants are set out annually, in the best taste that an expert 
can devise.  The broad, well-kept lawns are studded with natural forest trees 
and ornamental evergreens.  Nearby is a rose-garden containing about five 
thousand plants of one hundred and fifty varieties, which would have delighted 
the poet Omar Kyayyaim, who loved his Persian gardens of rare blooms.
 
Over on the farm, across the Lakeside Drive there is a series of greenhouses 
covering about thirty thousand square feet, containing roses, orchids, palms 
and many other plants, a number of them tropical, from which come the supplies 
of Ceylon Court, and also for Mt. MITCHELL's home in Chicago.  Fruit trees are 
grown in large pots and brought to the residence for fruits and decoration.  No 
finer varieties of fruit tree could be found in this country, in fact, all the 
trees and shrubbery on the grounds are of the best varieties obtainable, many 
having been brought from remote localities.  Until the summer of 1911 there was 
a deer park on the grounds, containing forty-four deer.  These were presented 
to Lincoln Park, Chicago, by Mr. MITCHELL, and there they are now kept, and the 
ground has been made into a garden of wild flowers.
 
Coming to the place by land from the city of Lake Geneva the visitor goes south 
over the Lake Shore Drive, and comes to one of the several entrances to Ceylon 
Court, through massive gateways, made of granite, from the fields.  The broad 
gravel driveways wind about through the park,  and from them one may see a 
stretch of lawn about two hundred feet long and ten feet wide, on each side of 
which is a mass of scarlet flowers extending the entire distance, in beds about 
six feet wide.  Other designs in flower beds are to be seen, but so arranged as 
not to make it too conventional nor to detract from the natural beauty of the 
undulating surface of the park.
 
Across the Lake Shore drive to the east lies Ceylon Court farm, also the 
property of Mr. MITCHELL and a part of the same establishment.  Ceylon Court is 
under the supervision of Alfred John SMITH, whose record appears on another 
page of this work, and Ceylon Court farm is under the supervision of Harry E. 
COCROFT, who is well known in this county, and a sketch of whom and his family 
appears elsewhere in this work.
 
Ceylon Court farm is of commanding interest, not merely because it is improved 
and kept up in a manner that can be afforded only by the wealthy, but because 
it is the home of a number of domestic animals that are world champions of 
their species.  Furthermore, it is kept not merely as a matter of pride, but as 
a benefit to the surrounding country.
 
It was only a little more than ten years ago that Mr. MITCHELL began building 
up this farm.  In 1901 he purchased of F. H. CHANDLER the Ceylon building and 
fifteen acres of land surrounding it at the lake shore, which was already a 
place of great beauty.  He also bought of the same gentleman a ten-acre tract 
one-fourth mile east of Ceylon Court, and that was the nucleus of the present 
farm.  Most of this was underbrush and swamp.  In 1902 he put thirty to forty 
men to work clearing and cleaning up the land, and draining it.  A small 
portion of the land had already been improved and on it was the coach barn and 
carriage house, a building sixty by two hundred and twenty feet.
 
In the carriage house may be seen eighteen carriages, all the later styles of 
vehicles, from the old-fashioned stage-coach to the modern baby cart.  It is a 
common occurrence in the summer to see Mr. MITCHELL and his family out in the 
old-fashioned stage-coach, with four high-stepping horses.  In 1903 a horse 
barn was built, in which are kept twenty-six of the best coach-horses that 
could be bought in America.  The same year a cow barn was built, thirty-four by 
one hundred and thirty feet, to which has been added an extension, twenty-four 
by one hundred and sixty feet.  These buildings are models of their kind.  They 
have concrete floors, concrete mangers, hot and cold water and are lighted by 
electricity.  In the cow barn there are lights in each stall for cows and 
calves and also the barn is equipped with machines, operated by electricity, 
for milking the cows.  These machines properly used, have been found to be a 
success in every way.
 
