Soothing space

Joseph Shanahan uses his acreage on the outskirts of Chicago to downshift from his demanding hospital duties. Photographs: Janet Mackie

Joseph Shanahan often leaves his bedroom windows open at night so he can listen to the waterfall in his pond nearby.

"It's so wonderful to hear running water," he says.

Gardeners often talk about how soothing the sound of moving water is and how working in their yards is a tension-relieving activity.

No stranger to stress as an emergency room physician, Joseph says that puttering around in his yard helps him downshift from the intensity of his profession.

"I thought gardening was work when I was a child," he says, "but when I became older, it changed to therapy. Now it's a love and a passion."

Orange asphalt shingles were replaced with Irish thatch roofing to add character to the house.

It's therapy

Joseph purchased 3 acres with a home on the outskirts of the western Chicago suburbs in 1986. A small creek ran along the back end of the property. He widened that to create a pond and began landscaping by planting shrubs, trees, and flowers.

Six neighboring landowners liked what he did so much, they sold him the bottom ends of their properties, and he created a parklike setting on what became 11 acres that they all can now see and enjoy.

A swan drifts in front of the gazebo where the Shanahan family retreats from the heat in summer. In winter, the family camps out in the gazebo and keeps warm by the heat of a wood stove.

A place for art

With such a big palette to fill, Joseph began to incorporate his other love: art. "I just love big massive sculptures. My wife, Joann, wishes I had collected stamps or coins instead of 20,000- to 30,000-pound sculptures," he says with a chuckle, "but I just love them."

In Nebraska, where he grew up, he supported the One Percent for Art Program, which has generated funds for art at state buildings, state colleges, and the University of Nebraska.

Back at his own yard, he began installing works by people such as Tom Avery of Lodi, Wisconsin, who creates animals using salvage metal materials, and Father Lee Lubbers of Omaha, Nebraska, who builds sculptures out of railroad boxcar axles.

Inspired by these artists, Joseph began designing some of his own pieces and having them built. One of his pieces, a large metal nut, occupies its own place of honor at the end of a daylily-lined walk.

The large-scale artworks add drama, and sometimes a touch of whimsy, to his property.

"I'm lucky I have a yard where I can display them well," he says.

Pet birds graze near fun faux bovine, Chicago's famous Cows on Parade sculptures that were created to raise money for charity. They are only a few of the large-scale art pieces Joseph Shanahan has peppered about his property.

Made some changes

When he bought the house, Joseph knew he would be replacing the roof soon. He decided to tie all the buildings on his property together and give them some personality by reroofing them all with Irish thatch roofing. Leftover material was used to create a two-story tree house for his three sons.

"It has a zip line that runs about 200 feet over one of the ponds," he says. "They have had untold hours of fun swinging down it."

Joseph maintains all of his property himself with one helper during the growing season.

"I hunt and play golf and tennis, but the thing that I enjoy the most is my yard," he says. "I have lots of birds -- swans, guinea hens, chickens, ducks, geese, and even wild turkey."

Guinea hens as well as people use this flower-bedecked bridge to get from Joseph Shanahan's original 3 acres to the additional 8 acres he acquired from his neighbors.

Baby koi

A greenhouse allows him to garden all 12 months of the year. Inside he has added four fish tanks where he raises baby koi.

"We keep them in the greenhouse for a year or two. Then, if they meet our standards, we put them in the koi ponds to see if they're good show fish," says Joseph, who has won a number of awards in local competition.

The doctor has created a sanctuary where he delights in taking care of the land, displaying artwork, and being around animals.

"It just makes me happy."