# The Schwinn’s summer home



## Mark Mattei (Sep 16, 2018)

https://lakegenevaestates.com/top-10-mansions/scwinn-estate/






Gretchen and I took a walk  by this and took some pics, as noted in the realator’s attachment, the big house is not original but the boat house is.


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## spoker (Sep 16, 2018)

oh its a repop!!


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## GTs58 (Sep 16, 2018)

Geeze, if I could only get a $2 an hour raise I'd be all over that.


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## cyclingday (Sep 16, 2018)

Very nice!
Too bad they didn't preserve the original house.


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## Autocycleplane (Sep 16, 2018)

cyclingday said:


> Very nice!
> Too bad they didn't preserve the original house.




The stench of Ed Jr’s failure was too strong. The only solution for the new owners was to scrape it and start over.


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## morton (Sep 17, 2018)

cyclingday said:


> Very nice!
> Too bad they didn't preserve the original house.




I see the same philosopy on those cable supposedly real car customizing shows.  Take a decent orgrinal, cut, paste and change body lines, add ugly tires, wheels, lower it with air bags, and presto, instant clown wagon I'd be embarrassed to ride in.

Whether your a Schwinn lover or hater, it seems sad to me that the home of such an iconic person would be destroyed. 

Probably didn't have wi-fi!


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## Jeff54 (Sep 17, 2018)

Typical fate of privileged children. When they have a father or parents who struggled and fought to attain their foundation, virtual foundation to last through multiple generations. It is often times that these children lack  the strength sacrifice, intuitive, and endurance their parents had. The ruin of that home and eventual bankruptcy of Schwinn, the family foundation; destroyed for lack of sacrifice,  is testament to this fallacy.


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## Mark Mattei (Sep 17, 2018)

Blueprint for Mr. I. Schwinn, Lake Geneva Wis. Sheet No. 1.


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## cyclingday (Sep 17, 2018)

How cool is that?
At least we get to see what it looked like.
Thanks, for posting this, Mark.


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## spoker (Sep 17, 2018)

i thinkpacific owns it now,there gonnabuild a bunch more just like it and call them the schwinn houses!


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## cyclingday (Sep 17, 2018)

Rumor has it, there was a bike found at the lake house, that Frank Schwinn used when in residence.
Do we know what model it was?


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## Mark Mattei (Sep 17, 2018)

cyclingday said:


> Rumor has it, there was a bike found at the lake house, that Frank Schwinn used when in residence.
> Do we know what model it was?



I was fortunate enough to acquire Frank’s Paramount from his grandson. It was left in the summer house. Made by Wastyn, 1950’s, bike as I received it.


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## SKIDKINGSVBC (Sep 17, 2018)

Cool boat house , To bad the original house was torn down,, Pretty crappy though that the seller is using the SCHWINN name to sell the house even though the house is not ..


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## cyclingday (Sep 17, 2018)

WOW!
Frank's bike is gorgeous!

If you owned the most prestigious bicycle manufacturer in the nation, and you can build any bike you want for yourself.

I think he did good.
Maybe a set of stainless fenders, but that's just me. Lol!

Thanks, for sharing, Mark.
We really appreciate it!


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## Schwinn499 (Sep 17, 2018)

cyclingday said:


> WOW!
> Frank's bike is gorgeous!
> 
> If you owned the most prestigious bicycle manufacturer in the nation, and you can build any bike you want for yourself.
> ...



Any color too!! 

This is the coolest Schwinn color ever even more so now.


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## SJ_BIKER (Sep 17, 2018)

its only original once.....?


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## fattyre (Sep 17, 2018)

Could it get any better than riding Frank's actual bike?  I wouldn't be able to resist.


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## Eric Amlie (Sep 20, 2018)

Thanks for the pics of Frank's Paramount.
I've never seen that one before.
He had another one also.


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## Oilit (Sep 22, 2018)

SKIDKINGSVBC said:


> Cool boat house , To bad the original house was torn down,, Pretty crappy though that the seller is using the SCHWINN name to sell the house even though the house is not ..



