Neighborhood profile: Haddonfield, Carol Stream

When Jay Stream established Carol Stream in the 1950s, he envisioned a place where residents could live, work and play. Today the village's neighborhoods reflect Stream's dream of a model family community.

The Haddonfield neighborhood offers affordable homes, good schools, convenient location and an abundance of recreation.

When Pulte Homes began construction of the new homes north of Lies Road, west of County Farm Road and east of Woodlake in the early 1990s, Brian and Paulette Sokolowski became one of its early residents.

“We were the first house on the block with no one west of us,” Brian Sokolowski said. “We had young kids at the time, and when families started moving in, we all started looking out for one another.”

Attracted to the neighborhood because of its affordability, good schools and park district, the couple purchased a new three-bedroom home with basement.

“At one time we thought about moving to a larger home, but we loved it here so much that we had a fourth bedroom built,” Sokolowski said. “It's not a huge house, but big enough to raise a family and have people over and feel comfortable.

“Throughout the years, it's been a very good neighborhood. Heritage Lakes (elementary school) is right down the block, and Glenbard North and the park district at Simkus (Recreation Center) are right there.

“The neighborhood has everything families are looking for, and it's a nice environment for raising kids.”

Real estate broker Tony Stefancic and his family have been residents of Haddonfield for 21 years. Their home features 2,300 square feet, two-story foyer, master bedroom with good size bath, finished basement, two-car garage and an added sunroom in the back of the home.

“We love this neighborhood. It's very diverse in regard to ages, families and culture,” Stefancic said. “And we have an annual block party where we always see new residents.

“Our children could walk to the elementary school, and we're less than a mile away from the high school. We have quality schools, and they're nearby, which has been very nice for us.

“Also, the park district has Simkus Rec center right across County Farm Road with a fitness center, gym, and they even have a second gym that they built into a gymnastics center.”

The Simkus center is also home to the community's aquatic center.

Neighborhood amenities include a walking path along the exterior of the development and a lot of outdoor activity around Heritage Lake with a walking path around the lake itself.

The neighborhood has good access to shopping, grocery stores, hardware store, banks, fast food — anything you need is within a quarter of a mile, Stefancic said.

There's good access to main thoroughfares. Army Trail Road gets you to I-355, and traveling north on County Farm Road leads to the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway.

Although homes in Haddonfield were once approaching $400,000, they're down now by 25 to 30 percent, Stefancic said. “We've even seen that with the custom homes around the lake.

“On the positive side, we're seeing a lot more real estate activity, and I recently sold a home on Royal Glen that wasn't a short sale.

“Today the consumer is inundated with information on the Internet,” Stefancic said. “Our challenge is to educate them as to what is good information and what is not good information. I'll be working with buyers, and they'll say ‘Let me go online.' People look at different sites, but what they don't realize is the error factor there.”

<b>Price range: </b?$225,000 to $280,000

<b>Age of homes: </b>20 years old

<b>Schools: </b>Heritage Lakes Elementary and Stratford Middle schools in Carol Stream Elementary District 93 and Glenbard North High School in Glenbard Township High School District 87

<b>Parks: </b>Carol Stream Park District