Abandoned $20M Mansion - Horizon Farm in Barrington Hills
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- Опубліковано 7 кві 2022
- In this video, we will be exploring one of the best abandoned mansions in Illinois. Untouched from thieves and vandals. This Huge Mansion was unbelievably breathtaking!!!
Horizon Farm in Barrington Hills, Illinois was once the home to William and Jane McGinley. The 400-acre farm was Successful in breeding and boarding Horses It held three of the state's top stallions. The McGinley's were not making a profit from the farm but the son, Robert McGinley, said they enjoyed the horse business as a hobby. The family had a long-standing interest in racehorses, fox hunts, and the conservation of open land.
Sadly, William passed away in 2001 and Jane passed away in 2003. After their passing, the horse farm was temporarily closed. Two of the three children live out of state. Robert wanted to protect the land and keep it as a wildlife sanctuary. The McGinley family decided to sell the farm to the Cannon’s in 2006.
The Cannon’s bought Horizon Farm for $20 million, taking out a $14.5 million loan to finance the deal. But the couple defaulted on the loan and the property entered foreclosure.
The forest preserves bought the farm out of foreclosure for $14 million in 2013 and briefly opened it as public land. Legal challenges to the foreclosure proceedings, however, closed the land to public use. After a decade-long court battle, in 2019, a judge ruled the Forest Preserve can take ownership of the land. The Cannon’s continued to fight for the land and tried to prove they can pay off the debt by using the land.
The legal battles ended in 2021 and the Mansion was demolished in 2022 only a couple days ago.
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Time Stamps
1:15 - Intro
1:58 - Guest House
4:07 - Upstairs Bedrooms
6:20 - Old Photos
7:30 - Basement
8:24 - Mansion
8:52 - Kitchen
9:07 - Small Living Room
9:52 - Alarms
13:49 - Living Room
11:57 - Dining Room
14:11 - Pool Room
15:28 - Master Bathroom and Safe
16:41 - Master Bedroom
17:37 - Office
19:46 - Pink and Yellow Bedroom
20:12 - Spiral Staircase to the top
21:25 - Moldy Basement
22:52 - Horse Farm
27:30 - Horse Track
Friends in this video:
Alex & Matt
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About: Decayingmidwest creates abandoned & exploration videos on this channel. Subscribe to see what was left behind, forgotten, and decaying in the Midwest!
DISCLAIMER: Exploring abandoned and decaying places is very dangerous and can lead to injury or even legal consequences if you are not properly prepared. Get permission from the land owner before exploring places like these and be extra cautious when exploring alone. Wear the proper exploring gear and always let someone know where you are.
The code of urbex (urban exploration) is to leave the location just as you found it. Don't steal anything, vandalize, or spray paint. Take only pictures and leave only footsteps. - Розваги
I was an intern at Horizon Farms in 2001. I was never in the mansion/guest house, but it's a shame all that history was lost. The paintings, etc. The first barn you enter was the mare and foal barn. At the far end, there was a breeding area, small bedroom, washing facilities. The second barn (the "nicer" one) with the attached office was the foaling barn. This is where most of the babies were born and then moved to the mare/foal barn. The staff room is where we'd meet in the morning, prepare meds, etc. The third held some stallions and misc horses when I was there. The first stall on the right that you called the "racetrack horse" was home to Unreal Zeal, who was the top IL Thoroughbred sire at the time. He passed in 2006. The training track also held polo matches in the summers. I worked for a polo player that summer too and spend many hours on that track. I cannot thank you enough for this video. The barns literally made me cry. I have so many good memories of this place.
Awesome up date. I was going to look them up to see the TB racehorses history.
Hopefully, someone took out the good stuff before they were bulldozed to the ground, so sad. I wish someone would have saved the property it was an excellent piece of history that my home state lost so sad . What happens when you pass away? Everything gets deleted like you were never even there. 😢
Thank you. I'm sorry for how hard it was for you to see that.
