Whether you know it as the Mons Anderson home or the

Chateau, you are sure to recognize the gabled and mansard rooflines of the stone mansion and tower at 410 Cass St., La Crosse. As one of the city’s most identifiable landmarks, the home’s past is known, but its future was uncertain—that is, until Eva and Tim Ewers purchased the historic home and breathed new life into it as an authentic French restaurant.

Une histoire dans la pierre

A history in stone

Although the mansion is Mons Anderson’s namesake, he was not its first owner. The original structure (the east wing of the mansion) was a small cottage built by a stonemason from New York. In 1861, Mons Anderson purchased the cottage and soon began construction of the west and south additions, creating the opulent home that stands today.

Anderson was a Norwegian immigrant who settled in La Crosse at the age of 21. An enterprising young man, he first worked as a clerk in a local mercantile and soon purchased the business from his employer. Eventually, La Crosse’s famed “Merchant Prince” even issued his own currency. The mansion’s grandeur and location on La Crosse’s most prominent residential street was a fitting testament to Anderson’s successful entrepreneurship.

Since Anderson’s death in 1905, the home has passed hands seven times. Besides being a private residence, the home has served as a clubhouse for the YWCA, a boarding house, a bed and breakfast and, now, a French restaurant.

Une affaire de famille

A family affair

When Eva Ewers (a French native) and her husband, Tim (originally of Sparta), moved to the area from France, they set out to realize their dream of opening an authentic French restaurant. “Since the beginning,” Eva insists, “we knew were going to be a great team.” With Tim’s culinary experience and Eva’s extensive knowledge of wine and the restaurant business, it was an ideal pairing.  The Ewers weren’t looking for just any restaurant location, however.

They knew they wanted a structure made of brick or solid stone and a location with a European feel; something with history was a bonus.

When Tim’s brother first suggested they consider the Chateau, it had been on the market for some time and had begun to once again fall into disrepair. But one look at the Chateau, and the Ewers knew their search had ended. “It was the first place we looked at in La Crosse,” Eva recalls, “and it was the only place we wanted to be.”

Of course it wasn’t just a business location the Ewers sought. The Chateau is also their home, their legacy and their children’s future.

Tim, Eva and their two children (plus one on the way) make their home in the carriage house just behind the mansion. While Tim labors in the newly renovated gourmet kitchen and Eva prepares the historic dining rooms for guests, the intricately parquetted floors of the Chateau are alive with the pitterpatter of little feet.

“It’s the French way of doing things,” Eva professes. And one day their children will likely work alongside them; at a young age, their son has already shown an interest in helping in the kitchen.

L’expérience

The experience

Dining at Le Chateau is no ordinary dining experience. “What prides us here,”

Eva reveals, “is to be different. When you come here, it is like you’re stepping out of La Crosse; it is like stepping back in time.”

From the moment you pass through the front gate with the Chateau’s grand façade before you, you will feel transported. Entering the Chateau is a delight of the senses: With classical music and the subtle clanging of cutlery to china in the background, ornate finishes overhead and underfoot and the lovely Eva Ewers to greet you at the front entrance, you’ll feel like a guest of Mons Anderson’s come to call. “It’s really a blessing for us to be able to do what we do here and have people walking in our door,” says Eva. “They really feel like they are coming to our house, and it’s how we like it to be.” With a keen attention to details, the Ewers and their small staff work to create a unique experience for each guest.

Rêves pour l’avenir

Dreams for the future

The arrangement of the home’s 16-plus rooms allows for a variety of dining

experiences, from intimate meals to corporate functions. Currently, the entire first floor has been furnished to seat 34 guests in three distinct dining areas that can be kept open or partitioned using original pocket doors.

Other rooms in the home that will soon be available for private events include the extravagant library on the second floor and the intimate third-floor tower room with unparalleled views. First on the Ewers’ to-do list, though, is a wine room and lounge in the home’s lowest level. “That’s my baby,” Eva, a trained sommelier, beams. The exposed brick walls and consistent temperature make it the ideal location for wine tastings, cocktails before dinner or appetizers after work.

One thing is for certain, in the loving and capable hands of the Ewers, the Chateau (now over a century-and-a-half old) has resumed its standing as one La Crosse’s most cherished historic properties.

Melissa Hanson is proud that her own history intertwines with that of the historic mansion. She and her husband, Shawn, said their vows in the Chateau’s library 11 years ago this December.