Saint Charles

Ferguson Creek is situated on the northwest side of the city of Saint Charles. This riverside region is encompassed by beautiful natural wonders and swaths of lush land which give homeowners the opportunity to have ample acreage and secluded luxury. <br><br>The stately homes are truly hidden gems since they rest behind mature trees and large thickets, allowing passersby only a mere peek at their beauty. Magnificent Tudors and exquisite modern builds with brick and stone details sit on large lots and acres of rich greens. These homes come equipped with meticulously maintained lawns, elongated driveways, and multiple-car garages. Home prices reach up to $2 million. For-sale lots range from $140,000 for a few acres to nearly $800,000 for 15 acres. <br><br>“Saint Charles has a great park system,” says Christine Currey, Real Estate Broker/Owner of The Currey Koertgen Team with RE/MAX All Pro. “A resident favorite is Pottawatomie Park, which is right in the heart of downtown.” This popular greenspace is nestled against the majestic Fox River and is just three miles from Ferguson Creek. “There’s so much to do. If you just want to walk along the water or take a boat ride, there’s plenty to choose from.” The picturesque park also offers mini golf, or you can take a stroll with your leashed pup and take in the panoramic views of the calm water. If you’re into intense hiking, biking and horseback riding, LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve is where you want to visit. The preserve, known locally as Horlock Hill, has 9 acres of loop and out-and-back trails. Additionally, there is a youth camp area for a weekend of outdoor fun. For an up-close and personal interaction with livestock, Primrose Farm offers a chance to feed the baby sheep and goats, milk the cows, or try some homemade ice cream, made with milk sourced right on the farm. <br><br>Students attend public and private schools, including Ferson Creek Elementary School and Thompson Middle School. Saint Charles North High School boasts an impressive overall Niche score of A-plus, with academics, teachers and college preparatory initiatives earning the highest accolades. When the school year ends, students have plenty of ways to dive into summer. “If you’re looking to cool off, there’s Otter Cove Aquatic Center,” says Currey. The wildlife-themed water park will quench your thirst for adventure as it has towering tube slides, splash pads, spray features, wading pools and a sandbox. <br><br>“A great perk to living in Saint Charles is the downtown area, which is beautiful,” says Currey. “They have antique shops and great restaurants.” Currey’s favorite food spot is Flagship on the Fox. “I have three kids, so it’s a good spot to go to with my family, but it’s also a great spot to get together with friends.” Flagship is a causal, yet chic spot with vibrant décor. Order a tower of onion rings or bang bang shrimp and ask to be seated on the patio for the ultimate alfresco dining experience. If sophistication is more of your style, Balmoral and Mio Modo give an upscale yet inviting culinary experience. But if you’re in the mood for some craft beer, Riverlands Brewing Company has an impressive drink menu comprised of locally sourced and high-quality ales and lagers. <br><br>To stock your fridge, head to neighborhood grocers like Costco Wholesale, Fresh Market and ALDI which provide fresh and organic produce. Breadsmith of St. Charles serves made-from-scratch hearth-baked artisanal bread. According to the bakery, they offer classic European-style loaves to mouthwatering sweets and have over 300 recipes from which to choose. <br><br>When it comes to retail, there are numerous quirky, well-loved and locally owned boutiques. Need a new outfit for a night out, Jeans and a Cute Top Shop has you covered. Ghoulish Mortals is the place for horror fans who love spooky and creeptastic art and trinkets. For standard retail shopping, T.J. Maxx, Von Maur and Ross Dress for Less are all located along Main Street. <br><br>With its ample greenspace, charming downtown and stunning homes, Ferguson Creek is the perfect place to plant roots.

