Call for Nominations for the 2025 WHOA Board of Directors
We are seeking candidates to fill five (5) open seats, beginning January 2025. If you are interested in helping to guide the future of our amazing community, we want to hear from you!
The deadline to submit your nomination is Friday, October 18 @ 5pm. Learn more.
Updated WHOA Declarations & Covenants
Our Declarations and Covenants have been updated and re-recorded as of August 2024. You can find the current version of our Covenants here.
ACCESS BOARD MEETING ZOOM INFORMATION
If you have trouble accessing Zoom, call or text Nicole Luisi 630.606.3096
WHOA Portal Registration: If you are a resident of The Windings, please register for the Resident Portal here.
Click if you NEED a 5-Step program to plant Natives…
Also, click to watch a great Web-n-R “Natures Best Hope” by Doug Tallamy
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Trees, Trees, and more Trees…
The Windings is special because of its woodland setting. Many of us moved here because we loved the trees that surround our homes. Learn more about our Trees in this brochure written by our resident tree experts.
For more detail, take a look at our official Windings Tree Policy.
Look what we found…
Curious how they marketed and sold homes originally in The Windings? When one of our homeowners was cleaning out some cabinets they ran across the original brochure for The Windings of Ferson Creek
A slice of Paradise
The rolling hills, winding roads, and ravines of this Fox River Valley community, combined with the community spirit and natural beauty of a woodlands setting make this a very unique place to live within the (far west) St Charles greater Chicagoland area. An easy train ride from Elburn (or LaFox) to Downtown Chicago and you have all the benefits of the big city with your slice of country waiting for you when you return. Great schools, great community, supplied utilities (no private wells or septic fields), 10 minutes from somethings and 15 minutes from everything. Country living at it’s best.
Our many Amenities
Within the Windings of Ferson Creek, we have many amenities to make our community strong, fun, and vibrant. They include:
- Clubhouse
- Swimming pool with sun deck
- Fishing pond
- Tennis Courts
- Children’s playground
- Picnic facilities
- Sledding hills
- Hiking trails
- Adjacent to the Great Western bike trail
A bit about the Windings
Our Main road thru out the Windings is named Jens Jensen. So who was JENS JENSEN? 
When we moved into The Windings a little over a year ago, we were struck by the name of the road that meanders through this small piece of heaven – Jens Jensen. After the boxes were unpacked, we decided to see if we could piece together why this very different name enjoyed such a prominent place in our neighborhood. This is what we discovered.
Jens Jensen was born on September 13, 1860 in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany into a wealthy farming family. He spent his childhood on the farm and then attended the Tune Agricultural School in Copenhagen. After he served in WWI, he immigrated to the United States, first working in Florida and then Iowa. He then moved to Chicago and joined the West Park Commission and was directed to plant exotic flowers which promptly died. He traveled into the surrounding prairie and collected native species, replanted and the plants survived. He worked extensively in the Chicago Parks System, designing Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, Douglas Park, and Columbus Park. He was an integral part of the project to preserve the Indiana Dune ecosystem.
After he retired from the Parks System, he went into private practice, working extensively for Henry Ford on his estates including the Gaukler Point in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan. These gardens are now on the National Register of Historic Places. He also worked with Frank Lloyd Wright on a number of projects.
Jensen’s design philosophy theory held that every plant has certain fitness and must be placed in its natural environment to be appreciated in the habitat in which it belongs. He never created pathways on a grid and hated straight lines to any destination in landscaping. (Remind you of where you live?) He loved to create dense undergrowth with light coming through above to allow people a view while staying in the shade. He liked and incorporated an “open spaces with pathways” theme in many of his designs and disliked a “museum garden” laid out with precision and in-artful regimented composition.
Jens Jensen died at The Clearing School at Ellison Bay, Wisconsin on October 1, 1951 at the age of ninety-one.
by: Jill M.
We all love our wooded trails
“Laid out to exploit the gentle contours of wooded hillside terrain, the name “windings” refers to both the community’s street plan and the meandering course of ferson creek through our common grounds.”
This quote was taken from the late 1960s, but aside from streets and creek beds, there are also trails that wind through our common areas. Of the 259 or so acres encompassing the Windings, 37 acres are reserved “as a ‘green belt area’ for common use and benefit of all residents.”
Newer residents, have you found the time yet to explore some of the paths through our common areas? Long-time residents, why not revisit the trails to view Ferson Creek and spring-blooming flowers? Everything changes so much throughout the year, and the trails bring four-season interest.
Where to start? Climb up the hill behind the clubhouse, and then down past the amazing pair of giant sentinel oaks. Continue down the hill and right to cross the wooden bridge over Ferson Creek. From there you can follow the path to the right, ending up on Hidden Springs near the Windings pond. Or follow the path to the left from the bridge. This path runs along the creek and circles through the large wooded areas on the south edge of the Windings. Eleven years ago there was a large beaver pond where now the creek wanders through a grassy wetland. Each spring you’ll hear the sound of spring peepers and chorus frogs.
The easy walking mowed trails take you on to the western edge of the Windings, which borders a meadow, part of the neighboring farm. Or you can turn right at the ravine (there is a partial ‘trail’ sign), and climb up to the stairs that lead to the end of Paddock Lane. Of course, you can start your hike at the end of Paddock. Kids love throwing sticks into the creek, walking over the small bridges, or running up or down the big hills.
Another trail starts on Hidden Springs road across from the pond and starts behind the villas going north. Stick close to the edge of the bushes and you’ll soon see a path that runs up through the ravine between Steeplechase and Sylvan Courts. There are bridges that can lead you out to the right, coming out near Lost View Lane, or to the left behind Steeplechase all the way to Paddock Lane, near the Utilities Inc. shed.
For longer walks, it’s easy to get to the Great Western Trail near the clubhouse, or from a small path between the sentinel oaks and the wooden bridge over the creek. Walking, running or biking along the trail you’ll see more of Ferson Creek, hear more frogs, see migrating birds — and if you’re in luck, a field of white trillium in bloom or even a sandhill crane.
So get outside to enjoy the beautiful natural areas of the Windings this spring!
By: Paula A.