Dawn Manor

Dawn Manor is one of the strangest and most history-soaked restaurants in the Wisconsin Dells area, because the building itself is the attraction. Originally constructed in 1855 by Captain Abraham Vanderpoel, a signer of the Wisconsin Constitution and personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, the Potsdam sandstone mansion was the last surviving structure from the lost village of Newport.

Over the years, Dawn Manor hosted notable visitors including Frank Lloyd Wright, actress Agnes Moorehead, and Andrew Carnegie. After decades on its original site, the historic house was carefully deconstructed in 2022, preserved, and reconstructed on the shores of Mirror Lake, reopening as a restaurant, bar, and speakeasy in 2025. Original materials, including the sandstone exterior, stained glass, fireplaces, furniture, and handmade oak staircase, were incorporated into the reconstruction.

Today, Dawn Manor combines modern American dining with five themed rooms built around the mansion’s bizarre and fascinating history. The 1855 Room focuses on the original house, the Lincoln Room explores Vanderpoel’s connection to the president, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Room features artifacts and stories connected to Wright and the Raab family. There’s also a Raab Room dedicated to the eccentric former owners, and a Haunted Room inspired by reports of ghosts and unexplained happenings at the old mansion. Downstairs, Uphoff’s Rotunda operates as a Prohibition-era-style speakeasy with cocktails, wine and small plates, while the outdoor patio overlooks Mirror Lake. For anyone looking for unusual restaurants in Wisconsin Dells, historic places to eat, or a dinner with considerably more story behind it than the average tourist-town restaurant, Dawn Manor is hard to beat.