The Good Life at Serosun Farms

Home Certifications

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A quality, high-performance home is one that exceeds local building codes.  Simply passing local building inspections does not guarantee a quality home — a typical misconception regarding home quality.  Passing building codes generally means that a home meets the minimum requirements for life safety and energy efficiency, but municipal inspectors do not indicate a degree of quality in their evaluations.  The only stamp of quality that exists for homes are third party verified, quality certifications.  These certifications are offered by groups such as the US Green Building Council through the LEED for Homes program, or the National Association of Home Builders through their Green Building Program.

These certifications use the whole home system approach to building.  This is based on an understanding of the interrelationships between different components of the home, and how one part of a home will affect all the others in your particular climate.  A home is seen not just as a loose collection of individual components, but rather systems and parts that work together to achieve a symbiotic goal.  This approach also looks at how you and your lifestyle affect all of the systems in the home.  Elements that are considered for certification include: energy efficiency, water efficiency, materials selection, durability, indoor air quality, and others.

These certifications look at a whole range of elements in the home design and construction, and use a point system to provide a score indicative of the level of quality and sustainability of the home.  They identify a series of levels that a home can achieve such as: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.  Homes at Serosun that meet the design guidelines will typically qualify under these ratings systems.

There are other more specific ratings systems that also may also be considered, including the EPA Energy Star Program, which is focused on energy efficiency, and the American Lung Association Healthy Homes Program, which is focused on indoor air quality.

These certifications will cost the home owner some money for the inspections and paper work, but can be well worth their while as they provide third party documentation on the quality and sustainability of the home – verifications that may be valuable at the time of resale.   They may also be valuable for the homeowner’s own peace of mind by providing the assurance that their home meets these quality criteria.

You can find more information at the following websites:

NAHB Green Homes:  www.nahbgreen.org/

USGBD LEED for Homes:  www.usgbc.org/homes/

EPA Energy Star:  www.energystar.gov/

American Lung Association Healthy Homes:  www.fsge.net/media/Health_House_Builder_Guidelines.pdf

Serosun Farms Amenities

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Preserved Farmland and Open Space

Serosun Farms Estate includes 300 acres of preserved farmland and restored upland and wetland prairie, savannah woodlands with walking trails, and stocked fishing ponds providing a beautifully maintained pastoral setting for the homes that will reside within the community. Our open space reflects the historical natural prairie ecosystems that were once present in this area and will be used to provide natural habitats, recreation, and buffer zones for the site. A recreational trail system will run through the Estate and connect the open spaces. An eight-mile trail system provides a shared-use environment for the community to explore the natural areas and provide recreation. It is intended to support hiking, jogging, biking cross-country skiing and equestrian uses. Fitness stations will be located along the trails.

Working Sustainable Farm

Direct from the field to your dinner plate — enjoy healthy sustainable food with a freshness, flavor, and tradition missing from the mass-produced items stocked by conventional grocery stores. At its core, Serosun Farms is a working sustainable farm that promotes local farming, healthy living, and an appreciation for fresh, organic foods. An on-site farmers market will feature grass-fed meat, produce, herbs, and other specialty items. Harvests will tempt cooks and food aficionados with regional, specialty, and gourmet items. Presently, the farm uses a hay, corn, and soybean rotation, but will transition to hay production. These hay products will supply the on-site equestrian center, local stables and dairy farms, as well as rehabilitate the soil and start the sustainable certification process. From this start, the farm will expand its program to include grass-fed beef and an initial selection of produce and herbs.

