A Gentleman's Farm

It wasn't until I moved to the north shore 

of Chicago that I learned about 

gentleman's farms.

This lovely example, 

Elewa Farm, 

is not far from where we live.

I took some of these photos last fall

to share with you.

(And some were borrowed as credited in captions.)

And some additional ones

were taken today -- it's a gloomy

rainy spring day.

Photo Courtesy of Elewa Farm

Here is the formal definition:

A gentleman's farm is an extremely small or non-operative farm. 

They are generally small acreages that are not used to produce 

large amounts of food, grain, or livestock for major markets. 

Gentleman's farms are also used as hobby farms, for horse rearing. 

The gentleman farmer has an independent source of income 

and farms for pleasure rather than for money. 

There are several 
in the suburbs of Chicago 

and it's a treat to visit them. 

The first thing that you notice 
when you stumble upon one of them 
is their beautiful architecture.... 

something I am crazy about. 

 The gentlemen who had them built
had the means to hire talented architects 
to create and plan their farms 
which is why they are especially wonderful. 
Just look at this:

Courtesy of Elewa Farm 

You can see the small farmhouse in the background. It was very rainy today. April showers upon us.

NOTE:

(In my next life, I would like to be an architect.

I adore great architecture 
so much that it affects things like
where we vacation  

for example:

 later Hilton Head --  helloooo Savannah! 

or 
what road we might take

or 
where we might dine. 

Interesting architecture has caused me 

to be late to appointments,  
to  load up camera images to full capacity, 
and I must confess 

I've even trespassed on private property
to get a great camera shot 
of an old abandoned manse or barn.... 

shame on me, I know.

YES 

I've got it bad for this thing called 
"architecture". 

Can you relate???

LOVE this place..... so special.

Anyway,

this particular local gentleman's farm

 was taken over by our city in recent years 
and restored

as a public space for the community. 
You can read more about Elewa Farm here. 

The farm has been completely revived and 
transformed for our community to utilize
and to share with generations to come. 
So thrilled that our community was able to save 
and preserve this

special bucolic piece of our town's history.

Courtesy of Elewa Farm 

So tell me,
are there any gentlemens farms 
near you?
Oh, I hope so!