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Serosun Farms Featured in Marketwatch

July 13, 2016 By serosunfarms Leave a Comment

We were pleased to be featured in an excellent article on Marketwatch: “Why farmland may become a more popular neighborhood amenity than a golf course”. The article, which highlights the recent popularity of agrihoods like Serosun Farms, discusses why new home buyers are choosing to move to agrihoods, where they can find farm-fresh food, land, and incredible views.

Serosun

The article sites several reasons people are drawn to live in agrihoods: Open spaces, locally grown food, authentic community, reconnecting with nature.

We loved this quote from our very own John DeWald, “Developers are seeing that a farm or a garden may be a better amenity than a golf course.”

Future homeowner at Serosun Amy Fahey was also interviewed in the article. We love this imagery of her dreams for life at Serosun:

“But Fahey and others gaze upon the land and imagine its potential, savoring the sunsets as well as the early produce. She’ll probably still grow something at her new home, ‘since there’s nothing like walking out the back door to get fresh basil to throw into pasta sauce,’ Fahey said.

But any garden she creates ‘won’t ever be able to compete with the masterpiece that Jane and John are creating,’ she said of the farm that the community will grow to share.”

Serosun

Read the full article.

Filed Under: Sustainable Communities Tagged With: Agrihood, agrihood community, John DeWald, Marketwatch

Photos: Beautiful Celebration of Lilac Festival at Serosun Farms!

June 8, 2016 By serosunfarms Leave a Comment

In May, we were pleased to host our 8th Annual Lilac Festival! The day was incredibly beautiful, and the afternoon was full of delicious food, hay rides, golf cart tours, nature walks, games, wine and more. For the featured event, we enjoyed a folk concert by Brother Sun, hosted by WFMT’s Rich Warren. We love this opportunity to invite everyone to experience life at Serosun Farms.

Check out some photos from this event below:

Serosun Serosun Brother Sun Lilac Brother Sun Lilac Brother Sun Lilac Lilac Lilac Lilac Lilac Lilac Lilac Lilac Lilac Serosun Lilac

Are you interested in living in a luxury home within a sustainable community where the green grass grows? Contact us and make an appointment to visit Serosun Farms to learn more about our incredible builders and community today!

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Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Agrihood, Brother Sun, Lilac Fest, Lilac Festival, new home Hampshire, Serosun, Serosun Farms

10 Pictures to Make You Fall in Love with Summer at Serosun Farms

May 31, 2016 By serosunfarms Leave a Comment

We love summer at Serosun Farms. It’s a time for green everywhere, the brilliant colors of flowers and fruits, and nonstop activity and fun outside. Check out a few photos we especially love that capture the beauty of summer life at Serosun Farms.

Summer1 Summer3 Summer4 Summer5 Summer6 Summer7 Summer8 Summer8b Summer9 Summer10

Would you like to live in this idyllic setting—an agrihood where you can live where the green grass grows? Make an appointment to visit Serosun Farms today to find out more about building a home in this incredible, unique community. Contact us below and we will set up a tour!

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Filed Under: Community and Lifestyle Tagged With: Agrihood, Farm life, Serosun Farms, Summer photos, sustainable community

Professional Builder Article: “A Traditional Idea Made New: Agrihoods”

May 9, 2016 By serosunfarms Leave a Comment

Reprinted from Professional Builder, May 4, 2016

In Kane County, Ill., a developer courting one of three neighboring family farms to sell land told one farmstead’s owner, “The next time you go by this place, you won’t even recognize it.” The developer thought he was impressing the farmer with his vision to transform fields into a thriving suburban community. But to the farmer, whose family had tilled these acres since the early 1900s, the developer was inferring that he was going to wipe out the farmer’s heritage. Jane Strickland had better luck.

The Fort Wayne, Ind., resident had been searching for a location to start a horse stables business and had bought one of those family farms in 2001. She soon saw that suburban sprawl from Huntley, Elgin, and other suburban Chicago enclaves was pushing westward. Almost always when residential development creeps next to farmland, the two coexist for a time but eventually the farm is annexed and disappears. Strickland and her brother, John DeWald, a San Diego developer as well as a trained biologist and chemist, sought a way to preserve the county’s farmland. They proposed an idea that became Serosun Farms and won over the neighboring Allens and Grollemonds who saw the development as one that would preserve the legacies of their farming families. Even some of the roads and a pond are named after the families and their children.

There are now at least a dozen agrihoods—planned communities with housing built around working farms—such as Serenbe near Atlanta, Agritopia in Phoenix, and South Village in Burlington, Vt. Homeowners tired of the city’s hustle and bustle are drawn to pastoral country living and being near organic farms that supply locally grown food for farm-to-table markets and farm-to-fork restaurants. Much like the golf course, pool, or tennis courts were unifying amenities in master planned communities, food is emerging as a community-building tool.

Click this link to read the rest of this article.