Though all the homes in Harvest Hills were built in the 2000s, the houses are inspired by traditional Victorian and American Foursquare-style architecture. From its conception, this community on St. Charles’ west side was designed to harken back to earlier times without compromising modern standards of construction. Moreover, the community wished to capitalize on the convenience to the rest of the city. “The great thing about the neighborhoods in Saint Charles is how close they are to the Fox River,” says Christine Currey of The Currey Koertgen Team with RE/MAX All Pro. She has sold homes all over Chicago’s west suburbs. “These neighborhoods have a closeness and small-town feel, but the entire city feels close-knit too.” For longtime Harvest Hills resident and @properties broker Chris Bishop, the intimacy extends to the layout of his home. “Our home is just under 3,100 square feet with the basement, but we love the floor plan, so we don’t feel like we need to downsize,” he says. “We love the layout and the location we’re in.” Students in Harvest Hills attend schools in the St. Charles Community Unit School District No. 303 which include Davis Primary School for kindergarten through second grade then Richmond Intermediate School for third through fifth grade. These schools receive overall Niche scores of A-minus and A, respectively. Some students instead attend Bell-Graham Elementary School, which serves kindergarten through fifth grade and scores an A. All the schools feed into Thompson Middle School and St. Charles East High School, both of which earn A’s. In addition to Advanced Placement courses, St. Charles East students can take additional courses through the Fox Valley Career Center and Elgin Community College. Harvest Hills offers both a detached home subdivision with an intuitive floor plan selection process and a townhouse subdivision with landscaping included. Models with names like Norris, Farnsworth and Baker make up the detached homes in Traditions at Harvest Hills. These models take their titles from prominent community members in the history of St. Charles and cover a wide range of architectural styles—a New Traditional-style home can sit alongside an American Foursquare. “Every model has its own floor plan, but three different ‘elevations” or facades all the way from partial porch with stone to full porch,” Bishop explains. “But once you step in it’s the same exact floor plan. You have those 3 floor plans but 9 different possibilities.” The options help the Harvest Hills Homeowners Association enforce a redundancy code, so that no identical models sit alongside each other for maximum curb appeal. Vaulted ceilings, family rooms with fireplaces, finished basements and 2-car attached garages are common features throughout, along with fenced backyards with paved patios and pergolas. Meanwhile, the townhouse community offers New Traditional homes that share a front stoop with their neighbors. “They have different sized yards and you have someone taking care of your exterior maintenance in the townhomes, as well as snow removal and landscaping,” Bishop says. “So it’s good if you don’t want to have to worry about those things, but you can still live in the same area, just with a smaller floor plan.” Prices for townhouses range from about $250,000 to $390,000, while detached homes start at $400,000 for the two-bedroom floor plans to $545,000 for the 5-bedroom options. These price tags are similar to nearby townhouse neighborhoods like Renaux Manor and Remington Glen, as well as the detached community of Anthem Heights—all directly to the north of Harvest Hills with their own homeowners associations. Like the rest of the neighborhood, parks near Harvest Hills are professionally managed and well-kept. Tennis courts and open fields sit alongside a mulched play area and shelter at the neighborhood’s namesake park. “The land was donated when the community was built,” Bishop says. “It’s in the middle of the community and surrounded by homes but it’s also run by the St. Charles Park District.” Families often don’t have to travel far for their sporting events, either, since James O. Breen Community Park is just across Peck Road. The complex holds 153 acres of disc golf, lacrosse or pickleball, along with a gated dog park. The great twirling slides at Otter Cove Aquatic Park, a notable summer hangout spot, are visible from the field. And for shady walks, bike rides or skiing come winter, the Great Western Trail follows an old railroad track through St. Charles and beyond. The Kane County Fairgrounds—St. Charles’ premier outdoor event space—sits just across Randall Road from Harvest Hills. Along with cultural festivals and dirt bike racing, crowds convene here for the Kane County Fair, a highly anticipated annual event. Attractions range from a wine tasting garden to professional bull riding, along with live music and glittering carnival rides. At the monthly Kane County Flea Market, locals peruse open-air wares under tents and indoor areas with air conditioning, collecting antiques and handcrafted artisanal goods. Events extend beyond the fairgrounds, too. Over a hundred straw-headed newcomers invade the city of St. Charles each fall during Scarecrow Weekend, and audiences watch with bated breath as boaters reach over the helm towards the final flag during St. Charles’ famous Dragon Boat Races. Harvest Hills is bordered by main commercial thoroughfares leading to several commercial sectors. “Everything is on Randall,” Bishop says of the most popular strip. “There’s shopping, dining options and even medical centers all up and down Randall Road.” This is how residents reach the Kane County Fairgrounds and the flea market, as well as Geneva, a part of the tri-city area with Batavia. Drivers pass Jewel-Osco, ALDI, and Meijer before reaching Geneva Commons, a popular open-air mall with a Barnes & Noble, Sephora, Pottery Barn and other popular brands. Upscale chain restaurants include First Watch, a brunch spot with a rotating menu of seasonal items. Fire dancers twirl batons to DJ-curated music at Hacienda Real, which serves authentic Mexican cuisine and cocktails on wooden boards and in sizzling stone bowls. Of course, no St. Charles neighborhood is too far from the Fox River and the city’s waterfront amenities. After dinner at La Zaza Trattoria—an Italian steakhouse with white tablecloths and warm mood lighting—or other upscale picks, folks step out onto a brand-new patio and pergola space: 1st Street Plaza, a setting for live music and conversation on warm nights. Chicago commuters can take Interstate 88 to Interstate 290 for about 46 miles, though they have options for reaching the Windy City and avoiding expensive parking. “If I was to go downtown to see a Cubs game or something like that, the very high probability is that I'd take the Metra from Geneva or Elgin and then have an Uber pick me up to get where I’d need to go,” Bishop says. It’s about 4 miles to the parking deck at the Geneva Metra Station, or 8 miles west to the station in Elburn. As for medical care, the emergency room at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital about 3 miles south off Randall Road.

Rainbow Hills' residents enjoy a primarily rural, unincorporated residential landscape despite being situated just 3 miles northwest of downtown Saint Charles. West Main Street, the area’s throughway, runs through the neighborhood, providing quick trips to the unique shops and local restaurants downtown. Residents can expect to run into friendly neighbors at home alongside short drives to the grocery store, the area’s only aquatic park and the Kane County Fairgrounds, all of which sit less than 2 miles from the community. “It’s an older established neighborhood with quiet streets,” says Douglas May, Realtor with HomeSmart, who has 11 years of experience in the suburbs of Chicago. “It’s very neighborly, and everyone knows each other.” Roughly a third of the community resides on the northern side of West Main Street. However, its residential landscape remains the same, aside from the Renaux Manor subdivision. The subdivision offers a homeowners association and 21st-century New Traditional-style homes atop 0.25 acres, which share space with community sidewalks. The remainder of the community takes on a more rural feel, with pockets of trees separating homes from one another, offering more privacy along the average 0.75-acre lots. However, running into a neighbor out and about is not uncommon. “I’ve seen plenty of residents outside walking the community and taking care of their lawns,” May says. “Neighbors wave to each other as they walk down the street.” Homes in these parts of the community are mainly ranch styles, with a handful of varying styles like Dutch-Colonial and split-level styles dotted throughout. Potential homebuyers can expect a price range from $405,000 to $735,000, depending on size and condition. Students attend classes at Bell-Graham Elementary School before heading to Thompson Middle School, both of which maintain an A rating on Niche. Saint Charles East High School welcomes the community’s oldest students. The A-rated school offers a Virtual Calming Room to help students and families manage emotions and stress. It is also home to The X-Ray, the school’s student newspaper, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2019. Students can also attend private Kensington School—Geneva, which teaches pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. Within the community is Artesian Springs Park, on Saint Germain Place, home to a traditional park playground and pavilion. Directly south, on the other side of Campton Hills Road, sits the go-to spot for cooling off in the summer. “The most popular place for kids is Otter Cove Aquatic Park,” says Christine Currey, broker and owner of The Currey Koertgen Team – Re/Max All Pro, located downtown. Though admission comes with a fee, visitors can bring their own food and drinks before catching thrills on the Salamander Slides and wading in the Turtle Creek Lazy River. Tap House Grill sits less than a half-mile east of the neighborhood on West Main Street, offering local brews to wash down its American pub-style fare. For more options, residents venture to downtown Saint Charles. Riverside Brewing Company, Alexanders Café 64 and The Graceful Ordinary are just a few community favorites, also located along West Main Street. Residents pick up groceries from ALDI and Costco Wholesale, both less than a mile east of the neighborhood and right off West Main Street. For retail shopping, downtown Saint Charles is home to locally owned boutiques like Jeans and a Cute Top Shop and unique stores like Ghoulish Mortals, which sells spooky art, statues and more. Residents make a 3-mile trip down North Randall Road to Geneva Commons for big-name retailers like Gap, Pottery Barn and several others. “The park system in Saint Charles offers a lot,” Currey says. “You can take your kids and hang out at one of the parks' festivals over the summer.” These events include catching Summer Concerts at Lincoln Park located downtown. Here, attendees can pull up a chair and enjoy live music from a list of rotating musicians. Locals also catch thrills at Kane County Fair and Festival, a 2-mile trip southeast along South Randall Road. The fair is celebrating its 155th anniversary in July of 2024, offering various activities from the Garden Brothers Circus to traditional carnival-style rides. Interstate 190 is 17 miles east of the neighborhood, providing a 45-mile commute into downtown Chicago. Meanwhile, travelers make a 37-mile drive via South Randall Road and I-90 to reach flights at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital is closer to home, a 3-mile drive south on Peck Road.

