Wide open spaces appeal to buyers seeking serenity

A Sunday drive in the country was once a popular pastime. People enjoyed the simple pleasures of pastoral scenes and scents.

While this may be a thing of the past for most of us, you can still experience the charms of country living by moving out beyond the bustling suburbs.

Today the hallmarks of country living often include natural beauty, the prevalence of wildlife, scenic views, surrounding open land, large home sites, peace and privacy and freedom from city entrapments and congestion.

Homebuyers will find all these characteristics at Henning Estates, where Rock Creek Homes presents 103 luxury ranch-style homes on 110 acres that includes a natural walking path. Each one-third-acre homesite backs to mature woods, scenic wetlands or tall grass prairie.

The community in the Huntley countryside was built on a farm field, but the field had a natural wood barrier, so now this line of trees and woods encompasses the whole boundary of the community, said Zach Frazier, sales director for Rock Creek Homes.

Protected prairie land surrounds the community, and it will never see home construction.

"We see a lot of wildlife here; there are three or four resident sand cranes and white egrets all over the place," Frazier said. "It's definitely a country atmosphere."

Homes at Henning Estates, priced from $365,900 to $418,900, feature 1,803 to 2,260 square feet, two to three bedrooms, two baths, formal dining room, screened porch, study or pocket study and full basement.

Cambridge Lakes, which is also surrounded by wide-open spaces, changed the face of Pingree Grove. Five years ago, Pingree Grove had a population of 120. With the arrival of the Cambridge Lakes development, it has become a full service municipality with 4,000 residents and a new identity, Village Manager Scott Hartman said.

A master-planned community with amenities galore, Cambridge Lakes offers a unique and desired quality of life for residents. The builder included a treatment plant and water system, both needed to support the residential growth, and gave the town the wherewithal to add more municipal services, Hartman said.

"We're very proud of having our own silver-certified police department with 24/7 coverage and public works for maintenance. These are all services that evolved with Cambridge Lakes."

Cambridge Homes offers 360 acres of open space, including wooded park areas, natural conservation areas, 14 lakes and miles of wide walking and biking paths.

The community also features six public parks with five baseball fields, three soccer fields, skateboarding course and playgrounds, as well as six private neighborhood parks with play equipment for young children.

"The nice thing about Cambridge Lakes is that a huge amount of the community is open space," said Dave Smith, vice president of sales and marketing for Cambridge Homes. "We want the open space to be for everyone's use, so very few homes back up to it."

Cambridge Lakes offers both single-family and attached homes that can accommodate almost every budget and living need. Homes in the Prairie and Meadow series feature 12 different plans, including two ranch-style designs. Each home has a basement and two-car attached garage.

Maintenance-free townhouses priced from $165,000 to $198,500 feature 1,330 to 1,757 square feet.

Sugar Grove is another rural community that has attracted homebuyers and builders. Municipal and other services are already in place in Sugar Grove, with recent library and school district expansions, a new township building to provide better services to residents and businesses, newly paved roads and utility system extensions.

Growth development is a significant part of an economy, said Brent Eichelberger, village administrator of Sugar Grove. "I think the village has had a policy for a number of years for 'responsible growth,' of which a key part is that growth be appropriate, well thought out and fits in with the community.

"New growth in Sugar Grove will bring in more nonresidential development - stores and services - that people here already desire," he said. "Current residents would also benefit from development with employment opportunities for anyone from trades people to office personnel."

Belvidere, another rural community seeing growth, will experience an increased use of resources by residents of the new Four Seasons community.

With the distinction of being the Most Outstanding Manufactured Housing Community in Illinois, The Four Seasons development by Dream Homes is an attractive premanufactured-home community filled with flowers and beautiful landscaping. Amenities include a pool complex, lighted sidewalks and curving tree-lined streets.

Although beyond the community you see farmland for miles, community manager Glen Terrell considers Four Seasons more like small-town living. "Some of the residents call it Little Mayberry," he said. "You actually know your neighbors here. People wave and say hello, smile, say good morning, say good afternoon."

Residents, mostly 50 and older, enjoy old-fashioned neighborliness and a supportive neighborhood reminiscent of years gone by. A homeowners group plans social events for residents to meet their neighbors and make new friends.

With the production efficiency of manufactured housing, construction costs run about 35 percent less per square foot than a comparable site-built home.

New homes priced from $89,900 to $121,900 feature 1,100 to 1,800 square feet, three bedrooms, two baths, gourmet kitchens, cathedral ceilings, skylights, whirlpool baths, walk-in closets, major appliances, window treatments and 21/2-car garage.

These new communities may have a rural ambience, but sit just minutes from modern day conveniences.

"Close but not too close," Smith says of Cambridge Lakes. "That's the really nice thing about Pingree Grove. It has a rural ambience; yet Randall Road is just down the street with all the shopping one would ever want. The train station is 10 minutes away. So you're in good shape with all the things you need. There's a brand new hospital on Randall Road. And you have easy access to I-90."

Henning Estates offers all the space and privacy of living in the Huntley countryside, but sits just 5 minutes from a Walgreens store and just a few miles from I-90.

At Four Seasons by Dream Homes - where residents sometimes take a picture of themselves next to a cornfield - shopping, restaurants and a medical facility are all within walking distance of the community.