BEFORES . .Second up in the (scary before) series: .The little lakeside cabin.THE RESURRECTION:We wished that they had left it alone. When it was new in the 20’s, it had rustic cedar walls and a screened in porch. Somebody in the late 60’s thought it would be a good idea to drop it’s ceiling, rip out the cedar walls, throw up cheap paneling and conceal those perfect pine floors in the cheesiest of linoleum. And so the gutting began. .FOUND:- An original window under the siding- A small rodent skeleton.- Newspapers in the walls.Then and now, 1949ish?: Pictured in the last photo, this is the former owner’s son & his girlfriend. He would marry this gal soon after this photo was taken. They would have 2 daughters who were raised at camp. Flash forward 66 years to the day those 2 little girls (now grandmas) would show up at our doorstep and give us this picture of their adorable, young parents back in the day.WHAT ELSE WE UNCOVERED: Years after we got this place, a local historian sent us an article that appeared in the Elkhorn Independent Newspaper, Monday, August 31, 1942: Chicago man ‘John Gabriele, 35 had been cast aside by his sweetheart, Miss Virginia Bodziach. Rejected and pushed to the breaking point, then to murder and kidnapping, he stole a car on a high-speed getaway up Route 12, into Walworth County- checking into this cottage at the Wandawega Hotel- It would be his last hiding place..MORE befores at 30 days of before and afters at: #WandawegaRehabs
March 25, 2019 • Published by Tereasa Surratt