Southwest St. Charles is a quiet residential area sitting between the quaint towns of St. Charles and Geneva, so residents have the best of both worlds. “St. Charles and Geneva are sister cities,” says Realtor Cory Jones with RE/MAX All Pro and St. Charles resident. “It’s hard to tell when you’re in Geneva and when you’re in St. Charles without the sign.” People in Southwest St. Charles have the peace and quiet of suburbia while being close to the shops and restaurants in both cities. As smaller towns, St. Charles and Geneva residents get to know their neighbors, creating a community connected by events and local businesses. “If I go out to dinner around here, I’m sure to know a handful of people,” Jones says. Southwest St. Charles’s tree-lined streets showcase a mix of Colonial Revivals, split levels and ranches, all made with siding. Residents can walk their dogs or stretch their legs along the sidewalks, with streetlamps light pathways at night. Homes here typically list between $375,000 and $550,000, with the ranches listing on the lower end. Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, St. Charles’ primary and intermediate schools will both serve kindergarten through fifth grade. Davis Elementary School currently earns an A-minus from Niche, while Richmond Elementary School earns an A. After, students will attend Thompson Middle School for grades sixth through eighth. Niche grants it an A and lists it as the 50th-best public middle school in Illinois. With an A from Niche, St. Charles East High School offers Advanced Placement (AP) and dual credit courses. St. Charles and Kane County host events that draw the St. Charles and Geneva communities together. “The Scarecrow Festival is a longtime festival in town,” Jones says. “People buy a spot and build a scarecrow, and there’s a competition to who made the best scarecrow.” In the summer, Concerts in the Park occurs every Thursday evening in Lincoln Park, featuring different local bands. The Kane County Flea Market showcases over 600 vendors offering on the first Sunday and accompanying Saturday from March to December. Situated along the Fox River, Mt. St. Mary Park features 30 acres of riverside recreation, like fishing on the water and access to the Fabulous Fox River Water Trail, where people can canoe and kayak along the river. Skateboarders can practice at the skate park’s half pipes and grind rails. The park also has permanent and rotating sculptures showcased throughout the gardens. Davis Park shares its grounds with Davis Elementary, with basketball courts and four baseball diamonds. Belgium Park is a neighborhood park offering pickleball courts and a playground that people can walk to from their homes. Because Southwest St. Charles residents are so close to downtown St. Charles and Geneva, they can choose from some of the best restaurants from either of the sister cities. In downtown St. Charles, Mio Modo serves Italian cuisine in a warm, modern environment accented with golds and deep greens. The Jalapeño Grill offers Mexican fare featured in the Chicago Tribune. “Nighttime entertainment is great here,” Jones says. “There’s a place—the Arcada—that brings in some really cool music acts, and there’s tons of bars that you can walk to from one to the other.” In Geneva, The Local Burger serves classic American burgers and shakes but features a milkshake of the month with flavors like tres leches. For groceries, residents can drive just 1.8 miles down Randall Road or Lincoln Highway to stop at Meijer, Jewel-Osco or Costco. When heaving the 1.5 miles to downtown St. Charles for restaurants and events, residents can just take Main Street. Geneva Road runs along the river and connects residents with the other downtown, about 2 miles away. Both Randall Road and Lincoln Highway are lined with grocery stores, but people can also take Randall Road the 2.5 miles to Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital. For commuters, downtown Chicago is about 45 miles away, but Chicago O’Hare International Airport is 41 miles away.

