The longtime Bolger Farm and its horse boarding operations have been put out to pasture.

The Bolger family sold their pleasant stretch of land — 35 acres or so along Leask Lane near the south side of Wheaton — to the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County last year. Firefighters have been using the property for training exercises. Now, the main residence and equestrian facilities are set to meet the wrecking ball.

“In line with the district’s mission to return property back to open space, this property is now being scheduled for demolition,” said Brock Lovelace, the district’s engineering manager.

The district’s $12 million purchase of the property — also known as Gladstone Ridge by the brick columns at the entrance to a long driveway — provides what the conservation agency has called the “open space link” between the Morton Arboretum and the Danada Forest Preserve, another home for horses.

Such contiguous natural spaces, the district has said, create “vital wildlife corridors” where animals can move freely. The Bolger property is surrounded on roughly three sides by Danada and the arboretum, a sanctuary for trees to the south.

Just across the street from the Danada trail system and Rice Lake, the site contains a home with a full basement, as well as an in-ground swimming pool, a two-story apartment building, multiple horse barns, farm sheds and two miles of fencing, Lovelace said.

The forest preserve board has hired Earthwerks Land Improvement & Development Co. to do the demolition work. The contract with Earthwerks is expected to cost up to $296,001.

Weather and other factors permitting, the district expects to have the buildings demolished by the end of the year, with all remaining work, including restoration, completed by Memorial Day.

Commissioner Jeff Gahris asked about what happens after the buildings are removed. Lovelace called a natural resource management plan a “whole separate story.”

Forest Preserve District President Daniel Hebreard expects there will be a long-term plan for “this project as part of Danada’s master plan.”

“But I’m just excited to see the connection to the arboretum there at the bottom and our property at the top,” he added.

At capacity, the Bolger family boarded about 50 horses on the property. The late Helen and Vincent Bolger — they had six children, four daughters and two sons — were also a social couple and hosted barn dances.

“My mom and dad have left us a legacy that now we get to pass on to the rest of the community,” one of their daughters said last year.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251119/news/demolition-set-for-former-bolger-farm-near-wheaton/