Neighborhood profile: Plum Grove Village

Plum Grove Village, a charming older townhouse development in Rolling Meadows, is reminiscent of an English village with its home styles and street names such as Stuart on Oxford and Pembroke on Duxbury.

“When I turn off Kirchoff into Plum Grove Village, I feel like I’m in my own private park, my own English mews,” said RoseAnne Ahern, real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage and a 13-year resident of the community.

“The townhouses here feel like homes. When they were built in the 1960s, it was a very novel concept that each homeowner would have an enclosed patio. Also unusual is that most of the homes are ranches with just a few two-stories.”

Homes typically feature 1,400 to 2,000 square feet, living and dining area, family room, some fireplaces, two bedrooms, 1½ to two baths, a basement and two-car garage.

Ahern likes her two-story home with first-floor master and private bath. It’s a flexible floor plan that can be set up in several different ways. The layout also works well for multigenerational living, Ahern said.

Maureen and John McNally were familiar with the development when they purchased a home here almost 11 years ago to be next to Maureen’s aging parents and close to her position at Northwest Community Hospital.

With three daughters and eight grandchildren who live five to 10 minutes away, the couple has even more reason to like the location.

“I just couldn’t see moving out to a place like Huntley. They promise you everything, but you don’t have the conveniences that we have here,” John McNally said. “We like being close to Woodfield, the tollway, a great hospital and shopping down the street.”

They take very good care of the community while keeping the fees moderate. The landscaping is nice, and when you drive through the neighborhood, it has good curb appeal, McNally said.

“If you want to get rid of your snowblower and lawn mower, it’s the best place to live,” he said.

McNally also likes that it is a “turnkey operation,” in that they can lock up and leave for a time and not have to worry about yardwork.

“For the last 10 years, we’ve been going to Naples, Fla., for the winter, and we don’t have to worry about our home here. It’s great when you’re gone for several months out of the year.”

That low-maintenance aspect is also viewed as a bonus by Ahern.

“I like getting up on a snowy morning and the streets are plowed and in the summer, the grass is mowed, so we can just go out and enjoy,” she said.

Many residents of the community have updated their homes, Ahern said. For example, McNally says they’ve remodeled their entire place. They have all new carpeting and flooring, new kitchen, and they had it painted last year.

“These were built in the ’60s, so people need to update if they want it to look nice, and you’ve got to spend some money,” McNally said.

Residents are comprised of a mix of people and ages. “It’s really nice now that we’re getting more young people with children and single parents with teenagers. It has become a nice diverse community,” Ahern said.

People are friendly. A lot of residents are out visiting and walking their dogs. They gather down by the pond and bring their own drinks, Ahern said, and neighbors have formed a game group and coffee groups. “It’s all by word-of-mouth.”

To visit the community and tour one of the homes, Ahern will host an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 17, at 2 Grimsby on Oxford. Enter the community on Duxbury north of Kirchoff Road, south of Euclid Avenue and east of Plum Grove Road in Rolling Meadows.

Listing sheet

Price range: $170,000 to $255,000

Age of homes: 43 to 47 years old

Schools: Central Road Elementary and Plum Grove Junior High schools in Palatine Township Elementary District 15 and Fremd High School in Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211

Parks: Rolling Meadows Park District