FOX LAKE — Downtown Fox Lake saw the grand opening of their newest business last Saturday, a wine bar and quiet hangout spot known as Fox Lake Lounge.
The Fox Lake Lounge is located in the newly renovated first floor of Fox Lake’s “skyscraper” at 213 W State St, previously the vintage shop Yellow Rose.
The business is run by Angela Thomas, who grew up in Fox Lake. She left in 2006 to join the Marine Corps and returned permanently in 2022 to live near her parents while working from home.
Angela and her husband David purchased the building in March and quickly set about renovating the building to be ready for business. They first focused on fixing up the apartment to be ready for tenancy, then began the process of fixing up the shopfront and building facade.
The building facade was a particularly important aspect to the character of the building, which they hoped to restore to an original style. The brick itself was restored on October 4, and the building windows redone the week before the opening. The interior was designed in a classy art deco style, with vintage furniture, mantles, reading room, and rustic bar.
“I wanted to provide a place for people who do work from home,” Angela said. “Other communities have one but Fox Lake really doesn’t, so that was really heavy on my heart to just have a place that if somebody wanted to just get out of the house a day or a few days a week to have a drink and work from their computer here, instead of being locked up at home.”
As for what motivated the decision to buy the building and start the business, it was almost entirely on a whim.
“We were just sort of thinking about buying a building and opening up a business here in town earlier this year, and we did look at the old bowling alley,” Angela said. “Then Quade’s across the street called me up the day that this place went on the market, we came and looked at it and we put in an offer the next day because we just loved it and it just has so much potential.”
“We really did a lot of research on the history from the Fox Lake Library,” she said. “I think that’s been one of the most fun parts—just learning about the history, we even had a mural made that incorporates all of the old businesses. We’ve also really enjoyed just kind of traveling around Wisconsin and going in the old downtowns and checking out the old buildings. And the new shops that are there now and getting ideas and looking at the ceilings and looking at the floors, it’s just been really fun.”
The grand opening was held all day on Saturday, October 19, during the Fox Lake “Spooktacular” event similar to Waupun’s downtown trick-or-treating.
People got their first look at the building back in July during the “Red, White, and Brews” downtown Fox Lake beer and wine walk.
Temporary hours for the first two weeks will be Monday-Saturday 10AM-6PM, and Sunday 11AM-4PM, which will be adjusted according to traffic in November. Plans are already set to have regular Thursday night events.
