Chateau Hutter

Château Hutter was a resort in Door County from 1950 to the 1960s. When John Hutter built the resort, he hoped that it would become a grand destination, a place where everyone would love to go. But all that hope led to immeasurable costs and it closed down. It has sat vacant on land for the last 50 years.

Hutter was working as an accountant in Chicago, and loved to visit Wisconsin’s Door County. In the 1940s, he acquired more than 300 acres near Sturgeon Bay. A few years later he opened his grand resort, a complex of four buildings built out of local stone and pine wood. In a travel brochure that Hutter created, he described the resort as “a truly outstanding summer mecca of gay relaxation.”

But Château Hutter did not live up to its grand promises. According to the history laid out in the Door County Pulse, Hutter’s self-built resort didn’t draw many visitors. Those who did turn up were underwhelmed by the site. Eventually Hutter was forced to shut down and sell the property. But many of the old buildings still remain, where they might someday live up to Hutter’s promise of luxury.