Neighborhood profile: Hunters Hill
Fourteen years ago, Janet Panozzo found an idyllic place to live and the lifestyle she wanted at Hunters Hill in St. Charles. The home was beautiful, but for Panozzo, it was all about the lot — a lot where 50 pine trees provided a stunning picture of natural beauty next to the Great Western Trail nature path.
“It was so different and beautiful — I just fell in love with it,” Panozzo said. “And 50 pine trees that look so natural — I’ve only seen that in northern Wisconsin.
“I looked in other subdivisions, but they didn’t have the country atmosphere that I wanted. It’s just lovely here.”
Panozzo, who moved from Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, loves the scenic countryside views. “I don’t even have drapes on the windows in the back of the house. And during a remodeling project in 2007, I had part of the kitchen cut out (foregoing a lot of cabinet space) and put in the biggest window I could — to bring the outdoors in,” she said.
Although Panozzo enjoys the simplicity of the country, she also likes having easy access to the adjacent park, schools and shopping. “Kids can walk to the park for baseball and soccer games, and Little League kids walk to practice,” Panozzo said. “That is a very convenient aspect of living out here. Usually you can only do that in town.”
Panozzo also enjoys the small town of Wasco nearby, which has much more to offer now, including several new restaurants, she said. “There’s Italian, burger joints, Chinese, two coffee shops, Dairy Queen, and a new sushi place. They keep adding these nice touches, so I’m liking it more and more.”
Wasco, just a mile from Hunters Hill, offers other conveniences like banking, a hair salon, dry cleaners and post office, said Stephanie Doherty, a resident of the subdivision and real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.
“You can access Wasco by walking along the nature path, and I walk there all the time for breakfast or lunch,” Doherty said. “The path travels west to Sycamore and east into St. Charles and the LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve, and is great for those who enjoy a breathtaking nature walk or bike ride.”
A quiet area just 10 minutes from St. Charles, Hunters Hill offers a desirable place to raise a family in the beautiful Campton Township countryside, Doherty said.
The subdivision offers custom homes on one-acre-plus wooded lots that include ranches, 1½-story homes, two-stories, Georgians and Cape Cods. Some homes sit on the two large ponds within the subdivision.
Doherty, her husband Don and children had a home built in Hunters Hill in 1994. They liked the area so much that later they moved a block away into a ranch home that backs to the woods. “We have deer in our back yard and other wildlife,” Doherty said. “That’s why we bought the house.”
The Dohertys, who previously lived on the east side of St. Charles, decided to build a house in the country when their children were young. “We came out here and haven’t left. You can breathe here. We like the privacy. It’s not all the hustle and bustle of town. I love that too, but I like having a quiet place to come home to.
“My children grew up out here. They can play baseball with the neighborhood kids right in our yard because the lots are so big, and they don’t even have to go to the park.”
But for sports facilities, the subdivision sits adjacent to Anderson Park, which offers 50 acres of baseball and softball diamonds, batting cages, a soccer field, fitness trail, washrooms, picnic pavilion and a link to the Great Western Trail.
The park’s hillside overlooks the playing fields and the surrounding countryside, and in the winter, the park and its slopes are open for sledding and cross-country skiing.
Listing sheet
Price range: $375,000 to $750,000
Age of homes: 15 years old
Schools: Wasco Elementary, Thompson Middle and St. Charles North High schools in Community Unit District 303