Among the mansions of Madison

As I walked up a narrow path from the shore of Lake Mendota I found this beautiful Italianate house elegantly dressed in Wisconsin sandstone. By any lights, the view alone from the rear veranda across the greensward sloping down to the lake was worth a million dollars. The house itself was a gem.

Who could be living here? An architect? An industrial designer? One of the great movers and shakers of Madisonian high society? I wandered around the front of the house to see if I could get a closer look.

A mass-produced sign out front advised me this was Knapp House, and another stock sign in the driveway advised that parking was for tenants only.

It's a flophouse for college students, another one of Madison's gorgeous mansions carved into flats and turned into Animal House.

If I had a million dollars ...