A Cook County judge on Monday entered an order confirming the judicial sale of the nearly 400-acre Barrington Hills equestrian estate known as Horizon Farms to the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, making it the district’s largest property acquisition in more than 45 years.
The forest preserve district is paying about $14.5 million for the property at 311 Algonquin Road, which had been in foreclosure since August.
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The beauty of the lands at Horizon Farms are the rolling grassy meadows, populated by beautiful horses grazing. The fresh mowed hay fields and pastures surrounded by well kept fences give such a sense of beauty and serenity.
Much of Cook county forest preserve is – unkempt scrubby woodlands (rather than majestic forests), mostly neglected except for some nice picnic places. Marijuana farms have been planted in its little used, hard-to-access areas, bodies buried.
Keep Horizon Farms what it has been – a horse farm. Now, not only will taxes not be paid on the land, but a huge budget of taxpayer monies will be used to maintain the land. Suggestion – keep it as pastureland, beautiful, open, rolling for horseback riding, for perhaps a horse rescue/retirement operation with charitable donations helping fund it, and selling haying rights to generate revenue for the FP district.
Nothing needs restoration there–there are hundreds of mosquito-infested, marshy, scrub-treed acres in the FP’s land bank.
The land was already protected from development by conservation easements, so the acquisition seems not to be a device to protect the land but something else. You have a jewel. A polished gem. Don’t neglect it.