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Trout Valley, the Hertz Estate, and Curtiss Farm (Images of America: Illinois)

Amazon.com Price:  $17.49 (as of 02/05/2019 11:54 PST- Details)

Description

John D. Hertz, of rental car fame, found out Trout Valley (then part of unincorporated McHenry County) within the 1920s. He built a mansion, barns, and polo grounds at the banks of the Fox River, calling his new country estate Leona Farms. Famous landscape architect Jens Jensen designed its scenic landscape, fishing streams, and ponds. Here Hertz raised racehorses, including two Kentucky Derby winners, and hosted Gatsby-like parties for the wealthy and famous, including Myrna Loy, Will Rogers, and Walt Disney. Eleanor Roosevelt was once once a guest too. In 1943, Hertz sold his estate to Otto Schnering, of Baby Ruth and Butterfinger fame, who reworked the grounds from a lush playground to the headquarters of a 10,000-acre farming operation. Old-timers still understand that Schnering’s six-pony hitch wearing joy-filled passengers down Main Street, the state of the art livestock arena, and the trophy-winning cattle raised at Curtiss Farm.

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