2797 Lalor Road · Oregon, Wisconsin
Eighty acres of protected woods, prairie and spring-fed water, five and a half miles from the Wisconsin State Capitol.
Tall grass, oak groves, Swan Creek and eighty quiet acres.
Mornings here begin with mist lifting off Swan Creek as it bubbles along its bed and under the five bridges that cross it. Coffee on the screened porch while sandhill cranes call from the meadow and deer step out along the edge of the woods, then a walk down to the pasture, where the horses and alpacas wait at the fence. Afternoons wander four miles of trail, on foot or on horseback, beneath the oak grove and past willows leaning over the water. And as the tall prairie grass turns gold in the last light, friends gather around the fire pit and the evening stretches on. Between the woods, the water and the pastures, the farm makes a slower, fuller way of living feel natural in every season.
All just five and a half miles from the Wisconsin State Capitol.
Offered at
$6,000,000
Included: 80.37 acres, the 2018 modern residence, four restored historic buildings
(c. 1837–1843), a 12,605 sq ft arena, studio barn and workshop, Martini Barn, machine shed, tree house and five bridges.
80.37
Acres
1837
Homesteaded
10
Structures, 6 modern
and 4 historic
1999
Perpetual conservation easement
5
Bridges over
spring-fed streams
4
Miles of private trails
The Lalor family worked this ground from the 1840s, and in 1999 chose to protect it for good, granting a perpetual conservation easement to the Town of Dunn so its woods, fields and open views would stay as they are. Four original farm buildings have since been restored and six modern ones added with the same care, and four miles of trails wander through hardwoods and prairie, crossing the spring-fed streams by way of the five bridges that give the farm its name.
The film
The Residence, c. 2018, designed by John Seamon
A modern home with midcentury roots, built from the farm's own walnut and maple
Inside and around the house
A glass entry opens onto a 30-foot circulating core with a floating three-story stair, and straight through the house to the land beyond. Walnut from the farm forms the stair stringers, floors and window surrounds, and the columns that pass through the glass curtain walls tie inside to out.
The main level brings together the library, living room with a rotating Scandinavian wood stove, dining and a demonstration kitchen with 300 degrees of seasonal views. A separate prep kitchen and pantry keep the working side out of sight. Cabinetry and doors are quarter-sawn from a 200-year-old storm-downed maple on the property.
A screened porch seats ten at a cherry, walnut and spruce table, with a protected grill for cooking in any season and a floating deck for the afternoon sun. The walkout lower level has been fully finished with two bedrooms, a full bath, a family room with fireplace, a rec room and bar, and a climate-controlled humidor that could as easily become a wine cellar or sauna. The primary suite, set for privacy on the upper level, looks northwest over prairie, meadow and forest.
Four bedrooms, three and a half baths, a finished walkout lower level and a vaulted boardroom. Plans are already drawn for an attached garage, a new entry and an elevator for barrier-free access to every level.
Floor plans
Floor plans are for information only. Measurements are approximate. Drawn plans for an attached garage, new entry and elevator are available to qualified buyers.
The Land
Woods, prairie, pasture and a creek that feeds the Waubesa Wetlands
Invasive species were cleared with controlled burns, grazing goats and equipment chosen to tread lightly. Storm-downed and diseased trees were milled on site and returned to the farm as flooring, cabinetry, fence lines and bridges.
The woods hold oak, cherry, walnut, hickory, spruce and maple. Wildflowers and native plants fill the prairies and wetlands, and the land is home to otters, turtles, deer, foxes, wild turkeys, owls, hawks, eagles, osprey, blue heron and sandhill cranes. A vegetable garden and 20-tree orchard sit near the homestead.
Oak-board fencing milled from the property forms the gated entry and borders the woods and pastures, and trails follow the property lines through woods and wetland.
Four chapters on one piece of ground
1837
Homesteaded beside a cluster of springs, before Wisconsin joined the Union. The springhouse, gambrel barn, granary and little barn follow within six years.
1840s
William Lalor, an Irish immigrant who had lost his first claim to a claim-jumper, passes a spring here on the walk to the Milwaukee land office and chooses this land for its water. Generations of Lalors work it as an all-purpose farm, later training harness racing horses, and the road still carries their name.
1999
The family, long involved in shaping the town plan, grants a perpetual conservation easement and the farm's development rights to the Town of Dunn and the Dane County Natural Heritage Foundation, now Groundswell Conservancy.
2015–2020
A later owner restores the four historic buildings and adds six modern ones within the terms of the easement.
The grounds
The five bridges
Three carry walkers across the streams. Two are built stout enough for horses and heavy equipment, including the arch over Swan Creek that joins the 40-acre north woods to the 40-acre south homestead and pastures.
Swan Creek Bridge
Arched. Connects the north woods to the homestead.
Covered Bridge
A recycled corn crib reborn as a passage.
Spring Creek Bridge
Utility crossing for equipment and horses.
North Meadow Bridge
Utility crossing into the north meadow.
Little Stream Bridge
Footbridge on the wetland trail.
