Glencoe

Glencoe is a small, historic Village (pop. 8,700) located approximately 20 miles north of Chicago. The Village was developed as a planned community around a central downtown serving as its main focal point. Outside of downtown the Village is primarily residential, its neighborhoods dotted with parks, schools, and houses of worship. The Village is nestled within a greenbelt. Three of its four borders are surrounded by natural and recreational open space – including the Chicago Botanic Garden, Cook County forest preserves, the Skokie Lagoons, one public and two private golf courses, and Lake Michigan with public beach access provided at Lakefront Park.

• Village of Glencoe
• Glencoe Chamber of Commerce
• Glencoe Park District
• Forest Preserves of Cook County

Character abounds in Glencoe. The tree-lined residential streets include a broad variety of architectural styles dating from the Village’s incorporation in 1869 to present day. Many of the homes were designed by noteworthy architects including Frank Lloyd Wright, Howard Van Doren Shaw, Robert Seyfarth, Keck & Keck, and many others. For the architecture enthusiast, a stroll through one of Glencoe’s neighborhoods is a treat.  

If the nostalgia of “Main Street” appeals to you, then Downtown Glencoe is the place to be. It continues to function as the central meeting place for residents with a great coffee shop and outdoor dining spots, a Jeanne Gang designed theatre, and shopping all within a few blocks. Behind the historic facades of this commercial center are several upscale restaurants, unique specialty stores, and a variety of salons and personal care services. While shopping downtown enjoy uninterrupted views of Lake Michigan from Park Avenue.

The ambiance of Glencoe is not only known to residents and visitors – it has also attracted Hollywood. Glencoe was the setting for the 1983 film Risky Business, starring Tom Cruise.  Scenes from the 1986 John Hughes film Ferris Bueller's Day Off were filmed in Glencoe including one scene at the Glencoe Beach, as were scenes from Sixteen Candles and Uncle Buck. The Glencoe train station is featured in scenes from Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, as well as John Hughes' She's Having a Baby.  The 2011 film Contagion featuring Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Matt Damon also has scenes that were filmed in Glencoe.

GLENCOE'S MUST-SEE CHECKLIST:

• Writers Theatre Center: The stunning Writers Theatre Center features two intimate performance spaces under one roof. A true “Theatre in a Park,” the center, designed by internationally renowned Studio Gang Architects includes access to surrounding parks, outdoor rooftop terraces and landscaped and rooftop gardens. A spacious main atrium with seating tribunes functions as a central gathering area for all.
• Downtown Glencoe: Nestled in the center of the Village, you'll find quaint tree-lined streets with upscale dining options including Guildhall and Hometown Coffee & Juice, as well as unique specialty stores and boutiques, and a variety of salons and personal care services.
• Chicago Botanic Garden: On the west side of the Village, the fifth most visited public garden in the United States offers many opportunities to enjoy earth’s bounty. The garden has matured into one of the world's great living museums and conservation science centers.  Last year, more than one million people visited the Garden's 27 gardens and four natural areas, uniquely situated on 385 acres on and around nine islands, with six miles of lake shoreline.
• The Skokie Lagoons are located in the Forest Preserves of Cook County to the immediate west of the Village. It features a bicycle trail that connects to other paths allowing bicyclists to travel as far south as Wilmette and north past Lake Forest.
• Glencoe Golf Club: The Glencoe Golf Club, a public golf course, was established in 1921 and became one of the first public golf courses and has grown to become one of the finest public golf facilities on the North Shore.
• Glencoe Beach: Right in Glencoe’s own backyard is Lake Michigan's most beautiful spot on the North Shore, Glencoe Beach. The beach is ideal for group and family outings, picnics, and a place to relax. Lifeguards are on duty daily during beach season Memorial Day through Labor Day. The Beach offers a playground and waterplay area for kids, full-service concessions, and a beach house with bathrooms and showers.
• Frank Lloyd Wright: The Village of Glencoe is home to 13 structures designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the third largest collection in the world. The majority are grouped together in the Ravine Bluffs subdivision, a housing development that Frank Lloyd Wright and landscape architect Jens Jensen collaborated on, built in 1915. Ravine Bluffs includes six Wright-designed single-family homes, three Wright-designed entrance sculptures marking the subdivision boundaries, and a bridge over a ravine, the only Wright-designed bridge ever built. Additional information on Frank Lloyd Wright’s work in Glencoe is available through the Glencoe Historical Society’s museum and archives.
• Bike & Walking Trails: Several regional trail systems lead to, connect with, and/or pass through the Village of Glencoe. The North Branch Trail is a 20-mile paved bicycle trail beginning at Devon Avenue in Chicago and ending at Dundee Road (Route 68) in Glencoe. Trailgoers may continue on after this point, passing through the Chicago Botanic Garden north to Lake Cook Road. A new multiuse trail meanders along Lake Cook Road through the McDonald and Turnbull Woods Forest Preserves and connects to the east with the Green Bay Trail at the Braeside Metra station. The 10-mile Green Bay Trail is a combination of paved and crushed limestone trail beginning in Wilmette and connecting with Lake County’s significant trail system to the north.

GETTING THERE:  
Glencoe is accessible by car or train, Metra’s Union Pacific North Line.
 

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