Elburn

About 50 miles west of downtown Chicago on the outskirts of the western suburbs is the community of La Fox, located between the city of Geneva and the village of Elburn. “This small rural community dates back to 1859 and was devoted to farming for about 100 years,” says Bill Zander, a longtime resident and former La Fox Civic Association treasurer. “There are still working farms here, but also large homes on large lots. The open land left is precious to the people who live here. A big, planned development was proposed here in the late 1990s, with a bunch of ball fields and parks. Locals were worried about losing the rural landscape that makes this place special, and those plans were scrapped.” Farms in the area for centuries have been repurposed as a centerpiece for the community, providing food or as a venue for special events. Heritage Prairie Farm offers organic produce for the community and area restaurants. It hosts weekly social nights on Wednesdays from June through September, where the farm opens to the community for live music, lawn games, as well as food and drinks from 5 to 8 p.m. During the fall, the Artisan Craft & Food Fair is held on a weekend in November, with vendors attending from throughout the Chicago area selling their handmade goods. The farm can be rented out as a wedding venue. Rustic Road Farm grows food for the community that’s available for purchase from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Amid the rural landscape, there are pockets of subdivisions where homes are on larger plots of land than those in a typical suburban neighborhood. Most of the homes were built between the mid-1970s and ‘90s. Split-level and ranch-style homes are on 1-acre lots priced between $300,000 and $500,000. The median square footage of a house here is just under 2,500 square feet. Cape Cod and contemporary ranch-style houses priced between $600,000 and $900,000 are on larger plots of land, up to 6 acres. Homes with at least 5 acres could have a barn and horses on the property. Among the flat plains is the 200-foot Johnson’s Mound, part of a nature preserve off Hughes Road. During the winter, it’s a place to go sledding. There’s a trail leading to the top of the mound formed tens of thousands of years ago from layer deposits in what used to be a glacier that formed during the Ice Age. Along the trail, there are picnic areas and recreational green space. The neighborhood is surrounded by golf courses like the one at Hughes Creek, where the 18 holes are surrounded by nature. Tanna Farms Golf Club has some island greens and a Western-themed onsite restaurant called T F Boonies. There is a Metra station with a large parking lot in La Fox for trips into downtown Chicago. The journey into downtown Chicago will take a little more than an hour. For those who need to drive to downtown Chicago, it’s about a 55-mile drive via Interstate 88, about 6 miles south. “In many aspects, this neighborhood is a bedroom community for those working in the nearby suburb of St. Charles,” says Kevin Kemp, a broker with RE/MAX All Pro with nearly ten years of experience. The top employer in St. Charles is the school district. The closest public bus service is in Geneva, with a stop on Lincoln Highway, north of Geneva Commons. Some school-aged children in La Fox attend Geneva Community Unit School District 304, rated an A overall on Niche. The district also receives an A-plus grade for the quality of its teachers. Mill Creek School is rated an A-minus and has a 14-to-1 student-teacher ratio. Geneva Middle School North gets an A-minus, while some students may go to the Geneva Middle School South campus, which gets a B-plus on Niche. Geneva Community High School is rated an A with a blended learning option, where students can learn at their own pace and schedule. Green Friends Montessori School provides a nature-based education where children ages 3 through 12 learn how to plant seeds in a garden or write about an experience in nature. The school does not have a Niche grade. Dozens of flowers have been grown on-site in a greenhouse for purchase at Countryside Flower Shop, Nursery and Garden Center in the neighborhood on Route 38. Products include garden décor, along with trees and shrubs. It’s about a 5-mile trip to the east to get to Geneva, an open-air mall with over 80 shops and restaurants, including Crate & Barrel, Dick’s Sporting Goods and First Watch. The Fresh Market offers a chance to stock up on home essentials. Three miles to the west is the village of Elburn, where the grocery chain Jewel-Osco is another grocery option. Ream’s Meat Market is a traditional butcher that has existed since 1954. Obscurity Brewing in downtown Elburn specializes in wood-smoked barbecue and craft beer.