At Bunker Hill Farms, your all-inclusive stay means your group is the only one on the property and the itinerary is entirely up to you.
Courtesy Photo (3)/Bottom Left: Josh Berhow
It was the dreaded walk of shame. You’ve been there; we all have. You waltz up to the green with a wedge and a putt—your punishment for missing the putting surface from the fairway—and return to the cart a few minutes later only to realize you forgot that wedge on the fringe.
Annoyed, I muttered to myself, then did that little golf jog back to the green, making it look like I was hurrying, but really just moving at a brisk pace. I picked up my 54s and looked back down the road, hoping not to delay the next group. But then I remembered: No group was behind us. In every hole. The course was ours for the day.
Come to think of it, we had the whole property – the houses, the ATVs, the lake, the fishing, the hot tub, the skeet shooting, the fitness center and the bar cart. Heck, even the chef was here just for us.
Sure, you’ve probably heard of luxury resorts that have golf plus a long list of activities to keep you busy, but have you ever been to one that’s all-inclusive and where your group is only one in the country? Yes, your own private resort.
Welcome to Bunker Hill Farmswhere luxury vacations meet blissful isolation – and the itinerary is entirely up to you.
The day before we fixed it, we pulled into the closed road at Bunker Hill Farms in Woodstock, Ill., about 60 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. An hour later, we were digging through remote ATV trails, picking up leaves, and wondering if this was already one of the most fun golf trips we’d ever been on (without playing golf yet).
ATV tours are how most stays here begin. It’s the perfect way to see the 450-acre property and learn about its buildings and history. Plus, have you ever driven new ATVs before? They. They are. A. The explosion.
Our first stop on the trail was at the top of a man-made hill. We went down and up the stairs to get to the highest point of the property. Here, we learned more about Bunker Hill Farms and how owner Mike Domek and his wife, Amy, purchased the land in 2005 to turn it into a vacation spot for their family. It has continued to evolve since then.
Domek bought a nursery – about 40,000 trees – to replant on the land and dug lakes, which are now stocked with perch, walleye, trout and bass. The golf course was built and opened in 2010, and the 7,300-square-foot lodge was completed in 2012. Three years later, the owners purchased an additional 250 acres and founded the nonprofit Bunker Hill Charities. In 2017, they expanded across the street and built the spa silo, spa garden and an event space with a guest loft. In 2018 they added the filming pavilion and a year later the six-bedroom villa. What originally started as 150 acres is now three times that size.
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For years, Bunker Hill Farms was barely publicized, accessed by invitation only, and mostly used by the famous or well-connected. Even people in neighboring small towns barely know it exists. But when the Covid 19 pandemic hit, organizers decided to pivot and open the property to the public. Business boomed. It is now used for friend trips, corporate outings, couples getaways, family vacations and weddings. For anything, really – a group recently rented it to play Dungeons & Dragons.
All proceeds go to Bunker Hill Charities, which has awarded more than $2 million to over 70 agencies in the local community. Most of this money is generated through two of their annual fundraisers Rocking the hill AND Concert of singer-songwriters. Steven Tyler, Tyler Hubbard and Styx are just a few of the musical acts that have stayed and played here. The walls of the two houses are plastered with signed guitars and photos of other musicians who have also spent time on the property.
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There is a minimum of eight people for your stay, and the property has 13 guest rooms. The damage is roughly $1,150 per person per day, and that gets you everything—unlimited food and drink, a personal chef, your own golf course, ATVs, skeet shooting, luxury accommodations, and basically anything else you want to do. The best part? Your only other company are a few employees who are around during the day and dedicated to making sure your stay is as easy and memorable as possible, doing everything from check-out to buying something you might have forgotten or fix a drink This makes it a truly unique, customizable, immersive luxury experience.
The villa has six bedrooms, a fitness center, entertainment area, a spacious outdoor seating area (and fireplace) as well as a screened-in porch larger than most New York City apartments. The lodge across the street has four bedrooms, a jacuzzi, lakes, beaches and golf course. Even the house did not spare the fine details.
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Our first day we rode ATVs and then had appetizers and drinks in the old open-air Binz Dairy Farm barn next to the cottage. That space has been transformed into a peaceful outdoor oasis, with running water, plants, flowers and your choice of music (we went with Chris Stapleton) pumping out hidden speakers.
The barn was also the site of our first dinner, which was a heavenly four-course meal prepared by the resort’s chef, Mario Scordato.
Scordato started his own pasta company and teaches cooking classes, but his main gig is at Bunker Hill Farms, where he makes delicious lunches and dinners for guests. He’s a wizard who focuses on local, organic and seasonal, and will leave you desperately missing his sweet corn risotto and booze-infused fruit.
The next morning (our only full day in the country) started with a light breakfast before walking the few hundred yards to the shooting pavilion, where their expert instructed us to take turns shooting at clay pigeons and targets spread across the polygon. Of course, you shouldn’t do this. There’s also yoga and a spa, a pontoon and paddleboard, kayaks, hiking and horseback riding and, for a slight upgrade, helicopter tours and hot air balloon rides.
Josh Berhow
After a quick lunch – pork tenderloin! (when is lunch ever served?!) – we went to the other side of the property for our tee time. Armed with a forecaster, we stocked our carts with food, drinks and fishing rods because, well, you never know when you might want to throw some in just to say you did.
The course, designed by Harry Vignocchi, is a par-72 18-hole measuring 6,700 yards. It’s almost hidden among the property, and the reversible layout — they call it “unorthodox” — uses eight greens, some of the same fairways and several tees to create 18 different holes. A green – you’ll play the 5th, 8th and 14th holes – is protected by water and a stone facade and is played from a small island box. Another hole (the 7th) requires a semi-blind second shot to a green where the aiming point is right on the side of a waterfall.
Josh Berhow
The greens are some of the cleanest you will ever play. They get less than 250 rounds a year, which is roughly the amount of traffic a popular public course gets in a day. There is a superintendent who has a staff of about half a dozen who maintain the entire property, including the course.
Freedom is intoxicating. There is no umpire or marshal to tell you to pick up the pace or stop playing eighty. You can play as few or as many holes as you like. Take a mulligan. Re-tee. Jump over a hole. You are the king of the course to do what you love.
After the golf, we stayed on that side of the property and rode the ATVs again (it was such a blast we didn’t get enough the first time). Then we ate flatbread, fished and swam to the massive swell in the middle of the lake like we were teenagers again. After a dip in the jacuzzi, our last meal that Scordato served was his homemade Bucatini and Shrimp.
That night we puff cigars that are available to guests. Us newbies had no idea if any of it was any good—spoiler: they were—but at Bunker Hill Farms, it’s fair to indulge.
