THE STORY OF SUNNYFIELD FARM

ROOMS AND RATES | RESERVATION REQUEST | WISCONSIN ATTRACTIONS | LOCATION 
PRINTABLE BROCHURE | SPECIALS/PACKAGES | THE STORY OF SUNNYFIELD FARM | HOME

In the early 1900s, Otto Nettlebeck worked in Chicago building houses. While Otto visited his mother in Camp Douglas, Wisconsin during a union strike in Chicago, he started building our home. Otto set up a saw mill on the farm with a steam engine fueled with wood. Eighty acres of wood provided plenty of fuel for the saw mill and to build the house. The oak and maple trees were cut by hand, drawn by horse to the saw mill, cut and planed. Coming up through the center of the house were two stately evergreen trees, which Otto did not cut down until the final maple boards were tongued, grooved and fitted together. Otto had built himself an elegant, spacious three-story farm house.

In 1980 John and Susanne Soltvedt bought the farm from the third owners, Ed and Mae Batko, from which the road is named. In 1989, the third floor was turned into a loft apartment. The original hard wood floors on the second floor have been restored and the bedrooms remodeled.

All through the years the hardwood floors, ten-foot ceilings, hand-carved oak woodwork, spacious rooms and windows have been kept in their original state. Continuing Otto's perseverance, neatness and expertise in carpentry, a copper prestplate metal ceiling was installed in the kitchen in 2002. It is our dream that future generations will enjoy the home we call Sunnyfield Farm.
 

How to find Sunnyfield Farm a bed and breakfast near Madison, WI...
Located half way between Chicago and Minneapolis on I-90/94 at the New Lisbon exit. Follow Highway 80 south, which turns into County Road A in New Lisbon, and then continue four miles to Batko Road and turn right and Sunnyfield Farm Bed & Breakfast will be on the right-hand side.

Nestled against steep slopes of cambrian sandstone, the village of Camp Douglas is a quiet, safe and friendly community. The area's unusual geography dates back to ancient times when the wave action of glacial Lake Wisconsin carved the picturesque bluffs. Today, they serve as distinctive monuments marking this thriving and vibrant community. As trailhead for the Omaha Trail, Camp Douglas is the gateway to exciting bicycling adventures. The Camp Douglas community is also home to the Volk Field and Camp Williams military facilities. The Wisconsin National Guard Library and Museum is located on the base. In this restored 1896 log lodge, you find exhibits including uniforms, weapons and equipment, terrain maps and dioramas of battles. Military vehicles and aircraft are on display on the grounds.