The Hurley Gardens

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of wealthy Chicagoans settled in an area of Wheaton, Illinois, dubbed the Chicago Colony. This enclave of homes was designed by renowned local architect Jarvis Hunt and surrounds the present-day Chicago Golf Club. One of these estates belonged to millionaire Edward Hurley.

The child of Irish immigrants, Hurley had humble beginnings and worked various odd jobs before landing on the idea that would ultimately change his life. Mr. Hurley made his fortune when, in 1896, he invented the first piston-type pneumatic drill, the jackhammer’s predecessor. By 1902, at age 38, he was a millionaire. Six years later, he founded the Hurley Machine Co., which manufactured the first self-contained electric washing machine.

The Hurley Gardens—a secluded park in the Adare Farm subdivision of Wheaton—covered 160 acres in its heyday. The estate was called East House, Adare Farm. The large Tudor style house near the gardens was the original residence. Mr . Hurley’s intention was that each of his children have house on the estate. One of these houses was donated to an order of nuns as a convent. During his time living at this Wheaton estate, Hurley served as president of the First National Bank of Wheaton. From 1915 to 1917, he served on the Federal Trade Commission as its chairman. He was also a confidant of President Woodrow Wilson during World War I; as a political adviser, he maintained the movement of American merchant vessels that supplied the war effort in Europe.

The restored gardens include a loggia, a fountain and reflecting pool, a gazebo, a pergola, and many flower-lined walkways. These elements of the estate were designed from 1910 to 1913 by an Italian landscape architect in the Neoclassical Revival style, an aesthetic which had received great popularity at Chicago’s 1893 Columbian Exposition. 

In 1991, the Hurley Gardens were officially named a Wheaton Historic Site. The community of Franciscan nuns, razed the house they used  in 2009 due to the increasing costs of upkeep. Today, all that remains of the Hurley estate are the gardens & the original house which has been subdivided into condominiums. The rest of the estate has been developed & the developement is called Adare Farm after the original estate name. The gardens have been preserved and restored as a park by the city of Wheaton.