Mills Park and Pleasant Home

Mills Park occupies the heart of the 4.5 acre estate where grand gardens, a carriage house, and a fountain once stood at Pleasant Home. John Farson welcomed 2,000 guests here for his Rose Fete, which featured an operetta amid twinkling lights and red and white roses. Architect George W. Maher supervised the landscape design, with gardens graded to slope south from the house and wide stone steps flanked by palm trees leading to the fountain. Beyond the fountain stood a circular annual garden that remains visible today, and a seating area there reflects one that stood in the same location more than a century ago. In the background stood a clubhouse that John Farson built for his sons. Pleasant Home, also known as the John Farson House, served as the private home of John and Mamie Farson from 1897 to 1910 and of Herbert and Leonie Mills from 1910 to 1939. The estate has been owned by the Park District of Oak Park since 1939 and operated by the Pleasant Home Foundation since 1990. Designed by George W. Maher in 1897, Pleasant Home is a National Historic Landmark, and Mills Park, named after the second owners, includes historic, natural, and discovery zones.

Oak Park, Illinois · United States