Barrington Hills · Lake County · IL
Homes for sale in
Barrington Hills.
- Active listings
- 19
- Median list
- $1.90M
- Avg time on market
- 23 days
- Sold · last year
- 54
Active listings
19 homes on the market
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About the community
Living in Barrington Hills.
Barrington Hills is the estate-and-equestrian village of the northwest suburbs, built around a 5-acre minimum lot zoning rule that has defined its character since incorporation in 1957. The village is unusual even by Illinois standards, spreading roughly 29 square miles across four counties: Cook, Lake, Kane, and McHenry. It's one of only three Illinois municipalities that touch four counties (county field set to Lake for the Subdiview data model). Kids attend the same highly regarded Barrington 220 schools as the broader Barrington area, with western-edge portions feeding into District 300. The equestrian culture is real, not branding: over 150 miles of bridle paths run through private easements and the surrounding forest preserves, anchored by the 4,000+ acre Spring Lake (Spring Creek) Forest Preserve with 45+ miles of unpaved trails. Homes are expensive (Zillow ZHVI around $818,000, recent median sale around $1.1M), but most of that price is the land itself.
At a glance
~4,114 residents
2020 Census population across roughly 29 square miles. Very low population density.
5-acre minimum lot zoning
R-1 district requires 5.0 acres per principal residence. In place since the village incorporated in 1957 and actively defended in court for decades.
Four-county footprint
Spans Cook, Lake, Kane, and McHenry counties. One of only three Illinois municipalities to touch four counties.
Barrington 220 + D300 western edge
Most of the village is Barrington 220 (Barrington HS). Western portions closer to Algonquin / Carpentersville feed into D300 (Dundee-Crown HS). Verify by address.
Median household income ~$186,667
2023 ACS via Data USA. Among the highest-income municipalities in Illinois.
Equestrian: 150+ miles of bridle paths
Riding Club of Barrington Hills maintains nearly 70 miles of private bridle easements, plus public trails through the surrounding forest preserves.
Spring Lake Forest Preserve
4,000+ acres inside village limits with 45+ miles of unpaved trails for hiking and horseback riding. One of the largest Cook County preserves.
No Metra in village
Closest station is Barrington (UP-NW line, 31.9 miles to Ogilvie), just south in the village of Barrington.
What’s close
Barrington Hills sits about 40 miles northwest of downtown Chicago, wrapping around the village of Barrington and stretching across Cook, Lake, Kane, and McHenry counties.
- Spring Lake (Spring Creek) Forest Preserve
- 4,000+ acre Cook County preserve inside village limits with 45+ miles of trails for hiking and horseback riding.
- IL Route 68 (Dundee Road)
- East-west state route that runs from the Kane County line through the village.
- Algonquin Road (IL Route 62)
- Cuts through the Cook County portion and Spring Lake Forest Preserve, the main east-west route through the village.
- Four-county boundary
- One of only three Illinois municipalities that touch four counties (Cook, Lake, Kane, McHenry). Affects property tax bills, since each county sets its own rate.
- Barrington Metra station
- UP-NW line stop at 201 S Spring Street in adjacent Barrington, 31.9 miles from Ogilvie. Closest Metra option.
- Neighboring communities
- Borders Barrington, Inverness, South Barrington, Algonquin, and Carpentersville.
What it’s actually like to live here
The day-to-day feel of Barrington Hills is closer to a horse-country exurb than a typical Chicago suburb. The 5-acre minimum lot rule means almost everything you see is detached single-family homes on big wooded parcels (about 99% of housing is single-family detached), so there is no real downtown grid and very little commercial activity inside village limits. Horse keeping is normal here, with the Riding Club of Barrington Hills maintaining nearly 70 miles of private bridle easements that lace together with Cook County Forest Preserve equestrian trails. The village's Park District operates a Riding Center founded in 1958 that still teaches lessons and stables horses adjacent to Spring Creek. Conservation is a civic identity, not a hobby: Citizens for Conservation and the Barrington Area Conservation Trust steward hundreds of acres of restored prairie and oak savanna nearby.
