The Kohler family of Wisconsin possessed such a prodigious talent for producing those basic necessities known as plumbing fixtures that the company's functional wares eventually developed into curvaceous works of art. Likewise lodgings the Austrian-immigrant family originally built for the plant workers has become, by steady improvement, a world-class Wisconsin resort.

What the Kohler clan of Kohler, Wisconsin, now has in its midst is a classic American resort village referred to generally as The American Club. Last year, the resort pulled the veil off its new Whistling Straits golf course, a manly, fescue-grassed Pete Dye course that requires you to walk and sends a trained caddie out with you to strategize, select clubs and read greens.
Not content to stand still, the Kohler folks will by next year have a second links-style course at the Whistling Straits golf complex. These in addition to the acclaimed Blackwolf Run golf courses, which hosted the 1998 U.S. Women's Open. G
olf lovers can't play one of the Blackwolf courses, Meadows or River Run, and feel comfortable skipping the other. It's a two-day minimum experience-or it was until Whistling Straits came along.

If there is a golf disdainer in the travel party, that heretic's alternative activity should include a stop in the Kohler Design Center. The Design Center has no equivalent within the U.S. resort market, showcasing everything a '90s "nester" could wish to see and touch, from fashionable plumbing fixtures to power systems to fine wood furnishings. Visitors first encounter Kohler's manufacturing prowess when they inspect the porcelain and plumbing in their own American Club guest rooms, each of which is fitted with a Kohler whirlpool bath.

When you're through washing up, a delightful array of outdoor activities beckons, among them a health and racquet club complex called the Sports Core, which is built on a wooded setting fronting a lake that is swimmable for resort guests in the warmer months.

If you enjoy shooting wild game, a 500-acre hunting preserve awaits, though if your preference runs more towards knife and fork rather than knife and gun, dining experiences don't come much finer than in the Immigrant Restaurant and winery, which seats 80 diners in a series of six rooms decorated in a melange of European styles, with award-winning cuisine and an ambitious wine list. Another dining option is the Wisconsin Room, a 140-seat ode to state history and culture, with oak paneling, antique chandeliers and Wisconsin-theme tapestries.