Jubilee Rock Garden

Jubilee Rock Garden—Bill Notzske

US 150, in between Brimfield and Kickapoo, IL (12 miles west of Peoria)

Brimfield, IL

Created: 1930s

Using rose quartz from Colorado, the Jubilee Rock Garden was by William Notzke as a pleasant setting for his Jubilee Dairy business.  

An Art Deco barn once sat behind the house, and Bill added the terraced Jubilee Rock Garden on a hill just beyond the house. The rock work is first-rate, with diamonds and other playing card motifs worked into the walls, topped off with an arch at the highest point.

Back in its glory days, dairy customers could enjoy rock terraces and picnic while they waited to buy milk or ice cream. Notzke added to his garden gradually over the years, with the last construction, a massive arch over the driveway, built as a monument to his deceased wife in 1963.