Homes are expensive, but the math is unusual: the Zillow ZHVI is about $818,000 and the recent median sale ran about $1.1M per Redfin, and most of that price is the 5-acre lot, not the structure. Kids attend Barrington 220, the unified K-12 district that covers all or part of 12 villages and is consistently among the top-rated districts in the northwest suburbs. The western edge of the village, closer to Carpentersville and Algonquin, falls into Community Unit School District 300 (Dundee-Crown High School), so it pays to verify the boundary by address. The village protects this whole pattern through zoning law, and has done so in court: in 2023 a Cook County judge upheld the village's horse-boarding ordinance after an 8-year suit.
Neighborhoods
Detailed Barrington Hills community pages coming soon.
Browse the listings above. Detailed neighborhood pages with market stats, school info, and lifestyle take-downs land here as we roll them out.
Schools
Districts serving Barrington Hills.
Boundary lines do shift. Always confirm in writing for a specific address before writing an offer.
- D220Grades K to 12
Barrington Community Unit School District 220
Schools serving the area
- Barrington High School
- Station Middle School
- Prairie Middle School
- Arnett C. Lines Elementary
- Countryside Elementary
Unified K-12 district covers 72 square miles across four counties and 12 villages including most of Barrington Hills. About 8,000 students.
- D300Grades K to 12
Community Unit School District 300 (Carpentersville)
Schools serving the area
- Dundee-Crown High School
- Algonquin Middle School
- Westfield Community School
Western portion of Barrington Hills closer to Algonquin / Carpentersville feeds into D300. Always confirm by address before assuming district.
Around town
What there is to do in Barrington Hills.
A handful of the places people who live here actually use. Not a directory.
- Parks
Spring Lake (Spring Creek) Forest Preserve
4,000+ acres with 45+ miles of unpaved trails for hiking and horseback riding. The largest of the Cook County preserves in this area.
- Parks
Crabtree Nature Center
1,182-acre Cook County preserve at 3 Stover Road with three self-guided trails, an exhibit building, and a Crabtree Lake birding blind.
- Parks
Helm Woods Forest Preserve
75-acre Illinois Nature Preserve with a 2.3-mile loop trail through swamp white oak woodland. Managed by Kane County.
- Parks
Beverly Lake Forest Preserve
2.4-mile loop in the larger Spring Lake Preserve. 16-acre lake for fishing, model boating, and winter cross-country skiing.
- Parks
Cuba Marsh Forest Preserve
782-acre Lake County preserve just east in Barrington / Deer Park with three miles of trails through rolling hills and wetland.
- Family
Barrington Hills Park District Riding Center
Park District facility founded 1958 with lessons, boarding, and direct access to the Spring Creek Forest Preserve equestrian trails.
Getting around
Commute + transit from Barrington Hills.
- Routes: IL 68 (Dundee Road) · IL 62 (Algonquin Road) · IL 59 · US 14 (Northwest Highway)
- O'Hare Airport: ~30 min
- Chicago Loop: ~60 min
By the numbers
Barrington Hills taxes + market stats.
Property tax rates vary by exact township and assessor district. Confirm per address before pricing a purchase.
Property tax rate
2.34%
effective avg
Sales tax
7.00%
combined
Median sold price
$1,536,000
MRED · last 12 mo (54 sales)
Median household income
$186,667
ACS
How Barrington Hills got here
A bit of history.
Barrington Hills was incorporated on July 5, 1957, originally as a defensive move by large-lot landowners who wanted to keep the area from being absorbed and subdivided by surrounding suburban growth. The founders' core tool was zoning: the 5-acre minimum lot rule was written in from the start as the cornerstone protection against the kind of cul-de-sac density that was overtaking the rest of the northwest suburbs. The village began entirely in northwest Cook County, then expanded over the next five years: areas in McHenry and Lake counties joined in 1959, and the small village of Middlebury in Kane County was annexed in 1962, giving Barrington Hills its modern four-county footprint. The 5-acre rule has been defended in village politics and in court for decades, including a recent 8-year horse-boarding ordinance fight that ended in 2023 with a Cook County judge upholding the village's regulatory framework.