THEY HIT THE SECOND BARN 💀
I always think of how a family/couple worked so hard to build a home & farm...then after they pass away the family just allows so many memories to die amongst the vines, dust & decay. It makes you really grasp the saying "you can't take it with you when you're gone".
As a horse person, this makes me especially sad. There were so many great pieces of equestrian art that I know other horse lovers would have wanted. Not to mention a lot of nice pieces of antique furniture, amongst the less nice stuff.
I totally agree!
Agreed. There's so much furniture that could be upcycled for lower income families too. We see a wasteful society.
I know! I was looking at the old pictures of this beautiful farm. I'd love to have a beautiful working horse ranch like this one day & my dream would be to rescue elderly Arabians. 🐴🐎❤
Should be against the law, honestly. Along with all the items & furnishings inside, they could have donated the doors, windows, appliances, etc. to Habitat for Humanity.
At 11:05 that beautiful piece of wood furniture is likely worth a lot of money. There was a lot of things in this house that were valuable
It’s always additionally eerie when these homes are fully furnished and looking for someone to love them and live in them. If I was homeless I’d find a place like this.
this would not be a good place to be homeless. homeless people gather in cities for a reason, you need access to a lot of things that you won't get in an isolated farm mansion with no functioning amenities
Some people are just plain stoopid😂😂😂
not in this case, this is all farm land, you can grow food, and the land most likely is based off well water. can have free food and water with minimal work. plus you have great shelter and warmth. the only problem would be the neighbors calling the cops lol@@trentdawg2832
It’s strange the house is just unlocked for anyone to come in. These guys are technically breaking and entering
@@Slammaa What are homeless people gonna get in cities?? Everything in this world costs money
Wonderful clip..as always. However, I am in utter disbelief that none of the furnishings were either sold or given to a charity. Even on dealth row this establishment is jaw dropping magnificent.
This is so very sad that the kids didn't bother to come get their parents personal stuff out. It's a beautiful property with some beautiful furniture in it. So many memories😢
Maybe their parents weren't nice or loved them who knows we can't compare people.
@@AAA-uy2ob So? If my parents were shit I would 100% profit off their stuff after they were gone.
They had every opportunity to get what they wanted/what was important. He passed in 2001, farm sold in 06.
They're probably rich kids with plenty of their own stuff to worry about...
Gotta minimize at some point
@@AAA-uy2ob Who the F said anything about comparing?. And before you come for me for replying a whole damn year later someone just replied to my original post.
Side note , his friend being so worried about the alarm system and the police is a mood🤣
As a kid I used to drive by this place quite often while it was operational. The property was almost always obscured in the summer by the trees on the side of the road. In the winter you could get a pretty good view of the property. It's almost unimaginably large. It's really sad this property had to be demolished. Having been one of the premier race/show horse breeding center in the US, I can't help but feel bad that all that history has been torn down.
😢 at least the land is being preserved!
wow😮
I had a limo service back in the 80's and we picked up family there for runs to the airport, so sad to see this end the way it did. Tearing it down in such nice condition is insanity.
That's awesome to hear from people who knew this home back in its glory days.
There was a lot of water damage from a flood at one time i believe.
Yes. Unfortunately living in the house with that level of black mold downstairs would make anyone seriously ill or even kill you. So sad to see such a beautiful place go to waste and be destroyed. At least it was well love and enjoyed in it's prime.
Abandoned homes have so much history inside. It truly breaks my heart that they didn't take the time to empty the property before demolishing it! Things could have been restored. 😔
This just makes me extremely sad, I just wanted to cry. So much history is being lost. It also makes me wonder why their family didn't care.
Thanks guys for documenting this so it, hopefully, won't be completely forgotten.
