Known for the annual farm stand offering fresh produce during the summer, Orland Park’s historic Boley Farm is in need of a bit of TLC.
The village is studying plans to make repairs and renovations on structures, such as the farmhouse and threshing barn, that date to the mid-1800s. The farm is on the south side of 151st Street west of 80th Avenue.
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It has been owned since June 2001 by the village, which paid $560,000 for the property as part of the village’s open lands initiative. The Boley property had been eyed for redevelopment, with multifamily housing planned.
– Original Credit: Village of Orland Park
“The existing buildings illustrate the historical and architectural significance of the site as a rare example of an intact farmstead which has preserved the agricultural heritage of Orland Park, early to mid-nineteenth century construction techniques and materials, and the history of exploration and settlement in Northeastern Illinois,” according to a study by the firm McGuire, Igleski & Associates.
The farm overall is “in fair to good physical condition and retains a high degree of historic and architectural integrity,” the study says.
To preserve the property, the firm suggests many alterations, such as restoring or replacing many of the architectural elements on the structures, including some doors and windows and roofs.
Bordered by homes, the nearly 6-acre site is leased to Henry “Hank” Jacobs for a farm stand that operates through the summer and into early fall.
The farm had originally been about 80 acres, with the family selling property south of the remaining buildings to homebuilders starting in the mid-1800s 1970s, according to McGuire, Igleski & Associates.
Orland Park’s Development Services Department estimates that saving and stabilizing the historic 19th century structures could be done over a number of years at an estimated cost of $1.3 million.
“Boley Farm is positioned to dovetail with Stellwagen Farm in preserving the village’s cultural history and agricultural past,” according to a department report. “Stellwagen Farm showcases agricultural life from 1930’s-1950’s. In contrast, Boley Farm can interpret the agrarian life from the 1840-1930’s.”
The 60-acre Stellwagen property, north of 179th Street on the east side of 108th Avenue, was acquired by the village in 2002.
Another scenario proposes to restore some structures while demolishing other, nonhistoric buildings, at an estimated cost of $834,000.
McGuire, Igleski said it was also asked by the village to study the feasibility of relocating historic structures at Boley to Stellwagen Farm.
The firm recommended against relocation, due in part to a lack of solid information regarding the physical feasibility of such a move, which would be an approximately 7 mile trip.