Filed Under: Healthy LIving, Sustainable Communities, Sustainable Living, Sustainable Living Tagged With: Agrihood, Professional Builder Magazine, Serenbe, Serosun Farms

Real Estate Broker Reception Thursday, April 28

April 1, 2016 By serosunfarms Leave a Comment

Serosun-Farms-Banner-Grow-Naturally-With-Us

model home image

Top real estate Brokers in the Chicago area are cordially invited to our:

Broker Reception

Thursday, April 28 at 4:00 PM

at our new model home (click for map)

At this event, Brokers will be able to tour our new model home and learn about life in an Agrihood — a sustainable living community set on an actual, working farm.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Agrihood, Chicago, farm community, real estate brokers, sustainable community

“Agrihoods.” The latest trend in the development of new home communities

March 8, 2016 By serosunfarms Leave a Comment

RSVP now for our March 19 luncheon where we will present Landscaping in an Agrihood

Scroll down for information about this event!

I hope this post finds everyone well and looking forward to Spring!  It has been a busy winter on the farm and we are grateful for the milder weather El Nino has brought to the Chicago area.

There have been a number of news stories and articles within the last number of months regarding the popularity and development of “agrihoods” throughout various locations in the United States. Here are three:

UN Report          Agrihood article       CBS Morning Show

It is exciting for us to see this movement coming to the forefront.  Developers are viewing this as a competitive advantage as more consumers prefer to build their new home around a farm versus a golf course. 

As Serosun Farms has been in development for a number of years, I’d like to review a little bit of history of how our “Agrihood” has come to be and the direction it is going for the future.

Serosun Farms preliminary plat was recorded in 2009.  My brother, John DeWald is the developer and I am the original owner of Serosun Farms. 

Serosun Farms originated with the establishment of my horse business called Serosun Farms Equine Sales in 2001.  As the housing boom in the early 2000’s started to take place I became very concerned about the encroaching high density developments popping up all around the area surrounding my farm.  John suggested I take control of the properties surrounding my 80 acre parcel and create a unique and progressive community that would value the land and the farming heritage in this area.  Thus the plan for Serosun Farms, a sustainable farm preservation community was commenced.

When we began proposing this plan early on, the term “agrihood” didn’t exist and people didn’t really understand what we were trying to do.  Luckily,  Kane County was very progressive in saving farm land at the time and was very interested in our idea and the opportunity it provided for saving land close to the suburbs.  Even though the land was zoned for farming under the county, this transitional land typically would get annexed by an adjacent municipality and rezoned for development of some kind.

In order for the land use to allow a combination of residential and farming, the county created and approved a new zoning category for this type of approach and in parallel we developed our concept for the farm community.  The approval of the new zoning category coincided with the approval of the preliminary plat for Serosun Farms.  This zoning was designated “Agriculture Preservation, Limited Development and was one of the first of its kind in the country to accommodate this land use approach.  As the approval came in the midst of the housing crash and subsequent recession, we didn’t proceed with building infrastructure until we felt the market was ready.

We did however continue to develop the farm’s sustainable practices and food program, work on habitat restoration of wetlands, prairie, and savannah woodlands, manage and develop the equestrian operations, advertise and host events on the farm to educate people on the exciting, new lifestyle community to come.

Fast forward to today.  2015 was the year we decided to build the dream.  How much the world has changed since our early days of ideas and planning.  Local food and transparency of where our food comes from, sustainable building and energy conservation, getting back to nature and a more peaceful way of life, living in a place where health and wellness are a priority from foundation to food. A place where classic American architecture surrounded by stunning pastoral, prairie, savannah, and wetland views are a luxury.  Our beautiful farmhouse model home was completed in June of 2015 and the first phase of roads completed in September 2015.

A lot of exciting progress will take place this year including breaking ground of our first new residential homes, the continued progress on the development of the new wetlands, and starting the build out of our production farm including the planting of the apple orchards.  The habitat restoration of our existing savannah woodlands and prairie will continue along with the development of our community and equestrian programs.

One of the big mandates for Serosun Farms is education.  We will be holding several events this year to enlighten people on what an Agrihood is and how they can be a part of this exciting new lifestyle.    Although there are several developments throughout the country creating their version of an agrihood, Serosun Farms is unique in its approach of combining luxury high performance homes, artisan organic food farming, restoration and preservation of natural areas and wildlife habitat, healthy lifestyle activities and entertainment. 

Follow us on Facebook for updates and news, go to our website at serosunfarms.com to get information on events and view interesting articles and information as it relates to the development and management of Chicago’s premier Agrihood. 

Come out and visit us and see for yourself the progress on this exciting new community! 

Our first event will be on March 19 at our new model home. Tentative schedule is:

12:00 – Landscape Seminar

1:00 – Lunch followed with an informal Q&A

Please send an email to Grace (gbagnole@serosunfarms.com) with the number of people you’ll be bringing.

Also, if you haven’t joined our e-list, please do so today so we can keep you up to date on all the happenings here at Serosun Farms. I look forward to seeing everyone!

All the best,

Jane Stickland

Owner, Serosun Farms

Filed Under: Activities, Conservation & Nature- Partners, Conservation & Nature- Resources, Conservations and Restorations, Events, Healthy LIving, Natural History, Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Communities, Sustainable Living Tagged With: Agrihood, farming communities, IL, Illinois, new home community, sustainable community

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About Serosun Farms

Serosun Farms is a sustainable community that blends peaceful, pastoral living with modern convenience.
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