Great video at Horizon Farm- William McGinley Estate. It is completely gone now. The original estate home was to the left of the larger home. It is still standing and will always be owned by his son Robert. Robert really fought hard to keep the land in a Barrington Conservation Trust so it would never be developed. And yes, I believe all personal, priceless possessions were taken out of the house before it was demolished. Robert would never let cherished family belongings with so much equestrian history go into the garbage. It used to be the AC Buehler Estate/ Fernwood Farm. I remember looking at ponies there as a child. It was a smaller, but still elegant farm. William McGinley then bought it and turned it into the top thoroughbred rehabilitation facility in the US. All of the stables, outbuildings, caretakers homes, pastures etc. that he built were perfection- so absolutely beautiful and magnificent!! Everything is gone. Everything except a barn and the outdoor race track. You would have had quite an adventure and video exploring the massive property and the many buildings when they were still standing!! They were a very nice family!! And the gorgeous land has been saved by the Cook County Forest Preserve and now I can take long walks around the property remembering how incredible it was from the AC Buehler Estate to the McGinley Estate. Buildings get old and a large equestrian facility is VERY expensive to repair and run. Anything having to do with a horse is!! So, it's not sad because the beauty and equestrian history of the property will always be preserved. It is now open for everyone to relive memories and enjoy!!!!
Thank you for sharing the details about the estate!! I live near Buehler YMCA on Northwest Highway and I didn't realize there were connections behind it. I will have do more research on AC Buehler Estate. As a horse guy, I love reading about equestrians and the history in NW suburbs. I have met Robert a couple of times. He still rides horses. Nice guy!!
@@whitesoxrules Thank you for reading my comment. Here is a link to an article that you might enjoy about the Buehler family and Fernwood Farm which then became the McGinley's Horizon Farm. drive.google.com/file/d/1BEB1hH2i_jvmf8Grt7IVlqaV50P95OZW/view?usp=drivesdk.
If it won't open Google AC Buehler Fernwood Farm. The article was written by Barbara Benson for Quintessential Barrington Magazine.
Thank you Matt for doing this farm. I grieve for the original family. As a horse person it makes me ill to see their life’s work be bulldozed. Once again thanks for showing the barns and memories for a lot of folks.
I grew up horseback riding right next to the place and was always in awe at how extravagant the entire grounds were.. so sad to hear the story on how it got abandoned
This is one of the most beautifully horse farms I’ve ever seen. A piece of history and now it’s all erased, extremely saddened and can only imagine it at its glory days!
I lived in barrington, IL growing up, Ive been the horizon farms once with a friend and her family as they had a horse there, they loved in barrington hills. Such a beautiful place, Its a shame what has happened to it.
I love seeing the elements from the past that the next generation would never recognize. The boombox, cord telephone & when they go into older properties-snuffboxes, chamber pots, Hurricane lanterns. My grandparents raised me so I was exposed to 4 different generations views of technological advances. My grandma would still use a wash board until the late 80s.
Rarely does a video touch me like this one did. The beautiful architecture, the furniture, the horse stalls, the guest house. As a book lover, I saw those libraries and was just crushed. I don't understand why the forest preserve couldn't refurbish this home and the race track. This was one of the most beautiful estates and now it's just gone. Everything in it could have been given to charity or auctioned off. I'm just left with a bewildering "why?" The kids are worthless. Leaving all of that to just disappear into nothing is just...no one should be erased so thoroughly.
I believe they kept the race track but demolished everything else
I’m so sad this was demolished. I feel such a strange connection to this house’s decorations and aesthetic, it’s really awful something this beautiful was torn down. And it’s even more sad that so many personal belongings were left behind, as if the owners just disappeared into thin air and could walk back in and reúne life at any second
I dont get it the inside looks great why destroy this house
@@Harpoforver2024 For wildlife land
they moved to michigan
That's a beautiful mansion, so sad that they demolished it 😢
Wow the home was kept in beautiful shape for it to be 20 years not touched so much nostalgic stuff in the home 😍.
