Elawa Farm...

Near me is a little place I like to visit called Elawa Farm.

The farm was built in 1917 for A. Watson Armour, a member of one of Chicago's oldest and most distinguished families. It is architecturally significant as a rare representative example of a Lake Forest, Illinois gentleman's farm.



Historically the farm built for Armour was known as ELAWA FARM, a composite of ELsa and A. Watson Armour and subsequently as LeWa Farm, named for Lelia and Wallace Carroll, who purchased the property in 1954.

It is also noteworthy for its fine design and for its association with two very significant architects: David Adler and Alfred Hopkins. Adler and Howard Van Doren Shaw are generally considered the North Shore's premier estate architects.

Hopkins, a New York architect who is known to have designed only two farm groups in Illinois, is the acknowledged authority on estate farm complexes, and has been called the "unquestioned dean of Farm group architecture."

Today the farm is a lovely place to visit for a regular farmer's market in the warmer months, an educational center for cooking, gardening and children's nature classes....you can also rent out the farm for festive gatherings....

Because ELAWA FARM is a stunning example of estate farm architecture, because it is virtually unaltered, and because it is unique in Lake Forest, the buildings forming the main farm group have been preserved and adaptively reused.

ELAWA FARM is a public-private partnership dedicated to the preservation and stewardship of a unique combination of natural setting, designed landscapes and buildings of architectural and historic significance. (Merci':.www.ElawaFarm.com)

For me it is a little chance to get away from "city-suburban life" without a longer drive to the country! Enjoy your weekend! xo