Hampshire, Illinois · Fox Valley

There is a moment that happens around a fire. You know the one. The night gets quieter, the conversation gets easier, and for a little while, the world slows down. It doesn't happen by accident. And it definitely doesn't happen with wet wood, muddy logs, or firewood that dies out before the moment is even started.

Tim Bean knows this. He has known it since 1998, when he started Bean's Farm on the same land his great-great-grandfather, J.W. Bean, purchased on Big Timber Road in Hampshire, Illinois, in 1854. Five generations. One hundred and seventy-two years. The same fields, the same woods, the same farmhouse — and today, some of the finest firewood and landscape material you can buy in the Fox Valley.

But let's start at the beginning, because this story earns it.

J.W. Bean arrived in Hampshire in 1854, built a home, and established a dairy farm. That same house is where Tim sleeps tonight. Over the next century and a half, the Bean family adapted as farming demanded. George H. Bean built the barn that still stands on the property in 1896. Tim's grandfather, Earl, grew a Holstein herd so productive that his 1945 butterfat averages were nearly double the national standard. Tim's father, faced with falling milk prices in the 1950s, pivoted to grain. When grain margins tightened in the early 1990s, he sold the equipment and changed course again.

Every generation read the land and made the hard call. Tim's was no different.

In 1993, at a crossroads of his own, Tim asked himself a simple question: what do I actually want to do? The answer was just as simple. He wanted to stay on the farm. He wanted to sell firewood. By 1998, he had built Bean's Farm into exactly that.

“A lot of people can sell firewood. That part isn't hard.”

What Tim decided early on was that he would never cut corners on the part that matters. Firewood is intimate, he'll tell you. If it's dirty, you get dirty. If it's smelly, your house is smelly. And if it's wet or poorly split, it won't burn long enough to give you the moment you were after. He decided early on that he would never receive that phone call. Disappointed is not an option.

The wood at Bean's Farm comes from local tree services, storm damage, and occasional land clearing within a 10 to 15 mile radius. Tim selects the logs personally, choosing only what will make quality firewood and passing on what he calls the “garbage wood” — the fast-burning, low-quality material that fills a truck but not an evening. It's cut, split, and stacked green in enormous piles, then moved to open racks where wind and sun can do their work. Stack it at four feet green and it shrinks to three and a half — so Bean's does the drying first, then the final stacking. Every step is deliberate.

Tim also rounds out his supply with BBQ wood — cherry, hickory, post oak, and apple. His logic is hard to argue with. If you're cooking over a local fire, why would the wood come from somewhere else, processed with who-knows-what, when you could buy clean, chemical-free hardwood from a farm that has been here longer than Illinois has been a state?

Business owners understand the discipline that takes. You build a reputation one transaction at a time. You don't cut corners because the short-term savings always cost you more later. Tim Bean figured that out in his first year and has been operating by it for more than two decades.

Firewood, at its best, is never really about the wood. It's about what the fire makes possible. The conversation that finally happens. 

The holiday your family will remember. The November evening that felt like it lasted forever in the best way. Those moments don't come with a rain check. You either have good firewood or you don't. You either have the fire or you don't.

Tim Bean has spent 172 years of family history making sure you have it.

Bean's Farm — Hampshire, IL · beansfarm.com

Q: Where is Bean's Farm located?

A: On Big Timber Road in Hampshire, Illinois, on land the Bean family has farmed since 1854. 46w640 Big Timber Rd, Hampshire, IL 60140

Q: How long has Bean's Farm been selling firewood?

A: Tim Bean started the firewood business in 1998, continuing five generations and 172 years of family history on the same land.

Q: What makes Bean's Farm firewood stand out?

A: Tim hand-selects every log, skips low-quality wood, and dries it thoroughly before splitting and stacking so it burns clean and long.

Q: Does Bean's Farm carry BBQ wood?

A: Yes — cherry, hickory, post oak, and apple, all clean and chemical-free.

Q: How do I get in touch with Bean's Farm?

A: Visit beansfarm.com to learn more. Call (847) 683-1013. 

Jennifer Abbatacola is the Area Director bringing Stroll Thornwood/Highland Woods to life, connecting neighbors with the local businesses and stories that make the Fox Valley feel like home. Through community-driven storytelling, event coverage, and features like this one, Jennifer helps residents discover the people behind the businesses right in their own backyard.