The vision for the farm includes:

  • Vegetables , fresh herbs, and cut flowers
  • Grass farming, including hay and silage for horses and livestock
  • Grass-fed beef and other specialty livestock
  • Free-range poultry
  • Fruit trees, including apple, pear, plum, and cherry
  • Berries, including raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, and blueberries
  • Specialty crops such as asparagus and rhubarb, prairie seed, honey products, and other specialty items

Equestrian Facility

Serosun Farms is a horse enthusiasts’ dream, with one of the most comprehensive and holistic boarding and training facilities in the Midwest. A state-of-the-art barn and arena are at the center of a rural estate with 410 acres of beautiful rolling countryside. These facilities are complemented by professional board and care, and high-level fitness and training programs. Primary facilities will include veterinary, breeding, and fitness facilities, indoor and outdoor riding arenas, dressage and jumping rings, and a large number of all-weather paddocks and pastures that ensure maximum turnout time for the horses.  The barn currently has 12 large stallls with plans to expand to 36 in the futuer. High-quality hay is raised on site, and riders can enjoy over eight miles of serene trails through farm, woodlands, and prairie

Outdoor Activities

Serosun offers many opportunities to enjoy the outdoors and fresh air, with great vistas.  Outdoor recreational opportunities range from running, walking, bike riding, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing, to fishing and bird watching, and gardening. The community center will offer tennis, swimming, aerobics, and yoga. No matter what the season Serosun Farms offers opportunities to get outside and enjoy the natural surroundings.

 

Farmer’s Market 

Serosun Farms will be partnering with many local restaurants to supply them with sustainable produce, meats, cheeses and other specialty items. In addition to supplying local businesses, we will also be offering these items to our estate members at our Farmer’s Market and future Gourmet Deli.  Imagine starting your day by enjoying a peaceful walk to the Farmers Market.  Imagine not having to jump in your car and run to the grocery store at rush hour just to grab that one item you forgot for the wonderful meal you are preparing for your guests — instead, just run down to the Farmer’s Market or Gourmet Deli where you can grab only the freshest of selections. Sit on your front porch and take in the breathtaking views and sun set with your guests after dinner. Relax and enjoy, the Serosun Farms way.

Community Gardens

Estate members will have an opportunity to manage “their farm” on a much smaller scale as well. Community garden areas are set aside to allow residents a chance to grow their own fruits and vegetables. Take advantage of Serosun Farm’s agricultural activities to learn tips and techniques in growing the best and freshest produce – from your garden straight to your kitchen.

Educational and Community Activity Programs

An innovative conservation community, Serosun Farms sets a new standard for living a healthier lifestyle in harmony with nature.  The community serves as a living example for land, resource, and habitat management. These real examples create real learning opportunities. With 300 acres of open space, including restored prairie, wetlands and savanna, as well as equestrian and agricultural components, Serosun Farms provides many learning opportunities for you and your family. Serosun Farms facilitates many of these educational programs with a focus on nature, farming, food and cooking. Or simply explore the 300 acres for yourself. Serosun Farms also organizes many community activities. Stay involved, be happy, live healty and gain a sense of community.

Future Amenities

Community Center

Our community center will provide a wide range of amenities starting with its pool. The center will also include tennis and basketball courts, meeting event and business facilities, a fitness and game room, and a bar/grill. The center will enhance Serosun Farms’ sense of community as a venue to meet, work, relax, play, or learn.  Events, activities, and various programs will take place at the community center.  Beyond everyday use of the pool and court facilities, such as leisurely tennis matches or competitive pick-up basketball games, these activities may include business meetings, dinner events, and cooking classes

Community Broadband Service

Enjoy fast Internet service through Community Broadband at home or within the community.  Sit at the Community Center and stay connected. In an effort to promote sustainability, residents will be able to access community documents and information from our website through our exclusive estate member portal. Enjoy one convenient location for all your community information.

Estate Management

Our professional estate management team is ready to help you with full-service concierge services to help maintain your residence and your lifestyle. We handle all the details for you. Need someone to “warm up” your home before your arrival? Just let us know. Our services can help you create enjoyable, worry-free living. Please contact us for a complete list of services we can provide.