A collection of unique local businesses close to the St. Charles Dam on the Fox River and the Downtown St. Charles neighborhood are close to all the activities in a riverside business district. “St. Charles is a city, but it has a small-town feel,” says Christine Currey, a real estate agent with RE/MAX All Pro with eight years of real estate experience. The downtown area is full of activity during the summer, making this suburb known as “The Pride of the Fox.” Starting in early June, on Wednesday and Friday evenings through early August, STC Live! features local bands playing live music, primarily in the 1st Street Plaza, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Some concerts will also happen in other downtown areas. During Memorial Day Weekend, the St. Charles Fine Arts Show has various works from local and area artists. The art can take the form of ceramics, jewelry making or paintings. The festival takes place on Riverside Avenue between Main Street and Illinois Avenue. There’s also a jazz festival in the fall and a parade in late November to kick off the Christmas season. With indoor and outdoor seating options, Alter Brewing & Kitchen has a popular deck on the riverfront that’s open every day of the year, thanks to a heated seasonal enclosure that allows it to be used in the winter. The menu includes sandwiches and seasonal salads, including the popular Watermelon Mango Salad available in the summer. Coroco Coffee has a sit-down café where coffee and a gluten-free pastry can be enjoyed. If the restaurant selection inspires a cooking class, there’s a business for that, too. It’s called Fox Den Cooking, where students can learn how to prepare a tasty dish. One of the historic buildings downtown is Hotel Baker, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It opened in 1928, and many of the furnishings of the rooms in the hotel are from that era. On the other side of the Fox River is the Arcada Theatre, built in 1926, seats nearly 900 people and has a pipe organ that rises from within the stage floor. It’s also on the National Register of Historic Places and was a Vaudeville house in its early days. Today, it’s mainly a concert venue. This neighborhood has houses in their original condition, whether condos or single-family homes, from the early 20th century. Foursquare and modest cottages run from $300,000 to $550,000—condos from the 1900s range from $350,000 to $450,000. More modern condos with two bedrooms and a monthly maintenance fee can be found before $300,000. Brownstone townhouses constructed within the past 20 years are true to the classic form. These can be priced between $800,000 and $1 million. Sixty-six percent of the people in Downtown St. Charles are renters. “Many people have moved from Chicago to the Fox River Valley,” says Ryan Carney, a Realtor with Keller Williams Inspire with five years of experience. “The further west you go, the further your dollar will stretch with how much more home you can buy.” Part of the 32-mile Fox River Trail follows the waterway and passes by the downtown area of St. Charles. The trail is popular with hikers, bikers, runners and even cross-country skiers when there’s a blanket of snow. The Great Western Trail is on a former rail line that spans 14 miles from St. Charles to the DeKalb County Line to the west. Snowmobiling is even allowed on this trail when there are at least 4 inches of snow. Hazeltine Park is a quaint corner play area along Riverside Avenue on the east side of the river. Lincoln Park is the site for a summer concert series on Thursdays at 7 p.m. from June through August. It’s also the site of Scarecrow Weekend, taking place during the first weekend in October. St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 serves elementary through high schools. The district is rated an A-plus overall, and the school chain within the district gets A grades across the board. Lincoln Elementary School has about 250 students in prekindergarten through fifth grade. The student-teacher ratio is 16-to-1. Thompson Middle School receives high marks for the quality of academics and teachers. St. Charles East High School students can take dual credit, off-campus courses with the Fox Valley Career Center and Elgin Community College. The Pace bus service, which serves many suburban Chicago areas, also offers on-demand service in St. Charles and Geneva. Reservations can be made up to a week in advance and as little as ten minutes before boarding. The easiest way to book the rides is through an on-demand mobile app. The closest Metra commuter rail station is in Geneva, three miles to the south.