WIU professor finds ‘paradise’

McDonough — When Mary Jensen purchased 90 acres of mostly wooded property around Spring Lake 21 years ago, she didn’t plan on eventually having a menagerie of animals — three American Saddlebred show horses, seven rescued standard poodles, a hound mix dog and assorted cats — but the property, which Jensen got “really cheap” in a bankruptcy sale, has become the perfect fit for her lifestyle.

Three years ago, Jensen, a curriculum and instruction professor at Western Illinois University who focuses on special education, cleared out about 15 acres and built a barn with three horses stalls, riding arena and an attached garage.

Jensen lives in a loft-like space above the barn, while the animals live below.

Her barn home is the result of her love of horses, which began about 11 years ago.

While living in a home on her property in Melwood subdivision next to Spring Lake, Jensen became interested in a saddlebred horses after meeting a well-known trainer, the late Pres Oder. She purchased a two-year-old Saddlebred, “Magic,” several months later and Oder stalled the horse in his Macomb barn.

With Oder as his trainer and rider, Magic won a number of shows and in 2001 the Reserve World Champion in Louisville, Ken., and Kansas City, Kan.

Oder rode Magic until he became too ill to keep training the horse, and Jensen then moved Magic to a barn in Carlock, where the trainer there taught her to ride. Jensen drove to Carlock several times a week to check on the horses.

Jensen purchased two other colts, “Wild Blue” and “Billie” and stalled them in Carlock until that trainer unexpectedly passed away.

Jensen then decided it was time to build her own barn, a home not just for the horses but for herself.

Working with Macomb contractor Kevin Kieffer, Jensen originally wanted to add living space off the side of the barn, but much of the land around the barn tilts down toward Spring Lake.

“There’s no flat land out here and to get space like that is almost impossible. Then I found it was a lot more economical to build up.”

While Jensen drew diagrams of the living space she wanted, Kieffer’s sense of design was vital.

“He put in suggestions along the way,” Jensen said. “When something didn’t make sense in a technical way, he helped. I keep telling him he should have an HGTV show. He would be a hit.”

The living space has one master bedroom and two smaller bedrooms, bathrooms in each bedroom, a large open living room and kitchen. High ceilings and dormer windows are featured throughout. French doors directly above the front barn doors open to a balcony overlooking the lake. A central portion of the balcony is screened in and open spaces are on either side.

Choosing colors for the interior was also done with Kieffer’s help.

“The thought of going to something like a Home Depot was a nightmare to me,” Jensen laughed, “so he brought in a color wheel and I flipped through that. So we were done with paint, tile and floor in like 15 minutes and I never had to go to a Menard’s. I was thrilled.”

Jensen chose pale earthy tones to match her natural surroundings and kitchen has moss green tiles above the counter space. Faux wood flooring is featured in the living room area and bedrooms.

Jensen’s three sisters came to help to choose furniture and appliances. Again wanting to avoid the experience of going to a large warehouse, Jensen decided to visit M & B Furniture in Bushnell. With the exception of an LL Bean bed frame in the master bedroom and a rocking chair, everything from a microwave to a washer and dryer set ended up being purchased at M & B.

“They were so welcoming,” Jensen said. “Beth Pierce (M &B’s business manager) came up to greet me as soon as we walked in the door.”

One of Jensen’s sisters and Pierce chose a rust red plaid sofa.

“Everything in here is so comfy to lounge on,” Jensen said about her living room furniture.

One thing that wasn’t purchased at M & B was a television — Jensen chooses not own one. While she has a computer and internet access at her WIU office, Jensen does not have it at home because her property isn’t wired for phone or ethernet cable lines. She thought about wireless internet access, but nixed the idea after learning she would have to cut down a couple of trees to receive the nearest wireless signal.

Jensen’s seven standard poodles and her hound dog are not allowed in the living space, so Jensen spends lots of time downstairs.

“I spend a lot of time downstairs,” she said. “There’s always something to do.”

Jensen rises every day at 4 a.m. and takes care of the dogs, horses and her property single-handedly. She does her own mowing of the land around the barn, using her own tractor, and brings in hay from the garage to feed the horses.

Every day she walks the poodles — Sam, Cody, Bailey, Quinn, Riley, Rory and Bama — and Hailey, the hound dog, down a path next to the lake and around a large ravine she hopes to someday clear out and fill with hundreds of hosta plants.

Jensen adopted her seven poodles from the Heart of America dog rescue in Moscow Mills, Mo., over the course of several years. Each dog has its own crate in the barn and because the land around her home is fenced in, when the weather permits Jensen leaves the front barn doors open and the dogs are free to wander outside.

Jensen has had many offers from people wanting to buy all or part of her 90-acre property, but so far has turned them all down, calling her life in the barn a “little piece of paradise.”