In 1904 Mr. MITCHELL imported from the island of Jersey twenty-four head of the 
best Jersey cattle to be found on the island, and he now has seventy-six head 
of Jerseys, ranging from five hundred dollars to three thousands dollars in 
value each, and several for which he has refused twenty-five hundred dollars 
each.
 
In 1904 a chicken house was also built, large enough to accommodate four 
thousand chickens, and at this writing the place is stocked with over three 
thousand fowls.  This, too, is a thoroughly up-to-date plant, heated by hot 
water, and chickens are hatched every month in the year, incubators and 
brooders being used.  In 1904 Mr. MITCHELL purchased two hundred and sixty 
acres of land adjoining, and the following year another horse barn was built, 
which is sixty-four by eighty feet, of stone construction and is well kept.  
The same year he built a creamery, where there is a spring that furnishes an 
inch stream day and night for cooling the milk.  This is one of the most up-to-
date creameries in this part of the state.  In the same year was also built a 
hog house which accommodates sixty hogs.  It has floors and troughs of cement.  
An up-to-date dog house was built in 1906, of cement floor, and heated with hot 
water.  The house contains wire cages, and here may be seen seven varieties of 
dogs.  The same year a new water system was also installed, and a drilled well, 
two hundred and ninety-seen feet deep, from which water is pumped with a 
gasoline engine.  The various buildings are supplied with electric lights, the 
electricity being furnished from the city plant.  In 1908 Mr. MITCHELL 
purchased the Cliff ARNOLD farm of ninety acres adjoining on the east, which 
has been converted into a hog farm, fitted with the latest improvements for 
caring for hogs.  English Berkshires, Chester White, Duroc Jersey Reds are to 
be found here, all registered stock and the best that money can buy.  In 1910 a 
three-storied horse barn was built, forty-four by one hundred and forty feet, 
of cement block and concrete, with pebble dash outside, joists of steel and 
cement floors, all casings and posts being of steel.  In this barn we find the 
champion Belgian stallions and mares of America, which were the best in Belgium 
before their importation.  In three months after landing here they won the 
championship at the International Exhibition at Chicago.  Here are also to be 
found the champion Percheron horses.  The mares won both the first and second 
prizes at all the leading horse shows in 1910.  Mr. MITCHELL also owns the 
three first prize Percheron stallions, imported in 1910.  In English Shire 
horses he has at the head of the mares "Selffridge Pride," the prize winning 
mare of England and also of America, having won first prize at the London show 
in May, 1910, and in August, of that year, won first and championship at Des 
Moines, Iowa.  From there she won first and championship at five different 
state fairs and at the International Stock Show in Chicago in 1910 she was 
first champion and grand champion.
 
We may also see Mr. MITCHELL's stables the world's champion Shire 
stallion, "Dan Patch," the only draft horse in the world that won first prize 
at the International Exhibition three years in succession.  He cost ten 
thousand dollars and he weighs two thousand four hundred and ten pounds and he 
is as active as a coach horse.  His services are given to the surrounding 
country at a mere nominal sum, in order to benefit the breed of horses in this 
region.
 
In 1910 there was added to the coach horse department the champion hackney 
stallion, "Prick Willow Carnout," and three imported hackney mares, the best 
that could be bought in England, regardless of price.  In selecting the live 
stock for Ceylon Court farm, price has not been considered, the main object 
being to secure the best of everything.  Probably there is more high priced 
stock on Ceylon Court farm than any other in America.
 
In 1911 further improvements were made, such as the building of a modern garage 
of concrete, with an addition containing electric dynamos for running lathes, 
drills and other necessary machinery.  Mr. MITCHELL purchased in that year, the 
BATISFORD farm adjoining his land on the southeast and on this extensive 
improvements are now going on, it being Mr. MITCHELL's intention to make this 
an experiment farm for the benefit of the people who may be near enough to 
profit by it.

[Submitters Notes: Lake Geneva remains to this day - the place where many 
wealthy Chicagoans go for the summer to the massive and great homes they own.]

Submitted By:  Carol
(carolann612@charter.net)