The land-conservation identity is just as old as the zoning. Citizens for Conservation, founded in the early 1970s, has helped protect over 3,200 acres of public land in the Barrington area and now stewards more than 732 acres across 14 nearby sites, restoring prairie, oak savanna, and wetland. The crown jewel for the public is Spring Lake Forest Preserve (also called Spring Creek), a 4,000+ acre tract in Barrington Hills that is one of the largest contiguous forest preserves in the Cook County system, with 45+ miles of unpaved trails open to hiking and horseback riding. Add Crabtree Nature Center's 1,182 acres next door and a dense lattice of private bridle-path easements maintained by the Riding Club of Barrington Hills, and the village functions as the conservation anchor of the entire Barrington area.
The questions buyers actually ask
Barrington Hills FAQ
The questions I get most from buyers shopping Barrington Hills. If yours isn't here, text 224-385-8779, same-day reply.
- What is the 5-acre minimum lot rule in Barrington Hills?
- The village's R-1 zoning district requires a minimum lot area of 5.0 acres for residential use, written into the village code at section 5-5-4-1. It has been the cornerstone of the village's character since incorporation in 1957 and has been defended in court as recently as 2023.
- Why does Barrington Hills touch four different counties?
- The village started in northwest Cook County in 1957, then annexed land in McHenry and Lake counties in 1959 and the village of Middlebury in Kane County in 1962. It is one of only three Illinois municipalities that span four counties. Your county affects your property tax bill, since each county sets its own effective rate (Cook ~1.87%, Lake ~2.34%, Kane ~2.80%).
- How is Barrington Hills different from Barrington, North Barrington, or South Barrington?
- They are separate municipalities, all sharing the Barrington 220 schools and the Barrington name. Barrington Hills is the largest by land area and the most rural-feeling, defined by the 5-acre minimum. The village of Barrington has the downtown grid and the Metra station. South Barrington has more conventional larger-lot subdivisions and commercial along I-90. North Barrington, Lake Barrington, and Tower Lakes are smaller residential villages on the east side.
- Can I keep horses on my Barrington Hills property?
- Yes. Horse keeping is part of the village's stated identity, with the Riding Club of Barrington Hills maintaining nearly 70 miles of private bridle paths and the Park District running a Riding Center adjacent to Spring Creek Forest Preserve. Commercial horse boarding has its own ordinance, upheld in court in 2023.
- Can I subdivide my lot in Barrington Hills?
- In almost all cases, no. The R-1 district requires 5 acres per principal residence, so creating sub-5-acre lots is not permitted by right. The village has spent decades, and significant legal fees, defending that standard.
- What schools will my kids go to?
- Most of Barrington Hills feeds into Barrington Community Unit School District 220 (Barrington High School). The western edge of the village, closer to Algonquin and Carpentersville, is inside Community Unit School District 300, which feeds into Dundee-Crown High School. Always verify by exact address.
- Is there a Metra station in Barrington Hills?
- No. The closest Metra is the Barrington station on the Union Pacific Northwest line at 201 S Spring Street in the village of Barrington, 31.9 miles to Ogilvie Transportation Center downtown.
- Who is the real estate agent for Barrington Hills?
- Joe Keegan is the local licensed Illinois real estate broker who covers Barrington Hills in Barrington Hills, IL through Subdiview, a neighborhood-first home search for the Chicago suburbs and collar counties. Joe prices and negotiates from the live MRED sold comps for Barrington Hills specifically, not national averages, and can help you buy or sell here. Reach Joe at 224-385-8779 or joe@joekeeganhomes.com.
Nearby
Towns next to Barrington Hills.
If you’re cross-shopping the area, these are the places that border Barrington Hills.
Your local agent
Joe knows Barrington Hills
Most agents will list anything. I focus on the places I actually know, and the things that move value here don't show up in the MLS write-up: which streets and buildings hold demand, what the HOA or assessments really cover, how the comps read once you account for condition and location, and where buyers consistently want to be.
When you're ready to tour or list, you want someone who has read the last 50 closed comps in this specific market, not a national average, and can tell you what they actually mean for your price. That's how I work. Text or call any time, and I'll give you a real take, not a brochure.
- Licensed Illinois broker
- Comp-driven pricing
- Barrington Hills specialist
- Honest local market take
- Brokerocity
Thinking of selling?
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