Lazy 8 Ranch offers a secluded getaway near Illinois Valley state parks

When Sarah Skerston Walczynski opened her childhood home as a vacation rental in December 2025, she envisioned it as a destination for girls’ weekends and buddy trips.

The 1852 farmhouse ticks multiple boxes for group getaways. It’s secluded among farm fields on a rural side road, with the nearest neighbor almost a half-mile away. The grounds include plenty of gathering spaces, including a furnished patio, full kitchen, dining room, living room and about three acres of yard. The three bedrooms can accommodate six guests, and a gravel driveway offers free parking.

“I thought I was going to have more of the girl and buddy weekends to go to the wineries and Starved Rock – more of that late 20s to early 50s gals getaway,” Walczynski said. “Instead, I’m getting a lot of families.”

That continues Lazy 8 Ranch’s history of being a family place. Walczynski grew up in a family of 10 on the farm, which was first named Lazy 8 Ranch in the 1960s when her parents raised American saddlebred horses.

Walcyznski and her husband, Mark, now live a short distance down the road from Lazy 8 Ranch. In recent years, they used Lazy 8 as a guesthouse for visiting relatives. Now as a rental home, it’s an ideal family destination simply by retaining pieces of Walczynski’s family gatherings.

“Because I had so many brothers and sisters, we have tons of yard games and board games,” she said.

A cupboard in the house’s library is stocked with dozens of board games and puzzles. Video game consoles are available in the basement. A variety of yard games, such as croquet, bocce and volleyball, also are on site.

One of guests’ favorite play pieces is a cupboard full of feather boas.

“I always find feathers,” Walczynski laughed. “Everybody plays with the boas.”

Included in the home’s library are seven books by Mark Walczynski, who is a regional historian as well as the Starved Rock historian. Other local history books are included in the collection, plus westerns, mysteries and science fiction.

Guests can become part of Sarah Walczynski’s family story in a special way. One of the home’s unique touches is a wall marked with her family members’ heights over the past 60 years. On an adjacent wall, she invites guests to mark their own names and heights.

“I put a note up that we encourage the kids – although the adults love to do it, too – to put their name on the new wall,” Walczynski said.

The atmosphere at Lazy 8 Ranch is a blend of history and contemporary. The kitchen is filled with modern appliances and lighting, while some of the wood floors creak under foot and slope with age. Part of the house is the original 1852 structure, with an addition built in 2025. Antique farm elements such as horse collars and hooks from Lazy 8’s past are alongside leather couches and fur accents.

“When my mom bought the place in 1961, she got furniture from Clydesdale Furniture in Oglesby, so there’s that little bit of rustic cowboy feel,” Walczynski said. “But it’s a little more curated, too. I try to add a little bit of luxe, a little bit of shine. Lots of leathers, velvets and furs to add that modern farmhouse glam.”

Sarah and Mark Walczynski repurpose as many of the farm’s original items as possible. They converted the kitchen floor’s original hand-hewn wooden beam into an outdoor bar on the patio. Old farm tools found in the outbuildings now decorate the exterior walls of a shed. Cast-iron rendering cauldrons once used while butchering livestock now serve as flower planters.

When guests book Lazy 8 Ranch, they reserve the entire house and yard. However, they’ll be sharing their stay with three permanent residents: two horses named Rein Dance and Contessa, and Thor, a miniature pony.

Visitors are welcome to watch the trio from the other side of the fence, but physical contact is prohibited unless Walczynski is present.

“We don’t have people ride here. We send them to Cedar Creek Ranch in Cedar Point,” Walczynski said. “Our horses are here for photo ops.”