The Lake Bluff History Museum hosts a popular tour of the Crab Tree Farm Arts & Crafts Collection.
Crab Tree Farm was built as a model dairy farm in 1910 for owner Grace Durand, after a fire destroyed the original farm buildings. The barn and adjacent buildings were designed and built by Chicago Architect Solon Spencer Beman, architect of Pullman Village.
Durand was a successful businesswoman who was trained in agricultural science and was well known for her modern methods of dairy farming. The dairy was operational until her death in 1948.
The farm buildings have undergone extensive renovation since Durand’s time and now house the finest collection of Arts and Crafts furnishings in the country. The collection includes furniture that is the work of Gustav Stickley, plus ceramics, textiles, paintings and other artwork by Stickley’s contemporaries.