Our Brick Home on Lake View Road

Abstract

In 1998 Will & Ginny Craig bought an old farmhouse on Washington Island at the far tip of Door County, Wisconsin. Through library research and personal conversations, he has been able to develop the history of the farm and people who lived there. The story starts in 1869 when a local man filed a homestead on 160 acres of Island land. Real settlement of the farm began in 1878 when a Danish man, George Lycke, bought the farm and moved his family there. The Lyckes had two more children in that new farmhouse, Laura and Waldemar. Those two would each receive half the farm in 1905. Laura and her new husband got eastern half, including the farmhouse, and farmed it until 1941 according to her grandson who provided both photos and information. The Jensen family bought the farm and owned the farm until 1983; their children provided wonderful memories. Small farms were no longer viable, the farm was sold and split into multiple parts. The farmhouse deteriorated and occupancy was spotty until the Craigs bought and restored with the help of Island craftsmen.