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White Fence Farm in Romeoville is known for its famous chicken dinners, but it also houses a museum of curiosities. The restaurant features hundreds of items to intrigue visitors.
The waiting room boasts a gigantic light fixture from a Joliet church, along with massive grandfather clocks, a scale model train set, and replica paintings. Nearby, the museum wing displays train-related artifacts such as old dining car menus and railroad signals. An old gun collection and blacksmith tool shop are also featured.
Visitors can explore the Midway area with antique carnival games like crane games and fortune tellers. Some of these may have originated from Riverview Park in Chicago. Notably, three fun house mirrors are confirmed to be from there.
Other exhibits include a shoe collection from 1890 and newspaper front pages marking significant moments in U.S. history. A music box/snow globe collection includes themes from Disney to Sesame Street. The garage showcases vintage cars like a 1941 Cadillac convertible and nine vintage bicycles.
Returning to the waiting room, guests will find musical organs, cash registers, stoves, towel steamers, and a ship compass on display. Currier and Ives prints adorn the walls here.
The Route 66 Room holds over 350 pieces of Department 56 Snow Village collectibles on display year-round. The main dining room features hand-hewn beams over 100 years old and custom-made chicken head carpet from England.
"The collections started with my grandfather, Robert Hastert Sr., who liked to display his antique car collection," said Laura Hastert, owner of White Fence Farm. "He started acquiring other things to give customers something intriguing to look at while they waited for a table or after they finished their meal."
White Fence Farm is located at 1376 Joliet Road in Romeoville.
