Elawa Farm, Lake Forest

A favorite of my family. This place has hiking trails, animals, reptiles, great new playground, covered picnic area with grills and fireplace and a lovely flower garden. The barn structure is a great example of a "gentleman's farm" and was formerly owned by A. Watson Armour of Armour meat packing. 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 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." Truly a must see and not to miss outing www.elawafarm.org/index.html