Updated: August 6
St. Paul-based Morrissey Hospitality and Uphoff Resorts will open Dawn Manor in 2025.
By Dustin Nelson Star Tribune
St. Paul-based Morrissey Hospitality, which works with The St. Paul Hotel and Roy Wilkins Auditorium, is headed to the waterpark capital of the world.
Along with partner Uphoff Resorts, Morrissey has announced plans for a historic period-themed restaurant, bar, and gift shop called The Original 1855 Dawn Manor Restaurant in Wisconsin Dells.
The restaurant will be an immersive, historical dining experience with staff clad in era-appropriate clothing and diners entertained by roaming musical and theatrical performers.
Rendering of The Original 1855 Dawn Manor Restaurant
Uphoff Resorts
Dawn Manor itself dates back to 1855, according to the announcement. It was first built by Captain Abraham Vanderpoel, a personal friend of Lincoln and signer of Wisconsin’s constitution.
The manor is being moved to a new location and restored with some of the original materials, which include Potsdam sandstone, white mahogany, and white pine. The building will be relocated to a property on Mirror Lake in Lake Delton, just miles from Noah’s Ark and other big Dells attractions.
Dawn Manor, which will become a three-story building, will have a speakeasy-style bar on the lower level, an updated version of the original 1930s Uphoff rotunda bar, serving “prohibition-era cocktails” alongside live entertainment and a wine cave for private events.
The restaurant portion will contain seven historically accurate themed dining rooms, with each focusing on different aspects of 19th-century life, accentuated by antique furniture and art from George Raab, whose work hung in the original manor.
Details on the food are still coming together, but the announcement calls it a “curated yet approachable” menu, crafted by chefs Justin Draper and Jayson Pettit “with historical inspiration from the 1880s and creative flair.”
The new historic themed dining attraction plans to open in spring 2025.