Lac La Belle, WI

The lake came long before the village. The Lac La Belle Management District traces the first trading post on its shore to 1827. By the 1870s the lake, like neighboring Fowler Lake and Oconomowoc Lake, was lined with large summer houses.

The village itself is a 20th-century creation. According to the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee, Lac La Belle began as a community of summer homes, owners gradually converted them to year-round houses, and residents voted to incorporate in 1931 with a population of 66. It became, by that encyclopedia's count, the least populated village in Waukesha County, with 289 residents in 2010. In 2002 it annexed a small piece of land in the Town of Ixonia, which is why the village has always had a Jefferson County corner.

The lake's other old institution is its golf course. The Club at Lac La Belle traces its organization to 1895 and its incorporation to October 7, 1896, on 80 acres bought from a club member, per the club's history page. Section 12 covers it.

The newest chapter is the biggest. On January 1, 2025, the village merged with most of the Town of Oconomowoc under an intergovernmental agreement, and the combined community took the Lac La Belle name. A village of about 280 people and one square mile became a village of about 9,100 people and 28 square miles overnight. Section 2 explains what that changed.

If you read anything about Lac La Belle written before 2025, it is out of date. Here is the sequence from the local paper, the Oconomowoc Enterprise.

In October 2024 the Town of Oconomowoc and the Village of Lac La Belle announced plans to merge after about a year of talks, the Enterprise reported (October 24, 2024). The village had already been buying police services from the town since 2020, and public works, clerk-treasurer and facility services since 2023. The town wanted the protections of an incorporated municipality, including control of its own zoning and shoreline and protection from annexation by the City of Oconomowoc. Both boards approved the agreement in November 2024, and it took effect January 1, 2025, per the Enterprise (November 27, 2024).

The City of Oconomowoc and the Village of Oconomowoc Lake sued on January 2, 2025. A Waukesha County judge dismissed that suit in April 2025 for lack of standing, the Enterprise reported (April 10, 2025). In June 2025 the same judge sided with Lac La Belle against 10 annexation requests, covering 15 properties, that the city had approved while the merger was pending, per the Enterprise (June 26, 2025).

A small piece was left out. Sixteen parcels along Reddelien Road and Chaffee Road, plus one on East Wisconsin Avenue, were not contiguous to the merged area and still form a Town of Oconomowoc with its own three-member board, the Enterprise reported in February 2026. The Census Bureau's current boundaries put that remnant at about half a square mile.

What it means for a buyer: an address that said "Town of Oconomowoc" on a 2024 listing is very likely in the Village of Lac La Belle today, and the village still runs some things the old way, which shows up in taxes and zoning below.

Lac La Belle is in two counties. The Census Bureau's current TIGER boundaries put the merged village at 28.29 square miles of land and 3.66 square miles of water, with about 28.0 square miles in Waukesha County and about 0.3 square miles in Jefferson County. The Jefferson County piece is the 2002 Ixonia annexation; the DOR's 2025 Town, Village and City Taxes report counts 2 residents and $833,100 of property value there. Before the merger, the 2024 Census gazetteer put the whole village at 1.1 square miles.

On population, the same DOR report still lists the two pieces separately for 2025: 279 people in the Waukesha County part of the village, 2 in the Jefferson County part, and 8,819 in the Town of Oconomowoc. The FBI lists the Lac La Belle Police Department's 2025 covered population as 9,141, which matches the combined figure.

The Census ACS for 2020-2024 still uses the old boundaries, so I report the two pieces separately in this guide. The historic village had about 111 homes, all single-family detached. The former Town of Oconomowoc had about 4,049, of which 85% were detached single-family and about 10% (395) were seasonal or recreational homes. Owners occupied about 85% of the lived-in homes in the town and about 91% in the historic village.

Waterfront is the point. The village's lake page lists three lake districts it works with: the Okauchee Lake Management District, the Lac La Belle Management District and the Ashippun Lake District. Village hall is the former town hall at W359 N6812 Brown Street, at Highways P and K.

Since the merger, Lac La Belle is a set of distinct places that share a village board. The trustees themselves name them: Okauchee, Mapleton, Monterey and the historic village, per the Freeman's April 2026 election coverage. Price moves first on water, then on which of those places you are in.

I checked landmark locations with the Census geocoder on October 5, 2026. Okauchee, Mapleton, Monterey, the village hall and The Club at Lac La Belle all fall inside the village. The east side of Okauchee Lake does not; it is in the Town of Merton. Islandale Drive, the road out to the island in Lac La Belle, is in the City of Oconomowoc, not the village.

The pockets below are how the village and local reporting describe the area. Boundaries are informal.

The historic village and the former town have different housing, so I'll take them in turn. All figures are from the 2020-2024 Census ACS and come with real margins of error, especially for the small historic village.

