Woodcote Lowell Park A stone and timber cottage in historic Lowell Park, Dixon, Illinois. Designed by Arthur C. Comey, a graduate cum laude of Harvard and recommended by famous Boston landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Woodcote was constructed with native limestone quarried on site in beautiful Lowell Park in 1909. Today, WOODCOTE is available for your enjoyment: Art or Antique Shows Bird and Wildlife Watching Boating Parties Bridal or Baby Showers Business and Organization Meetings Church Activities Corporate Retreats Family Reunions Garden Shows Graduation Parties Private and Theme Parties Weddings and Receptions WOODCOTE offers a quiet atmosphere with privacy for any occasion. The Living Room, with its elegant library paneling and huge stone fireplace, is air conditioned. The Great Room, highlighted with three walls of windows and an immense stone fireplace, provides a sense of being outdoors while enjoying air-conditioned comfort. Banquet tables and chairs are available. The kitchen is equipped with an electric range/oven, side-by-side refrigerator/freezer, microwave oven, coffee maker, and pots and pans. Service for 25 includes dishes, glassware, flatware, snack trays and cups. A restroom is located adjacent to the Great Room and the Living Room on the main floor. Two additional restrooms are located upstairs. Availabilty of 6 bedrooms for overnight accomodations. Two front porches. Access to 200 acres of park. Boat docks and ramps. Trash service included. 2008 RENTAL INFORMATION 1 - 20 people ~ $100.00 21 - 49 people ~ $150.00 50 - 60 people ~ $200.00 Over 60 people ~ please discuss with park staff. Day Rental (7 a.m. -9 p.m.) Overnight (4 p.m. - 11 a.m.) fee, (12 twin beds and 1 full bed) ~ $300.00 + tax Bring your own bedding and towels. Weekly Rate of $900.00 plus tax is Monday through Friday. A security deposit of $100.00 is required at the time of booking which will be refunded if the facility is returned in the same order as when rented. Rental fee must be paid in full at least one week prior to rental date. Fee may be refunded if cancelled per staff decision (if house can be re-booked, death, illness, etc.). Security deposit will not be refunded. Please feel free to enjoy a tour of WOODCOTE prior to making your plans. Call (815) 284-3306 to schedule your visit. History Lowell Park was established in 1907, and in the early years, Isacc Graybill was employed as park keeper to maintain both Lowell Park and WOODCOTE. By 1914, Mrs. Graybill had begun serving dinners to the public in the Great Room at WOODCOTE. O.C. Simonds (our revered landscape designer) ate there, as did many local business and professional people. Two years later, an addition onto WOODCOTE provided dining space on the first floor and sleeping rooms above, and in 1934 a native stone fireplace was constructed in the addition. In the 1920's bus service to the Park was initiated to afford more Dixonites the opportunity to enjoy. Lowell Park was named one of Illinois' 100 outstanding beauty spots. Tours of points in the Rock River Valley included Lowell Park and culminated with a lunch in Graybill's WOODCOTE Lodge. It was during this time that young Ronald Reagan served as Lowell Park lifeguard for literally thousands of Rock River swimmers for seven summers. Perhaps Reagan enjoyed his lunch hours in cool and quiet WOODCOTE. At some time, rooms were rented in WOODCOTE (the metal numerals are still on the bedroom doors) and several summer cabins were built in the north yard. The large living room was often the scene of improvised evening entertainment when artists, musicians, and professional people came from the Chicago area to spend weekends. Lowell Park, donated in 1907 by the daughter of Civil War General Charles Russell Lowell, remains a lovely tract of 200 forested acres along Rock River and offers a myriad of pleasures including handicapped-accessible boat docks and ramps; play equipment; a Nature Center; the historic Reagan Bath House; miles of hiking trails; and linkage with the paved Lowell Parkway Bicycle Trail which leads into the City of Dixon. Dixon, hometown of former President Ronald W. Reagan (1911-2004), is located off the Reagan Memorial Tollway (formerly known as the East-West Tollway - Interstate 88) traveling from the Chicago area to the Quad Cities. Additional points of interest include: Dixon Welcome Center, 219 W. 1st Street. Reagan's boyhood home, located on Hennepin Avenue in Dixon, is open for public tours. The Reagan birthplace is located in the nearby village of Tampico. The historic John Deere site is located just a few minutes north of Dixon in Grand Detour on Illinois Rte 2. Nachusa Grasslands, owned by The Nature Conservancy, is a magnificent native prairie and wetland complex of over 2,000 acres and is within 15 minutes travel time of Dixon. Franklin Creek Natural Area and the Franklin Creek restored and operational grist mill. Excerpt from the First Report to the Lowell Park Commission 1909. "Among the many valuable results of habitual use of the park will be the cultivating of a love of nature, which is a refining influence, both because it underlies an appreciation of art, and because it gives people an added interest, thus bringing them out of their surroundings and into a healthy life."

 

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