You’re more likely to see a coyote in Lincoln Park these days than a horse, and if you see a horse it’s probably being ridden by a police officer.
To get to horse country, you’ve got to canter to the suburbs. Certain suburbs, that is.
Barrington Hills comes to mind. That leafy village of minimum 5-acre lots still attracts the affluent family who can enjoy the miles of riding trails there.
Yet for the truly serious horse person, a couple properties elsewhere might fit the bill better.
One estate is in the McHenry County town of Richmond, while another has a south suburban Frankfort address. Marketed by Sotheby’s International Realty, they are for sale for $2.99 million and $2.2 million, respectively, according to Ellyn Dorsey, of Koenig & Strey GMAC Realty in Libertyville, the listing agent for both. (Koenig & Strey is the exclusive affiliate here of the Sotheby’s firm.)
The Richmond property comprises 107 acres and has a main house with five bedrooms and five baths, according to listing information. There are three other homes on the property for a manager and employees, the listing says. Heated barns have 49 stalls, offices, baths, tack rooms and a viewing room.
In Frankfort, the property has a 9,000-square-foot, 15-room house — six bedrooms and 4 1/2 baths — according to listing information. The barn has a large indoor/outdoor area. The more than 10 acres have nine paddocks and pasture.
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Dorsey, a horsewoman, specializes in equestrian properties.
The owners of the Richmond spread, says Dorsey, bought the property in the ’70s and turned a dairy farm into a private equestrian operation concentrating on show horses and American saddlebreds.
Though the main house has 2,500 square feet, the property is big enough to provide other building sites, Dorsey says. In unincorporated McHenry County, it takes a minimum 40 acres and 330 feet of road frontage to have agricultural buildings, according to Dorsey.
In Frankfort, a high-end subdivision is going up next door, Dorsey says, citing the growth in the Frankfort/Mokena area.
Though Barrington Hills is still equestrian, there’s no place to do a large operation, Dorsey says. It caters to the smaller operation, maybe five horses, with a few properties with larger barns. Antioch still has some large properties, she says. Other equestrian areas include Wayne, St. Charles and Kane County in general, she says.
But, space pressures are pushing the horse property market west and north over the Wisconsin border and to Marengo and Hampshire and even as far west as Boone County, Dorsey added.
Over the border, in Lake Geneva, James and Marie Martin don’t have horses, but they may have something unique. They live in a stable.
And what a stable it is.
The 1901 Loramoor estate on Lake Geneva once was 400 acres, had a mile of lake frontage and 30 buildings, including a grand manor house. But, by the time the Martins got involved in 1988, pretty much all that was left was a stable — an 18,000-square-foot one.
Joe Martin, creator of the comic strips “Mister Boffo,” “Willy ‘n Ethel” and “Cats with Hands,” and his wife, Marie, bought the stable and grounds from Franciscan friars, who had used the building as a library, according to the Martins.
They went about restoring the Bavarian-style building, with a clock-faced cupola.
Now that their five sons and 11 grandchildren are grown, they’ve decided to downsize and have put the place on the market for $2.3 million.
According to Martin, the building’s exterior, though restored, remains the same except for the removal of two garages.
The interior is another story. They redid the family room — all 2,400 square feet of it — and added a home theater with a 10-by-15-foot screen. The first floor all has 14-foot ceilings, Martin says, and they have added pillars, antique cabinets and six fireplaces.
When the friars left, the building had all florescent lighting and linoleum floors. “It looked like a factory,” Martin says. Now the floors are wood.
The dining room, which measures 40 by 60 feet, is where 40 horses once were kept, Martin says. Another 20 were boarded in what is now the billiard room.
The drive-through for carriages functions as a grand foyer.
All told there are 19 rooms with nine bedrooms, including a hayloft suite with 20-foot ceilings, and seven baths. The Martins have added a tennis court and pool.
Though the house sits on 1 1/2 acres about 100 yards back from the lake, Martin says, it has lake views but no frontage. Rather, the Martins share dockage with their neighbors.
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Wayne Faulkner is editor of Real Estate. You may contact him at [email protected].