Sort of like the modern "Schwinn" bikes!


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## Goldenrod (Oct 12, 2018)

I HAVE BEEN TO
LAKE GENEVA, WI.  AND YOU CAN, BY LAW, WALK THE ENTIRE 23 MILE LAKESIDE PATH AROUND ALL THE GREAT HOUSES.  HOW REFRESHING  IS COMMON MAN DEMOCRACY; WE LOOK AT AND THEY TAKE CARE OF THE MONEY PITS.


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## ChicagoIL (Sep 3, 2021)

I grew up exclusively riding Schwinn bicycles purchased from Marshall Fields, except for my last Schwinn, a SuperSport. I then lived near and had an interaction with Jr in an ER after he road his tandem bike, during daylight and with his wife on the back of it, into a pot hole on Halsted Street in Chicago. Jr. was a pompous fool, who thought everyone should jump and be at his beck and call in the ER. Unfortunately, he did not suffer the blunt of the accident. When Jr. bankrupted Schwinn, I was living in southern CA on the ocean laughing and was tempted to call him to gloat, but he wasn't worth my time. He ended up back in Lake Geneva peddling cheese in a corner store.  Couldn't have happened to a nice guy. LOL Karma Rules


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## Jeff54 (Sep 4, 2021)

ChicagoIL said:


> I grew up exclusively riding Schwinn bicycles purchased from Marshall Fields, except for my last Schwinn, a SuperSport. I then lived near and had an interaction with Jr in an ER after he road his tandem bike, during daylight and with his wife on the back of it, into a pot hole on Halsted Street in Chicago. Jr. was a pompous fool, who thought everyone should jump and be at his beck and call in the ER. Unfortunately, he did not suffer the blunt of the accident. When Jr. bankrupted Schwinn, I was living in southern CA on the ocean laughing and was tempted to call him to gloat, but he wasn't worth my time. He ended up back in Lake Geneva peddling cheese in a corner store.  Couldn't have happened to a nice guy. LOL Karma Rules



I was thinking about the BK the other day and ran a few numbers. Accordingly 1980 reported 900,000 units sold. And this would include exercise equipment to the tune of $700 and $450 each.

So, being liberal, Estimating income;  adjusting on the lowest end of only $150 per unit: 900,000 x 150 = $135,000,000,000. ($135 Million)

On a standard business  model, a typical profit margin that would, could and likely what the board of directors, insiders and officers expect, whether a profit was made or not; 10% to spread around.
That would be $13.5 million bucks. That's a good indication of why they went bankrupt. And, fairly simple based on what's understood, greed Vs. sacrifice ruled the game. Now, as, in the case of Jr. you could imagine; his personal annual income  was likely 1 million bucks ++ ? a year.

Today, it may seem relatively small but in 1980 it was huge.


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## Oilit (Sep 4, 2021)

The "new" house has some similarities to the blue print. Did they rebuild it from the ground up or just re-work the original?


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## ChicagoIL (Sep 4, 2021)

Jeff54 said:


> I was thinking about the BK the other day and ran a few numbers. Accordingly 1980 reported 900,000 units sold. And this would include exercise equipment to the tune of $700 and $450 each.
> 
> So, being liberal, Estimating income;  adjusting on the lowest end of only $150 per unit: 900,000 x 150 = $135,000,000,000. ($135 Million)
> 
> ...



Interesting numbers. He lived on Montana St, then moved to  Drummond St, or vice versa. Neither of the houses were anything to talk about, just average for the area North of DePaul University (now considered Lincoln Park, becuz of the higher real estate prices with that name). He did have his fancy bicycle museum on Lake Street in the loop area of Chicago, which set him back a pretty penny. The factory was just north of W Division( or maybe North Ave) on Kostner Street. It was a nice, long, maintained, brick building from days gone by. I'd be surprised if any of his relatives ever talked to him after he mismanaged Schwinn into bankruptcy. And now to find out that he lost the Lake Geneva family home to bankruptcy also. KARMA STRIKES AGAIN!


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