This is the absolute best explore I have ever seen from anyone. Ever. I have never felt the connection as I did here at this property nor been as devastated at a demolition. Great job, my midwestern friend
This is one I'm genuinely sad to see. What a cool time capsule. It's like something you'd see in a cool movie set in the late 90s
It's so sad to see such a beautiful mansion full of arts got abandoned and demolished
I live in Chicago. I love all this. It's so heartbreaking that it's gone.
This was the best one yet for me to have viewed. In beautiful condition considering how long it's been sitting.
This video gave me chills. Such a beautiful estate. I’m glad the land is being used for good purpose.
Off topic … you’ve got a perfect ASMR voice.
Randomly found this video and I live like 20 minutes from this place. Small world!
Hello from southeast Kentucky ❤ It breaks my heart to see such beautiful homes sit and wither away like this. So many amazing treasures left behind. I dream to see a beautiful place like this frozen in time. Thank you for sharing this with us and for being respectful of the property ❤
Sigh of relief in knowing everything is up for auction before being demolished! I would say it's hard to believe the estate run at a loss but there's a horse barn less than a mile from where we live that changes hands frequently! Families change, people change, times change! Sometimes it's hard to see or wonder how, to such a beautiful place as this! Also, it's wonderful to know it's going back to Nature as more and more too often goes to concrete. Thank you for the video
Good to know. I was hoping some of that amazing art and furniture could be saved
What amazing explore, loved it!
It's such a shame that it was demolished, such a beautiful place.
Those plushies sitting on the nearly pristine couches made me cry
Hi from Toronto Canada 🇨🇦. I really enjoyed your video. What a beautiful house. Incredible. Annoys me that it got demolished with nothing saved. What a waste. Really sucks. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for watching!
wow... I bet a lot of happy and nostalgic memories happened in that house
Usually before demolition they have restoration people come in and strip out all the good stuff. Including all the wood work, floors, doors. People pay big bucks for that good craftsmanship stuff. My heart would be doing everything possible to convince them to atleast save some of antiques.
Nothing was saved sadly demo was done in about 4 hours. Knocked everything over and hauled it off
@@decayingmidwest i is just really horrible that people do not see the sun shining through the clouds. That place was a dream to me.
I've seen this home explored a couple diff times, awesome seeing the pics of what the house was like back in its day an didn't have to look em up awesome stuff man💪
What a beautiful home! So sad that it’s gone.
What a gorgeous home! Sad that it was demolished it looks like it is in good condition despite the age and if someone could by it. I can totally see them fixing up the home a bit (since it looks like it’s in good shape for the most part) and able to have big home!
What a complete and utter sham to destroy a home such as that!
That cable phone in the bathroom is so early 2000. This house was really loved by the owners
Wow. This place is amazing to see. Unreal that's it got so many beautiful pieces there again WOW!!!!
It really is!
You Are the very best astounding .... When you went up those spiral stairs i was cheering you on ....thank you 😔
Yall found an amazing and beautiful place I loved that guest house
That was a beautiful house and guest house. I sure hope that all the furnishings and many of the fixtures were removed and saved before it was demolished. The inside of that house was in pretty good repair and with a new roof and a major cleanup in the basement they probably could have saved the house, such a shame that it's gone.
Nothing was salvaged
@@decayingmidwest :/
@@decayingmidwest--So all the furniture, TVs, appliances, paintings, china dishes, Persian rugs, lamps, and books were just destroyed?
I love all the eighties wallpapers in both houses! I loved everything! Beautiful homes😢
What a beautiful home. Such ashame it was demolished. Would love to have that horse barn
Sayang na Bahay.
Natutunan ko sa buhay na ito ,mamuhay ng simple dahil d mo madadala Ang karangyaan sa hukay o kamatayan.sayang
Can't believe that they have destroyed this beautiful place. The furniture is awesome also
It's to beautiful to tear down. Breaks my heart
Sent here from BigBankz! This was a pretty cool explore. I enjoyed your style & I especially appreciate you saying that you never break stuff. So sad this place was not treasured by the children & ended up destroyed. Happy it will not become endless McMansions.
