When Colonel George Fabyan and his wife Nelle bought significant acreage in northern Illinois, they had a home built for them by Frank Lloyd Wright, a home that after their deaths became the Fabyan Villa Museum. Col. Fabyan also had a Japanese garden constructed, which today is open to the public, and it is a peaceful and quiet refuge from everyday life.

In the 1920s, the Colonel had a large Dutch windmill moved from its original site and onto his land; one of the few wind-powered windmills in the United States, it is built from cypress wood and dates back to the 1850s. Around the windmill is park land ideal for picnics. The entire Fabyan estate is on the banks of the Fox River and adjacent to the Fox River Trail, and so it is a wonderful destination for fishing, walking, and cycling.

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