 

Bed & Breakfast and Spa

Our vision is a real community with homes of architectural significance, intelligently designed to fit the land. This vision will bring to the site not only those who want to build their dream homes, to instill architecture into the rural charm of the land around us, but also those attracted by the sustainable precedence it represents. We want Serosun Farms to be a destination. Whether it is those settling in to raise their family, retreating from the city for the weekend, starting a new adventure after retirement, or folks passing through to appreciate the architecture and rural setting or to enjoy the many community amenities, Serosun Farms has something for everyone. Our vision includes bed and breakfast lodging in a future phase.  You can take advantage of the B&B when your family comes to visit. Send them to the spa or meet them for breakfast at our on-site restaurant… of course utilizing some of the freshest and most sustainable food grown right here on the estate.

High-Performance Homes

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When we think about the qualities of a home, we often hear adjectives like “luxurious,” “cozy,” or “curb appeal.”  More re­cently, we have been hearing about qualities like “green” and “sus­tainable.”  However, when you hear “high-performance” you are more likely to think of a luxury sports car than a home.  But we think that “high-performance” is the perfect description for a quality, well-deigned, well-built, sustainable luxury home that utilizes the technologies and systems that are available in today’s residences.  High-performance homes take “green” and “sustainable” to a new level.  A high-perfor­mance home is a sustainably built home that saves energy, conserves water, is healthier for the occupants, and is less impactful on the environment.  It is more durable, lasts lon­ger, and costs less to maintain as well.  A high-performance home maximizes the livability of a home, while minimizing the space and resources it needs.  A high-performance home is a quality home.  At a basic level, a high-performance home is built with the finest craftsmanship, using the best building practices and materials available, but it is also a well-designed home that fits the owner’s needs and wants in a comfortable way, with style.

The high-performance home approach also looks at a house as a collection of integrated systems placed within the framework of a structure that can be intelligently con­trolled to optimize its performance.  These systems include: en­vironmental systems for temperature, ventilation, and light­ing; thermal and moisture barrier systems,; water delivery and storm water management systems; waste management systems; food handling and storage systems; entertainment and security systems; communication systems, and more.  These systems can tell you what is happening in the home at every moment and give you easy control over them, even remotely.  Your home can provide you with up-to-date data and information and even calculate your utility bills.  Simply put, high-performance homes are better designed, better quality homes that are easier to manage, control and maintain.  We can look at the elements or amenities of a high-performance home as having one or more of the following characteristics: Performance, Sustain­ability, Luxury, Investment Enhancement, and Health.  Most elements of a high-performance home span all five areas.

The nicest thing about high-performance homes is that they don’t have to cost you a lot more to build, but they will cost you less to live in. A well-designed high-performance home is optimized to provide you with just the right amount of house. You don’t have to build more than you need. Many of the elements of a sustainable, high-performance home are just good building practices. They are the difference between a poorly built home and a quality-built home. For example, caulking the framing joints can significantly increase a home’s thermal efficiency with very little cost. The more sophisticated systems of a high-performance house can of­ten be scaled to fit your needs and budget, and there are a number of tax incentives and credits available that can re­duce many of these costs. You don’t have to break the bank to have a sustainable, high-performance home.

Let’s look at a few examples:
                                                                                                                                                                                 

Advanced Geothermal Heating & Cooling Systems

These systems are about luxury, performance, and more.  They are sustainable because they do not rely on gas or fossil fuels to heat your home, and significantly reduce the need for electricity to cool it.  They are luxury systems as they provide a more constant temperature, are quieter and pro­vide better air quality.  They can better minimize allergens, reduce dust and other contaminants from moving around your home, giving you more healthy air.  They can also be a good investment by reducing your total energy costs to heat and cool your home, and by being less costly to maintain and last longer than conventional systems — And a geother­mal system can qualify for a 30% tax credit, helping to make it more cost effective in its initial installation.

Home Automation Systems

Home automation helps manage many of the systems in your home. It can help control energy usage of your HVAC system, such as minimiz­ing heating or cooling in other parts of the home when not in use. How’s this for luxury: landing at the airport after a winter vacation, and having the ability to “turn up” the house temperature from your cell phone so it’s a comfortable 72 degrees by the time you get home? Home automation can manage your lighting systems, your electronics and appliances to optimize elec­tricity usage, and give you better control of your home. Managing usage manages your costs and makes your home a smart system that will reduce your utility bills and help you quickly realize a return on your home investment.