The historic village, per the ACS, counted about 111 homes, every one a detached single-family house. About 20 were built before 1940, about 21 in the 1950s, about 25 in the 1960s and 1970s, about 22 in the 1990s and about 20 since 2000. In practice that means early lake houses, mid-century homes, and a steady stream of rebuilds on old lots. The Encyclopedia of Milwaukee, citing the village's 2010 plan, says the village allows only single-family homes, sets minimum lot sizes and allows only one lake access per lot. Ask the village which of those rules still govern the historic village under the merger.

The former Town of Oconomowoc is a broader mix. Of about 4,049 homes, about 650 (16%) were built before 1940, many of them older lake cottages; about 730 in the 1970s; and about 1,110 since 2000. About 3,430 are single-family detached, with smaller numbers of attached homes and small multi-unit buildings.

The surprises I would budget for are the lake-country ones I see on older housing in Illinois lake towns like Fox Lake: a cottage built for summer and winterized in stages, a foundation that has seen high water, and additions without permits. In this village add two more: the age and capacity of a septic system, and the well. The utilities section explains why.

Lac La Belle has two very different price levels, and the old village is the expensive one. In the 2020-2024 ACS, the median value owners put on their homes in the historic village was $1,312,500, with a wide margin of error of about $417,500 because the sample is small. About 59 of roughly 88 owner-occupied homes, two-thirds, were valued at $1 million or more, and about 25 at $2 million or more. That is a lakefront village's profile.

The former Town of Oconomowoc is a broader market: an ACS median of $466,300, with about 472 owner-occupied homes (15%) valued at $1 million or more and about 71 at $2 million or more. Most of those top-end homes are lake homes, on Okauchee Lake and Lac La Belle's north shore.

For a current market read, Zillow's index for the Okauchee ZIP code, 53069, was $767,912 in August 2026, up 6.1% in a year, and its top-tier index there was $1,636,293. That ZIP also covers parts of the Town of Merton, so treat it as an area figure. Zillow does not publish a Lac La Belle index, and Redfin's public data has no Lac La Belle series.

For the estate end of the chain, the nearest public sales data I have is next door. Redfin's public data shows single monthly sales in the Village of Oconomowoc Lake of $11,000,000 in August 2025, $2,800,000 in October 2025 and $1,950,000 in January 2026. That is a different village, but it is the same lake chain.

I could not find a dated, public Lac La Belle lakefront sale to quote, and I won't estimate one. The Lake County, Illinois buyers I talk to who look at Wisconsin lakes tend to start with Geneva Lake. The Oconomowoc lakes are farther, but the historic village offers a smaller lake village at prices that, by the ACS, sit between the City of Oconomowoc and Oconomowoc Lake.

Lac La Belle is hard to measure, and I'd rather say so than invent a number. The village did not exist in its current shape until 2025, the national data providers have not caught up, and the historic village has only about 111 homes, so a year can pass with a handful of sales.

The best proxies, all fetched October 5, 2026, are ZIP codes and the city next door. For the Okauchee ZIP, 53069, Zillow put the typical value at $767,912 in August 2026, up from $723,818 a year earlier, with a top-tier index of $1,636,293. For the Oconomowoc ZIP, 53066, which covers the historic village, Mapleton, Monterey and the City of Oconomowoc, Zillow's figure was $584,785, up from $548,442, with a top tier of $977,853.

In the City of Oconomowoc next door, Redfin's median sale price for the three months ending August 2026 was $572,121, with 51.8% of homes selling above list. My Oconomowoc guide has the detail.

What that adds up to: the area has been rising about 6% a year by Zillow's measure, the city side is competitive, and the lakefront top end trades on its own.

Wisconsin property tax is applied to assessed value. The assessor sets that value, the Department of Revenue sets a full market value for the municipality, and the ratio between them is the assessment level. The unusual part in Lac La Belle is that the 2025 tax roll still treats the historic village and the former town as separate tax districts.

The Waukesha County Treasurer's 2025 rate sheet has two rows. "V. Lac La Belle," the historic village, in the Oconomowoc Area School District: school $5.73, technical college $0.24, county $1.45 and local $2.92 per $1,000 of assessed value, for $10.34 gross, less a $1.19 state credit, for $9.15 net. Its assessment ratio is 101.08%, which the sheet converts to $9.25 per $1,000 of market value. "T. Oconomowoc," the former town, in the same school district: $5.83, $0.25, $1.48 and $1.48, for $9.04 gross and $7.85 net at a 99.32% ratio, or $7.79 per $1,000 of market value. Former-town parcels in the Merton J4 / Stone Bank district (which includes the Arrowhead high school levy) show $6.42 net, or $6.37 per $1,000 of market value.

