History of the Fabyan Japanese Garden
The Fabyan Japanese Garden was designed around 1910 by Taro Otsuka, a well-known Chicago-area landscape designer. Colonel George and Nelle Fabyan commissioned Otsuka to create their Japanese Garden because of their interest in Japanese culture and their love of nature.
The original Fabyan Japanese Garden was much more open than the garden is today. Over the years there has been natural growth of the original design, volunteer trees and plants brought into the Garden by wind and animals, and subsequent restorations in the 1970s and 1990s. At present, the Japanese Garden merges the historic garden with easily maintained plantings to achieve the sense of harmony and tranquility.
