Mill House Native
Plant Preserve
What You Can Find Here
Beautiful Native Plant Preserve with a Trout Stream Feeding Geneva Lake
As you enter the property, check out the Little Free Library to your left. The trail on your right will take you through the pollinator gardens, rain gardens, sloped gardens prairie and oak identification area, children's garden and bird sanctuary. At the back of the Mill House, you can choose to take the trail connecting Geneva Lake Conservancy land to the trails at the Hildebrand Conservancy, owned by the Village of Fontana, where you will find a clear trout stream. The Hildebrand Conservancy is protected by a conservation easement held by Geneva Lake Conservancy.
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History
On the one acre of land which includes its staff headquarters, known as the Mill House, Geneva Lake Conservancy began creation of its native plant preserve in 2021. Home to the original family who built a Mill on the adjacent creek in the 1800s the building itself is on the National Register of Historic Places because of its massive stove wood construction The gardens have been expanding over the past few years and continue to grow.
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The design for the project was provided by Landscapes of Place owned by Nancy Aten, a landscape architect, and Dan Collins, program manager, who work to restore native landscapes. The landscape design was funded by a generous grant from former Conservancy Board Member John Notz. The Conservancy staff and many volunteers have been involved in planting the initial gardens
