Machesney Park

Located halfway between Rockford and the Wisconsin border, the Dixon Pines neighborhood in the northern Rockford suburb of Machesney Park offers opportunities for homes with more land and recreational options that are close. In the early 1980s, the people who lived in this once-rural area started a grass-roots movement to form a village to provide residents with municipal services and to prevent neighboring localities from claiming land for commercial development. On the west side of the Rock River is the 338-acre Atwood Homestead Forest Preserve, of which most is the 18-hole golf course and the stone structure that is the clubhouse and pro shop. This public course has three layouts depending on skill level. The Macktown course is the oldest and is mainly designed for beginners with limited sand traps. The Ledges course has many sand traps to test accuracy and water hazards on ten holes. The Atwood Homestead course allows users to choose different tee positions depending on skill level at each hole. On the east side of the river, Schoonmaker Park is home to Rover Run Dog Park, which has two fenced-in areas for smaller and larger dogs. “For access to the fenced-in areas, dog owners have to be members of the park district, but it’s a reasonable annual fee,” says Mercedes Brain, a broker with Dickerson & Nieman with about eight years of experience. The rest of the park has a playground, baseball and softball fields and various walking trails. About 5 miles east is Rock Cut State Park, at just about 3,000 acres. There are 40 miles of hiking trails and 25 miles of equestrian and mountain biking paths. While most of the houses in Dixon Pines are away from the Rock River, a few are close to the corner of Ventura Boulevard and Brentwood Road in the moderate to severe flood plain. The homes on the north side of Ventura Boulevard are closer to the water and provide a great risk for flooding. The house price range is between $150,000 and $300,000, and the architecture is mainly ranch-style and split-level. They are built on lots that are mainly between a quarter acre to 1 acre, but there are some houses on larger plots of land. Most have three to four bedrooms and between 1,000 and 2,500 square feet. “There’s a small pocket of homes in this neighborhood built between 2000 and 2010, but most of it is an older, established neighborhood. There’s no new construction or plans for that,” Brain says. Part of the Harlem School District 122, Ralston Elementary gets a B on Niche and has a 15-to-1 student-teacher ratio. There are nearly 300 students in grades one through six. Harlem Middle School has almost 1,000 seventh and eighth graders with a 12-to-1 student-teacher ratio. The school gets a C-plus grade on Niche. Harlem High School has the opportunity for students to interact with various industry experts while taking part in the Work Based Learning program. The school gets a B grade on Niche. Most retail options are at the intersection of 2nd Street and West Lane Road, Routes 251 and 173, respectively. On the north side of West Lane Road, stores like Target and The Home Depot are in the Gateway District Shopping Center. Across the street is the Machesney Crossing Shopping Center with Michael’s and T.J. Maxx. ALDI is nearby for grocery items. Restaurants in this area include Pig Minds Brewing Company, the only vegan brewery in the United States, meaning that it does not use animal-derived ingredients. Most beer is vegan – mainly artisanal beers use that process. The food served at Pig Minds is also vegan, with so-called “beyond” patties used in their burgers. Beef-A-Roo is a Rockford area fast-food favorite with hamburgers, roast beef sandwiches, salads and gluten-free options. The city of Rockford is about 10 miles south, while Beloit, Wisconsin, is 10 miles north. Beloit is on the Illinois/Wisconsin state line. A car is needed to get around this area as no public transportation options exist. Commuters who still travel to Chicago for work may find the journey easier in 2027 when a Metra commuter rail station opens in Rockford.