HIstory of Elawa Farm

The Elawa Farm Group was built in 1917 for A. Watson Armour, a member of one of Chicago's oldest and most distinguished families, and is considered architecturally significant as a rare representative example of a Lake Forest gentleman's farm. It is also noteworthy for its fine design and for its association with two very significant architects: David Adler and Alfred Hopkins. Adler and Howard Van Doren Shaw are generally considered the North Shore's premier estate architects. Hopkins, a New York architect who is known to have designed only two farm groups in Illinois, is the acknowledged authority on estate farm complexes, and has been called the "unquestioned dean of Farm group architecture." Historically the farm group built for Armour was known as ELAWA FARM, a composite of ELsa and A. Watson Armour and subsequently as LeWa Farm, named for Lelia and Wallace Carroll, who purchased the property in 1954.  

The buildings forming the main farm group have been restored and adapted for today's use to preserve Elawa Farm as a stunning example of estate farm architecture and a unique gem of Lake Forest.