Thanks for watching! So sad it’s gone but at least the land will be used for good!
Wow that property and home was beautiful!
thanks for this video, fascinating since I grew up in northern IL yet somehow never knew of it - and so heartbreaking for obvious reasons
One of my best friend's father worked at Horizon Farm in the 80s. They lived in what looked like an airplane hanger. Very modest
This was fascinating, thanks you guys
Sad seeing such a beautiful property be demolished...
I know 😔
22:46 literally the best thing in the house i was looking every where for a french provincial vanity and its the same version im looking for rip
so many things in this place I love and would have bought if I had the money - its devastating that everything from all the furniture to that fantastic spiral staircase and intricate doors/frames was all just obliterated in one day :(
Such a beautiful house with such beautiful history. Too bad it had such a sad ending..
I hate these sad stories that usually come down to greed in the end! Sad, sad, sad & wasteful! I love the guest cottage!
I've seen this place before.Cannot for the life of me remember who showed it.It had a very very cute red/salmon/green coloured bathroom in the corridor leading to the pool? ,with toilet,basin,taps, wallpaper and mirrors all matching.Also the door leading to this corridor was a iron /glass artsy thing that I loved.Pure early 90s joy.Drives me nuts not finding it back now...
i saw it too and LOVED that fabulous powder room. I'll check my History & let you know if I find it.
I'm only just starting the video & was just getting the sense I'd seen this on a previous explore.
Great video and fantastic home, very sad ending unfortunately
So sad... however I am sure they enjoyed the heck out of that place. Beautiful. Thank you for the share. All those items were bulldozed ? What a shame.
So much BLACK MOLD... yuck.
It is so sad to see such a beautiful place being tore down.
What am awesome house. I keep thinking that so much of it is in better shape than my house. So sad to see it torn down.
It should be illegal to destroy a thing of beauty. You've done a great video and I'm appreciative.
That’s a shame that all of the nice furniture and home goods were not salvaged. There were beautiful furnishings in there. Sooo sad. 😔
Sad that the kids didn’t auction off some of the beautiful stuff inside. It’s all about the money sometimes.. so much history lost… thanks for sharing!
Not about money at all the family took less so the land was preserved the second owners I can’t give you info on but they let it like this...
I so wish they would’ve restored the farm and opened it to the public instead of just letting it fall apart how they have. It’s such a beautiful property, it’s sad to drive by and see the whole place falling apart.
This is so sad, it breaks my heart
This was definitely one to remember!
Yes it was!
I would’ve have loved to have so much of that furniture. I hope it was salvaged 🫠
Wow so much nice furniture and items that could have been donated. Sad to see a nice property get tore down.
It is to bad a lot of those things could have been used again. I thought I saw some leather chairs. The guest house was lovely. Thanks
It's a shame it's been demolished such a beautiful place. Why didn't the family at least donated the furniture? So many people in need and those beds looked in so good condition. If the place was demolished what did they do with everything that was inside? Thanks Matt. So interesting to see this. God bless you 🙏 ❤️
This makes me so sad. Such a beautiful home with so much life and love left to give. To demolish the home and everything in it is such a waste. So many less fortunate families could have given new life into the furniture and books, etc left in the home. Everything looks to be in great shape considering the circumstances. I wonder what happened to it all.
I’m so sad, it was a beautiful place.
Thanks
That is a good looking home 🏘️
Hey the family got what they wanted. Preserved open land
Amazing place brilliant video 👊
Thank you!
They should have opened up for auction the things inside. There are pieces that I would have loved myself.
Just discovered your channel and love it. I know I'm very late to the party, but how in the f could this property not have been rehabbed!?
So beautiful and sad.😥
Place is gorgeous
Feel sorry ..
Such a beautiful building ..