The DOR's 2025 report agrees: an effective full-value rate of $9.35 per $1,000 for the Waukesha County part of the village and $7.99 for the town. The Jefferson County corner, with its own county levy, is $10.40.

When the merger was announced, the village president said the first year would keep separate budgets and the merged community would move to one rate on a new budget, per the Enterprise (October 24, 2024). The 2025 sheet still shows two. Check which row a parcel is on.

My arithmetic, before owner-specific credits and lake district charges, which the county sheet says it excludes: a $1,500,000 house in the historic village, about $13,870 a year; a $3,000,000 house there, about $27,750. The same $1,500,000 house on the former-town row, about $11,700. Coming from Lake County, Illinois, any of these is far below what the same price would carry at home.

The lottery and gaming credit applies only to a Wisconsin resident's primary home; the county sheet puts the 2025 maximum at $156.30 in the Oconomowoc district. A second home does not qualify. The seller pays Wisconsin's transfer fee of $3 per $1,000. This is general information, not tax advice.

Three layers of rules apply at the water. The State of Wisconsin owns the lakebed below the ordinary high-water mark, and the DNR regulates piers, lifts and shoreline work there. Shoreland zoning governs building on land near the lake. And local boating rules are posted at the landings.

Zoning is where the merger left things split. The village's planning and zoning page posts two sets of rules: the Town of Oconomowoc codes, zoning and land use plan, and a separate "Historic Lac La Belle" zoning code and map. The village's building inspection page says Waukesha County's Department of Parks and Land Use is the zoning authority for the entire former Town of Oconomowoc, including Okauchee, and that a county zoning permit is required before the village will issue a building permit. The DNR notes that counties apply the statewide shoreland standards to unincorporated land within 1,000 feet of a lake, and that incorporated areas should contact the city or village. In a village that was a town 21 months ago, I would call both the village and the county before relying on either.

The same building page lists the budget numbers for a new house in the former town area: a building permit base fee of $700 plus $0.69 per square foot of all floor area, a $2,000 refundable occupancy bond, and, where there is no sewer, a county site evaluation for the septic system.

Short-term rentals are regulated too. In August 2023 the Town of Oconomowoc adopted a vacation rental ordinance with a $1,000 license fee for 2024, inspections and no on-street parking for rental guests, the Enterprise reported. Ask the village whether that ordinance and fee carried over after the merger before you plan to rent a lake house.

My checklist on any shoreline house: a current survey showing the high-water mark and the pier, every pier and shoreline permit, which zoning code the parcel is under, and the septic and well records.

This is the section I would read twice. The village's building inspection page says plainly that the village has no municipal water service for any property. Most areas are on private wells, and some subdivisions share a community well. Sewer is partial: some areas are sewered, including the Baypoint and Westshore areas, where the page lists a sewer impact fee of $11,091 as of 2018, and the rest is on septic.

Sewer capacity is the local fight. During the merger, the City of Oconomowoc withdrew 100 sewer connections it had approved for the Town of Oconomowoc's utility district. In early 2025 the village asked the city for 3,001 sewer hookups, partly to replace older septic systems near the lakes, and the city refused, the Freeman reported (February 6, 2025). In April 2026, Trustee Erik Mullett told the Freeman that aging septic systems around Okauchee Lake are failing and that growth in downtown Okauchee has stalled for lack of sewer connections.

For a buyer that means three questions on every house: is it on sewer or septic, and if septic, when was it last inspected and pumped; what does the well test show; and if the house is near a sewer line, is a future hookup likely and what would it cost.

Services otherwise carried over from the town. The village has its own police department, the former town department, with 24/7 coverage the village previously bought by contract. Fire and EMS come from the Western Lakes Fire District, which its seven member communities agreed in 2026 to fund partly through an impact fee on new building permits, per the Enterprise (July 16, 2026).

The whole historic village, in both counties, is in the Oconomowoc Area School District, per the DOR report's school district tables and Wikipedia. Most of the former town is too. The Census geocoder placed Okauchee, Mapleton, Monterey and the historic village all in the Oconomowoc district.

Some former-town parcels are in a different pair of districts. The county tax sheet carries a separate rate for parts of the former town in the Merton J4 / Stone Bank district, a K4-8 district that feeds Arrowhead Union High School. If you are looking near the Merton line, check this first.

The Oconomowoc elementary and intermediate schools are listed in my Oconomowoc guide.

Oconomowoc district voters, Lac La Belle included, will decide a $12.2 million operating referendum on November 3, 2026. The district expects a 2026-27 school rate of $5.78 per $1,000, per the Enterprise (August 13, 2026). Confirm the district and school for any address before you write an offer.

