By J.D. Duggan and David Schuyler, Milwaukee Business Journal
A historic home in the Wisconsin Dells area is being reopened as a destination restaurant and speakeasy next year after being relocated from its original site on the shores of Mirror Lake.
A new-to-the-Dells management company, St. Paul, Minnesota-based Morrissey Hospitality, is partnering with the building’s owner Uphoff Resorts to manage The Original 1855 Dawn Manor Restaurant, now set to open next spring.
Dawn Manor will be a historic period-themed destination restaurant, bar, speakeasy and gift shop. It marks Morrissey’s first step into the Dells as the company eyes continued growth throughout the Midwest.
Morrissey Hospitality is a family-owned hospitality management business that opened Momento in St. Paul, manages St. Paul River Centre and St. Paul Hotel, and has ownership in Stockyards Tavern & Chophouse among other concepts. Dawn Manor stretches the geographic edges of Morrissey’s current portfolio, but the company has also previously worked in Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota.
“Spreading our wings in the Midwest isn’t unfamiliar to us, but this is the first venture into Wisconsin Dells in terms of operation management,” said Elizabeth Morrissey Brown, vice president of business development and marketing, and daughter of founder Bill Morrissey.
History of Dawn Manor
Dawn Manor was first constructed in 1855 by Captain Abraham Vanderpoel, a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln who signed the Wisconsin Constitution, according to a news release. The house had prominent guests like Frank Lloyd Wright, Agnes Moorehead and Andrew Carnegie. Uphoff Resorts is now undertaking a meticulous reconstruction using all of the original exterior Potsdam Sandstone and other original materials like stained glass, the handmade oak grand staircase, fireplaces and furniture.
The team is relocating the house, stone-by-stone, to the shores of Mirror Lake in Lake Delton, just a few miles from its original site.
Dawn Manor is owned by Uphoff Resorts, part of Uphoff Ventures, a Richmond, Virginia, commercial real estate development firm with a portfolio of entertainment centers, grocery stores, luxury rentals and other properties. The structure’s original site is being redeveloped into the Kalahari Treehouse Collection at Dawn Manor by Kalahari Resorts & Conventions, the Wisconsin Dells-based chain of waterpark resorts that owns the property. The $50 million hospitality project will feature 21 partially supported luxury treehouses and 31 ground-supported houses along with a 10,000-square-foot Wisconsin supper club called Daylene’s Supper Club at Dawn Manor.
The Original 1855 Dawn Manor Restaurant
The recreation of the original Dawn Manor structure will span more than 12,000 square feet of gathering spaces across a three-story restaurant with seven historically accurate themed dining rooms comprising 249 seats. An authentically uniformed staff of musical and theatrical performers will roam the manor.
A 2,000-square-foot raised patio deck will overlook Mirror Lake with views of Mirror Lake Dam, which was first built in 1860, five years after Dawn Manor was erected.
Morrissey was referred to the project by one of its restaurant supplier partners and found alignment with Uphoff Resorts. CEO Steve Uphoff has six generations of family ties to the Dells, and he grew up across the street from Dawn Manor.
“This is not only a business deal, but a passion project,” Morrissey Brown said.
As Morrissey Hospitality nears its 30-year anniversary in October, it’s seeking further expansion in the Midwest. Since founder Bill Morrissey died in 2016, his children took over and approximately doubled the size of its portfolio.
“In the next five years, our specific strategy is to really focus on hotels, resorts, event centers and sports complex. That’s where we see a lot of growth,” said Morrissey Brown. “Just looking at what the economy and hospitality segment have gone through over the last four or five years, that is where we see the opportunity to grow.”