Map of the farm
Buildings, bridges, prairies and trails
Illustrative only, not to scale.
The Town of Dunn, protected by design
In the 1970s, with subdivisions spreading out from Madison, Dunn residents met weekly for three years to decide what their town should become. The land-use plan they adopted in 1979 limited new homes to roughly one per 35 acres and protects the shores of Lake Waubesa and Lake Kegonsa, the Yahara River, the Swan Creek watershed and the Waubesa Wetlands. It has since become a national model, recognized by Renew America in 1995. On Earth Day 1997 the town launched Wisconsin's first program to buy development rights from farmers, paid for by residents who voted to raise their own taxes. What surrounds the farm today is what will surround it tomorrow.
80%+
of Dunn is agricultural or undeveloped
~4,000
acres permanently protected from development
Ten buildings, two centuries apart
Four restored originals from the homestead years, and six modern buildings designed to sit beside them without competing.
Choose an era to explore
Entertaining
Room at the table, indoors and out
Dinners have filled the screened porch and the barn loft beneath its 30-foot beams, and evenings have ended around the tree house fire pit. Downstairs, oversized garage-style doors open the lower level onto the patio for easy indoor-outdoor evenings. Between the residence, the Large Historic Barn and the grounds, the farm makes hosting family and friends feel natural in any season.
Stewardship
Conservation easement and land plan
Seventy-five acres are protected by a Grant of Conservation Easement and Development Rights, made by the Lalor family on April 19, 1999, and held in perpetuity by the Town of Dunn and Groundswell Conservancy (then the Dane County Natural Heritage Foundation). Its purpose is to preserve the farm's scenic vistas and environmentally significant areas, restrict land division, and keep the land available for agricultural, forest, recreational and open-space use.
Easement areas, redrawn from the recorded easement map (Groundswell Conservancy). Illustrative only; boundaries are approximate.
Woods Tract
~26 acresOak forest and a 7-acre oak savanna, managed for a healthy canopy.
Wetland Protection Area
~18 acresSwan Creek, a tributary of the Waubesa Wetlands a quarter mile downstream.
Farm Tract
~31 acresPrime soils in hay and pasture for the horses and donkeys.
Homestead Area
~1 acreLawns and gardens around the house, granary and original barn.
Part of a town-wide commitment
The Town acquired the farm's development rights through its purchase-of-development-rights program, the first in Wisconsin, with support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is part of a long partnership between the Town of Dunn and Groundswell Conservancy, the Wisconsin land trust that has worked with the town since 1997 to permanently protect more than 4,000 acres of working farmland across 33 farms, nearly a third of the town.
Care of the land
A ten-year land management plan, in effect through 2031, guides care of each zone. The easement governs how the land may be used, divided and built on, and the holders monitor it against baseline documentation recorded in 1999.
The full grant and the 2019 Property Improvements Guidance Document are available to qualified buyers.
Groundswell Conservancy and the Town of DunnFurther reading: "The Little Town That Could," Wisconsin Trails, 1997
The details
Residence
Bedrooms
4
Bathrooms
3 full, 1 half
Finished area
4,515 sq ft on three levels, finished walkout lower level
Ceilings
27 ft entry, 21 ft living room
Kitchen
Sub-Zero/Wolf, Galley 72" workstation, dual dishwashers, espresso unit, dual beverage tap, prep kitchen
Fireplaces
Rais rotating wood stove, Regency gas fireplaces
Construction
Glass
Kawneer commercial curtain wall, motorized solar shades
Materials
Farm-sourced cherry, walnut, maple and white cedar; slate, granite, Carrara marble, burnished masonry
Heating and cooling
Zoned forced air and in-floor radiant heat, central air; natural gas and LP
Lower level
Two bedrooms, full bath, family room, rec room, bar, humidor
Garage
Detached, 4+ cars across the Martini Barn and Studio Barn; attached garage plans drawn
Utilities
Private well and septic
Other
Water softener, rainwater catchment, below-grade LP tank, pet wash, 8 ft solid wood doors
Land & equestrian
Lot size
80.37 acres
Equestrian
Riding arena, stalls, paddocks, tack and feed rooms, automatic watering
Hay
~20 acres of grass and alfalfa hay
Water
Swan Creek, two streams, numerous springs
Gardens
Orchard, vegetable garden
Listing
Price
$6,000,000
MLS number
2033150
Annual taxes
$22,287 (2025)
School district
Oregon School District: Prairie View Elementary, Oregon High School
Zoning
FP-35 (Farmland Preservation), horses allowed
Parcel
0610-072-9000-3
Municipality
Town of Dunn, Dane County
Location
2797 Lalor Road, Oregon, WI 53575. Set on State Rustic Road #19, about twenty minutes from Madison.
Directions: County Road MM south, left onto Goodland Park Road, right to stay on Goodland Park Road, then right onto Lalor Road.
downstream
Offering documents
Easement documents, site survey and real estate condition report are available to qualified buyers on request.
Let's connect
Melissa LeGrand
Broker Owner, Luxury Specialist
@properties-elleven | Christie's International Real Estate