Lake in the Hills Considers Next Step at Horse Stable

The Lake in the Hills Village Board will meet tonight to discuss what's next for a village-owned horse stable on Pyott Road. 

The Strategic Planning and Organization Topic Meeting will start at 6 p.m. at , where trustees will go over potential ideas for use of a now-vacated equestrian center as well as a home on the Larsen property at 1109 Pyott Road.

The village-owned stable is on 9.5 acres and includes two indoor riding arenas, 57 stalls and an attached hay and storage barn. There is also an outdoor riding arena and an office. 

The stable is located on a 27-acre property also owned by the village and site of a pole barn into which the Algonquin/Lake in the Hills Interfaith Food Pantry recently moved.

The village rents out a home on the property, which also contains a pond and gazebo.

The horse stable on the property had been rented out to Somerset Sport Horse Equestrian Center until the business’s departure in February 2012. When those tenants moved out, the stable was left in disarray, with debris and piles of manure left behind. 

The village has listed the horse stable for rent. While the village has received inquiries to use the facility for a paintball park and for an equestrian therapy center, neither inquiry has gone any further, according to village documents. 

History of Property

Gordon Larsen and his wife, Joann, once owned the 27-acre property on Pyott Road.

Both were influential in the village and Gordon Larsen was a well-known developer and businessman in Lake in the Hills for decades. Both since have passed away

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In April 2002, the village of Lake in the Hills bought the 27 acres for $2.6 million and immediately took possession of the pond, gazebo and the equestrian center, which was managed by Spring Hill Riding School. 

Spring Hill leased the property through July 2004. Somerset Sport House Equestrian Center took over the property in July 2004 and stayed until February 2012.

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Tell us: What do you think should be done with the horse stable on the village-owned Larsen property? Sound off in the comments' section.