Spring is Coming!

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A large flock of Sandhill Cranes were seen circling the farm this weekend. The sight and sounds of Cranes are always a sure sign of spring but this is a little earlier than normal.  We hope to have more visiting the farm this year.  Last year we had a pair checking out the wetlands in the fall.  We are still amazed at their remarkable turnaround from being an endangered species.

Sandhill Cranes give out unusual loud rattling bugle calls, each lasting a couple of seconds and often strung together. They can be heard up to 2.5 miles away and are given on the ground as well as in flight.  They are very distinctive from the Canada Geese we frequently see and hear.

Check out the video that was recorded this past weekend to hear their distinctive  call – Sandhill Cranes

Here are some cool facts you may have not known about Sandhill Crane’s

  • The Sandhill Crane has recovered significantly in the last 30-40 years and now are fairly common though local to northern Illinois. They have expanded their territory into the Midwest prairie areas and are starting to nest further south. In some areas during migration they congregate in the hundreds of thousands.
  • They are large birds, often over four feet tall.
  • The Sandhill Crane’s call is a loud, rolling, trumpeting sound whose unique tone is a product of anatomy: Sandhill Cranes have long tracheas (windpipes) that coil into the sternum and help the sound develop a lower pitch and harmonics that add richness.
  • Sandhill Cranes are known for their dancing skills. Courting cranes stretch their wings, pump their heads, bow, and leap into the air in a graceful and energetic dance.
  • The elegance of cranes has inspired people in cultures all over the world—including the great scientist, conservationist, and nature writer Aldo Leopold, who wrote of their “nobility, won in the march of aeons.”
  • Although some start breeding at two years of age, Sandhill Cranes may reach the age of seven before breeding. They mate for life—which can mean two decades or more—and stay with their mates year-round. Juveniles stick close by their parents for 9 or 10 months after hatching.
  • The earliest Sandhill Crane fossil, estimated to be 2.5 million years old, was unearthed in the Macasphalt Shell Pit in Florida.
  • Sandhill Crane chicks can leave the nest within 8 hours of hatching, and are even capable of swimming.
  • The oldest Sandhill Crane on record was at least 36 years, 7 months old. Originally banded in Wyoming in 1973, it was found in New Mexico in 2010.

 

 

 

Partner Profile – JB Architecture

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Serosun Farms has aligned itself with a number of architects, designers and builders to help us deliver healthy, high performance homes to our residents.   These partners are well experienced in designing and building luxury homes in the Chicago area.  JB Architects and Builders is one of those groups.

Jon Bierntz is the founder and principal at JB Architecture and Builders – the “JB”.  Jon has been a licensed architect for over 30 years and has maintained a passion for creating truly custom, luxury homes.   Since he was young he has been fascinated with watching homes being built.

After gaining experience working with a local architect early in his career Jon went on to become the in-house architect for one of the most prominent builders in the area.  Both of these experiences formulated Jon’s desire to create his own business designing homes and renovations.

While most home designers are, builder driven, JB Architecture is driven by architecture first.   This allows Jon’s homes to be client driven with a focus on creating the best homes possible for his clients. From how it is designed and built to how it performs.   This combination of design and construction management experience allows his clients to take advantage of this winning combination.

“We provide a great benefit to our clients by being both the architect and the builder.  We are able to discuss all aspects of designing and building a home from the very first meeting.”  Bierntz says.  “However, we can still design someone’s dream home if they have other means of building it.”  The secret to Jon’s success is in combining his passion with his attention to detail.  An added bonus is that JB Architecture is at the forefront of incorporating many of the aspects of energy efficiency, sustainability and healthy elements of a high performance home.

This passion and experience fits in well with Serosun Farms’ mission of building a sustainable, luxury community.   Follow along with us as Jon completes the Fahey Home this year.

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