McCormick home opened to public for first time

The seemingly endless grassy landscape. The row after row of horse stables. The feeling of being in a place that's free from the confines of suburbia.

Maryann Wayland has experienced the charm and grandeur of St. James Farm on more than one occasion, often during private equestrian shows hosted on the private 607-acre property.

On Saturday, Butler joined her husband at an open house of the former Warrenville home of philanthropist Brooks McCormick.

It's the first time the public has been able to walk the grounds of much of the land, located along Winfield Road, just north of Butterfield Road.

"It certainly is something," Wayland said of the estate. "We've lived in this area for a while, so we've seen it before. We're trying to get an idea of how the forest preserve is going to use the land."

Forest preserve officials and other public dignitaries gathered outside of the property's horse stables Saturday to pay tribute to the efforts to acquire the St. James Farm as public space.

McCormick "didn't want the property to be turned into condos," forest preserve President Dewey Pierotti said. "Imagine what that would have done to the infrastructure of DuPage County."

Forest preserve officials have said they're still trying to develop a plan for how the property will be used, but there will likely be a strong equestrian presence, reflecting its former owner's main leisure pursuit.

That idea seemed just fine to Mary Alice Bartlett, a Naperville resident who works at a therapeutic equine farm in Winfield.

"I've seen quite a few people who I've worked with walking the grounds," she said.

Butler and her husband, Ray, had hoped to bike the grounds for the day, but were stopped by forest preserve workers.

"I guess it matters on who you run into," she said. "With so many people around, they asked us to walk. … But it's OK. The place is gorgeous, and the weather helped."

The open house will continue today and Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.