The Club at Lac La Belle is the village's best-known landmark and one of the oldest golf clubs in Wisconsin. Its history page says the club was organized in 1895 on Woodruff's Hill, at the back of the H. H. Shufeldt property, then moved to its current site on 80 acres acquired from member George Seaverns and incorporated on October 7, 1896. In April 1899 it became the third Wisconsin club approved as an allied member of the U.S. Golf Association, after Milwaukee Country Club.

The early years drew golf's best. The club says Alex Smith, who had just finished second in the 1898 U.S. Open, came to Lac La Belle as its first professional that year, followed by Robert Simpson, Willie Anderson and Willie Hoare. In August 1900 the club hosted the Oconomowoc Open, which the club says paid a $200 winner's purse, more than that era's U.S. Open. Wikipedia describes it as Wisconsin's second-oldest 18-hole course; I have not seen a second source for that ranking.

The modern chapter began in 2018, when the property changed hands. Architect Craig Haltom, who found and developed the land that became Sand Valley, redesigned the course, cleared nuisance trees around the old oaks and pines, and opened up the approaches, per the club's course design page. The club says Golf Digest named it Wisconsin's top new course of 2021.

It is open to the public. The club's 2026 rates page lists championship-course rates from $90 to $100. A 9-hole par-3 short course, Uncle Henry's Backyard, opened on May 29, 2026, with a charity week first, the Enterprise reported. And in August 2026 a bronze elk statue that once stood at the Shufeldt estate on Lac La Belle moved from the city's historical museum back to the club for restoration, per the Enterprise (August 4, 2026).

For buyers, the club is part of why the historic village holds its value: an 1896 course with a public restaurant and event space, inside a village with no other commercial district.

The village's two big lakes are different in character. Lac La Belle is 1,154 acres with a maximum depth of 45 feet, per the DNR. The Lac La Belle Management District describes it as 2.6 miles long and 1.2 miles wide with 11.2 miles of shoreline, the last lake in a chain of six on the Oconomowoc River, joined to Fowler Lake by the Peacock Dam in the city. The district was created in 1982 and is run by a seven-member board of commissioners.

Okauchee Lake is 1,210 acres and much deeper, with a maximum depth of 90 feet, public boat landings and a musky fishery, per the DNR. It has its own management district, and its eastern shore is in the Town of Merton.

Public access to Lac La Belle is mostly through the City of Oconomowoc's launch at City Beach, at 324 West Wisconsin Avenue, where trailered boats pay $13.75 a day or $137.50 a season, per the city's launch page. The city posts slow-no-wake on Lac La Belle during high water until the lake is back within six inches of normal summer level, and that applies to the whole lake.

On land, the village lists four parks on its parks page: the Mapleton Community Center, Monterey Soccer Park, the Monterey Dam and Pondview Park. The village also runs a deer culling program and a fireworks permit process, both listed on its site.

Lac La Belle is a driving village. WI-16 passes along the north side of Lac La Belle on its bypass around the city, WI-67 runs north and south nearby, and County Highways P and K meet at village hall. I-94 is a few miles south through the City of Oconomowoc.

I ran the drives on a public routing engine (OSRM, October 5, 2026, no traffic) from the historic village. Treat these as estimates and add time for weekend traffic. Downtown Milwaukee: about 38 miles and 56 minutes. Mitchell Airport: about 43 miles and 66 minutes. Madison: about 52 miles and 72 minutes. The City of Waukesha: about 24 miles and 40 minutes. Vernon Hills, Illinois: about 96 miles and about two hours. The Chicago Loop: about 123 miles and about two and a half hours. Okauchee, on the east side of the village, is a few miles closer to Milwaukee.

There is no train or bus. The nearest Amtrak station is Milwaukee Intermodal, about 37 miles and 54 minutes by the same estimate, where the Hiawatha runs to Chicago; the Oconomowoc guide has the schedule. The Waukesha County commuter bus from Oconomowoc to Milwaukee was slated to end in September 2025.

For a Lake County, Illinois buyer, the honest framing is that Lac La Belle is a two-hour drive, about an hour farther than Geneva Lake. It works as a second home on a lake on the Milwaukee side of the state, or as a primary home with Milwaukee, Waukesha and Madison all within about 75 minutes.

Police service in the merged village comes from the Lac La Belle Police Department, the former Town of Oconomowoc department, which you can reach through the Village of Lac La Belle. Fire and EMS come from the Western Lakes Fire District.

I don't characterize the safety of any town or neighborhood. Anyone who wants the data can contact the police department or look it up on the FBI Crime Data Explorer.

There is no municipal water anywhere in the village, sewer is limited, and the sewer dispute with the City of Oconomowoc is not settled. A village that was reorganized in 2025 is still sorting out its zoning, tax rows and rental rules, and some answers will change. And at about two hours from Vernon Hills, it is farther than Geneva Lake.