From History of Walworth County Wisconsin by Albert Clayton Beckwith, Vol. II, 
Publ. 1912 - Page 833-834
 
OTTO YOUNG Terrace.  The tourists and all other visitors to the Lake Geneva 
region carry away with them an indelible impression of the Otto YOUNG Terrace, 
at the east side of Geneva bay, probably the most magnificent and imposing 
piece of architecture in Walworth county.  
 
Approaching it along the lake shore by way of walks lined with broad lawns and 
flowers on the one hand and the clear sparkling water on the other, one comes 
to a terrace about two hundred feet long, built up with a split boulder wall 
eight feet high, the terrace enclosed at the top with a fence of stone, the 
posts being turned and carved and overlaid with a dressed stone railing.  From 
the grassy terrace broad stone steps lead up to the beautiful archways 
entering on the porch.  The porch, eighteen feet wide and the full length of 
the house is, like the structure itself, built of Bedford oolitic limestone, 
beautifully finished with hand carving in the stone, carving that shows 
superior workmanship.
 
The house itself is full three stories high, about sixty-five feet wide and 
one hundred and seventy-five feet long, of dressed Bedford stone, beautifully 
finished with exquisite hand carvings.  Inside, the structure is finished in 
fine stone, Tennessee marble, Mexican onyx and African marble, of which a 
mantel alone is said to have cost six thousand dollars.  The sixteen bath 
rooms is an indication of the complete comforts of the place, and the bowling 
alley and the billiard hall provide means for healthful enjoyment.  For 
pleasure upon Lake Geneva there is the beautiful steam yacht "Olivette," one 
of the most sumptuous on the lake, of steel construction and richly finished.
 
Surrounding the house is a natural forest park, to which has been added many 
other trees and shrubs, the attractive grounds being in keeping with the 
house.  The park is bordered on the east by Lakeside Drive.  Along the 
driveway the park is enclosed by a wall of the same kind of stone of which the 
house is built, dressed stone, six feet high and about fifty rods long.  
Across the road lies the finely improved farm, belonging to the estate, the 
roadside fence being of split boulder, the same length and height as the wall 
enclosing the park, and costing about twenty thousand dollars for the fence 
alone.
 
Besides the main residence there are eight other buildings on the estate, one 
of which, known as "The Cottage," is deserving of special mention.  It is 
three stories high, has sixteen large rooms and spacious verandas.  It 
originally stood on the present site of the villa, but was moved some time ago 
to its present position on the east side of Lake Shore Drive.  To accomplish 
this a number of large trees had to be taken up, but were afterwards 
replanted.  Not far from the cottage are the large stone stables, handsomely 
finished, and containing a number of fine horses. There are flowers and 
vegetable gardens from which supplies are furnished to the residence in 
Chicago.  About three hundred acres are included in the estate near the city 
of Lake Geneva and there are also other lands along the south side of the 
lake.  The villa is conservatively estimated to have cost about two hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars for the building alone, the furnishings, 
improvements and surroundings representing an outlay of about as much more.

 
Otto YOUNG, the founder of the estate, was born in Germany, and he came to 
America as a poor boy.  He worked for a time in a store in New York City, 
later traveling as a salesman for a jewelry firm.  He was finally able to go 
into business for himself, and he located on State street, Chicago, where he 
built up the well known Otto YOUNG Jewelry Company.  He later went into 
partnership in "The Fair," one of Chicago's great department stores, and made 
some quite profitable deals in real estate.  He started building his villa at 
Lake Geneva in the fall of 1898 and was two and one-half years completing it.  
His death occurred in 1906, at which time he was said to be worth about 
seventeen million dollars.
 
Submitted by Carol