A visual delight which clearly proves that there is more to Minnesota than Lake Wobegone!  For over one hundred years the people of the “Land of a Thousand Lakes” have found comfort and relaxation, tranquility and inspiration in a variety of residences along these shores.  However, this is not simply a photographic record of summer cottages and rustic lodges, private estates and clubhouses: it offers insight into the social history of the period.

The new found accessibility afforded by improved transportation, the popularity created by the images in the widely circulated water colors, the inclusion of the state in the essential American Grand Tour of pre-Civil war years, all combined to bring visitors from around the country and by doing so affected the development of the area.  With anecdotes of personalities and historical events, and examinations of the varieties of architecture and imagination (an 1898 summer house with a 30 foot circular living hall; a fanciful pagoda built in 1950!) Larson offers a wonderful combination of local social history, archival treasures and personal enthusiasm.

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