Visit to Jens Jensen’s Clearing House Folk School

For 85 years, the Clearing House Folk School has been hosting guests in Ellison Bay, Door County. The center was designed and built by Jens Jensen, a Danish landscape-architect. Jens Jensen is also known for designing many famous parks in Chicago and also deserves credit for the iconic Curvy Highway in Door County. He also designed our very own neighborhood, Trout Valley, Illinois, which was Hertz’s estate. We have a warm place in our heart for Jens Jensen as we are surrounded by his beauty at our home every single day. At the age of 75 years old, he designed the Clearing, a place for “city people” to renew and connect with the earth. Jensen strongly believed the connection of an individuals overall well-being was the connection to their environment.

Still today, many visit The Clearing to spend time in nature. It was Jensen’s life goal to allow his guests t0 leave with a sense of peace to better manage the fast-paced world that we live in today. His dream was to create a folk-school without grades, credits or degrees. One would find a “combination of learning, history, tradition, socialization and quiet reflection” upon staying.

We took our children to the grounds in the autumn of 2022 and we were all overwhelmed with the beauty and creativity. I have now included taking a week long course, stay on the grounds, and live within nature. Check the website to find out when the next guided tour is as well as when the grounds are open to the public to explore.

The Folk School hosts long courses from May - October as well as weekend courses. Many guests select to stay in the housing on the grounds during their course, to get the obtain the full experience created by Jens Jensen.

Programming for Summer 2023 found here (sign up for their newsletter to get more information and up to date courses and release dates)!

For more information, head to the website: Clearing House Folk School