How incredibly sad that this was torn down. From Bankz channel I found your link and had to see the inside. It wasn't until the pool area that I realized I had seen it before. You can't mistake the hallway when you walk out, so elegant or the portrait of the owner over the fireplace. And the office with the planes on the desk. I do believe he owned his own plane. At some place I think there was an map of the grounds showing the house, and fields for the horses (I may be mistaken) it has been a while since I saw it. And I think that was the video where they found the safe and locked it. I follow quite a few UE but only watch a couple regularly. Only a few in the US. I would have never in a million years thought they would have torn it down. All the books and antiques and furniture, I wonder did it get removed? Some looked like they could have been first editions and being millionaires, I wouldn't doubt it. I had not seen the guest house though. It is such a loss to the US to let something that beautiful just be torn down. How will we ever increase our history for our children if we keep tearing everything down? Take the UK, buildings and homes that go back centuries are still standing. We have some beautiful historical pieces now in the United States but for every decade that passes lately, something more extravagant comes along and they just flatten whatever was there before to build more - whether bigger or to put more than one dwelling on. At least videos like these will exist to carry on their legacy. Take care, Stay safe & God bless💕Kat
I had a feeling he owned a plane! The furnishings were not saved sadly.
There seems to be little desire to preserve history. So much is demolition with little thought given to what created.
You are correct the owners portrait was above the fire place, the original owners family now have it. And yes the owner had multiple jets, he was the founder and CEO of MEI for 55 years. It’s sad this property, the key largo property and the lake Geneva property have all been demoed or remodeled.
I would have loved a lot(all of it) of the furniture & memories left behind.
I know the children lived out of state but I mean why not take some of the belonging with them. It was beautiful items! 😭
This mansion has potential to be great 😎
Wtf is wrong with those kids?!! Why wouldn't they go and take some mementos at least. God, such waste on such a grand scale. We truly are a throw away society.
$20m seems like a bargain for 400 acres
This would have been a great investment to remodel and refresh and bring back to life, what a waste to demolish this 😢
The good thing is the owners, the McGinleys, had the foresight to do the legal work required to keep the property preserved and never turned into a housing nightmare. I believe the family thought the buyer would continue to preserve the property. This is the result of the so called rich living beyond their means. The end result was the buildings being demolished. I love that this will forever be a forest preserve.
I think the son was actually the one who filed all the paperwork to protect the land!
@@decayingmidwest Yes, it was Robert McGinley who got the preservation protection. And thank God. A.C. Buehler, who owned the farm, which was Fernwood Farm then, and who lived in the house before the McGinley's, would turn over in his grave if he knew the house was demolished. I lived on the farm as a kid from 1970-1973. We lived in the caretaker's house and rented it from Mr. Buehler. I cried when I found out the Cook County Forest Preserve would be tearing down our house.
@@dawnwolfe4249 thank you for the backstory! I was pretty sad when I seen it was demolished as well even tho I knew it was going to happen
This is 100% true! We approved only a trusted family friend, who ended up not fallowing through from even day 1. So from 2006-22 it sat untouched 😕
@@dawnwolfe4249 this is the same farm but the house modified to the mcginleys specifications and rebuilt I believe in 1978...
18:10 love that red set of setting
wow this would be my dream property . So sad.
Such a beauty away from.regular public eye I wished it was saved
Your video is soo much better and more respectful than "the people who found the coins and jewelry". I was very interested to see the mansion but found it pretty annoying listening to that group carrying on like 14yr olds the entire time. Nice to be able to see everything and enjoy the cinematography. Good stuff.
spectacular
If I had the money I would buy this in a heart beat! Gorgeous! Sad that it was Abandoned😢and now it's going to be Demolish, breaks my heart 💔smh.
Already demolished before the video was posted!
@@decayingmidwest 😢😭
This was a great find. Thanks for sharing this amazing video. It's a shame to see all the great stuff that was left behind. I hope some of it went to good use rather than a land fill. How long after you filmed the video that they demolished the property ? Thanks again !
Sadly everything went to the landfill.
I feel like I’m in a video game watching this
Nice town😎👍