The Greene Farm
Last week I toured the Greene Family Homestead at Greene Valley Forest Preserve. Tom Brown, Herb Nadelhoffer, Marylou Wehrli, Alex Greene, Mike Palazzetti and I explored the house and then the barn. It was very interesting to hear Tom relate life growing up here. The original home and barn date back to the 1850's, yep, pre-Civil War. Over the years, each had additions.
A few points of interest: The stone foundation of the barn arrived in the following way. Over the winter they would cut ice from the river and then haul it into town to sell. Then they would go to the quarry and purchase stone to bring back to the farm. Evidently, it took a couple of years to get as much stone as was needed. The barn had originally had oak beams pieced together with wooden pegs. Most likely they were white oak, but I have noticed quite a bit of burr oak in the area. As you toured the barn you see the change of wood to pine. Steel bolts took the place the wooden pegs. The rafters were changed over the years, too. Just west of the house are several concrete items. Adjacent to the house is the remnant foundation of the summer kitchen. The hitching post has the same pattern as the tin siding in the kitchen, as that is what they used for the forms. A concrete step is just north of the post, and was used to step up into a buggy.
Tom was in town to receive an honor for the master plan for downtown Naperville, and deserves much of the credit for envisioning the RiverWalk. Herb had arranged with me the opportunity to tour the property. Mike is the Director, Office of Land Management for the District. In part, this meeting included the opportunity to make the barn available for public use, as was the dream of Bill Greene when he gave/sold the land to the Forest Preserve District. I like the idea and will explore with staff the opportunity, perhaps as a nature education center. I have several irons in the fire to include other local municipalities and entities to partner as stake holders in this endeavor. I will have more on this soon.
Meanwhile, I am starting to read two books that Herb gave to me, written by Bill Greene, 'Dear Progeny' and 'The Greenes on the East Branch'. It is interesting to view the history of DuPage through the eyes of this man's family.
A few points of interest: The stone foundation of the barn arrived in the following way. Over the winter they would cut ice from the river and then haul it into town to sell. Then they would go to the quarry and purchase stone to bring back to the farm. Evidently, it took a couple of years to get as much stone as was needed. The barn had originally had oak beams pieced together with wooden pegs. Most likely they were white oak, but I have noticed quite a bit of burr oak in the area. As you toured the barn you see the change of wood to pine. Steel bolts took the place the wooden pegs. The rafters were changed over the years, too. Just west of the house are several concrete items. Adjacent to the house is the remnant foundation of the summer kitchen. The hitching post has the same pattern as the tin siding in the kitchen, as that is what they used for the forms. A concrete step is just north of the post, and was used to step up into a buggy.
Tom was in town to receive an honor for the master plan for downtown Naperville, and deserves much of the credit for envisioning the RiverWalk. Herb had arranged with me the opportunity to tour the property. Mike is the Director, Office of Land Management for the District. In part, this meeting included the opportunity to make the barn available for public use, as was the dream of Bill Greene when he gave/sold the land to the Forest Preserve District. I like the idea and will explore with staff the opportunity, perhaps as a nature education center. I have several irons in the fire to include other local municipalities and entities to partner as stake holders in this endeavor. I will have more on this soon.
Meanwhile, I am starting to read two books that Herb gave to me, written by Bill Greene, 'Dear Progeny' and 'The Greenes on the East Branch'. It is interesting to view the history of DuPage through the eyes of this man's family.
posted by Carl at 12:52 PM
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