“I saw the land and saw an opportunity to have a change from being a suburbanite to something a little more down to earth.” —Mike Laros
photo by Bob Gustin
M
~by Bob Gustin
ike Laros says it was an “ah-ha” moment which led him and wife Jaydene to move to Brown County in 1995. They were living in the Chicago suburb of Barrington, Illinois, wanting to stay close to Jaydene’s family in the Peoria area when Mike—who doesn’t like cold weather—realized they could move south of Peoria within a 200 mile radius and still accomplish their geographic goals. Though they had spent little time in Indiana, they found a listing for a guest cabin and decided to check it out. They rented a cabin for a weekend in early May and arrived on a rainy Saturday. But the next morning
30 Our Brown County • Nov./Dec. 2021
the sun came out and it was a beautiful Brown County day. Sitting outside to enjoy the weather, they discovered the whole place was for sale. A half-hour later, they owned it. They set to work turning it into Fondulac Farm, a meticulously groomed setting for their home and two guest rental cabins with three stocked fishing ponds, a fire pit for marshmallow roasts or barbecues, and modern conveniences including fiber-based wireless internet and streaming television. In addition to working on the real estate, the couple became heavily involved in the civic life of Brown County. Mike says it was a copier repairman
