Porter County Parks superintendent Jake McEvoy, confirms it was torn down because it was in such a state of disrepair that it was becoming a safety hazard. “We were sad to see it go,” McEvoy says. Sad, too, are all the people who took prom/graduation/engagement photos with the barn as a backdrop. It was always fun to see the dressed-up subjects posing near it. Plans are to construct an open-air gabled picnic shelter in its place, perhaps this fall, McEvoy says.

Luckily, this under-the-radar park still has plenty in its favor. If you’ve never been to Brincka Cross, it’s a must-stop nearly any time of year, but it’s especially nice late April and into May, when lots of things are in bloom. It’s just a few minutes off 12 near Beverly Shores but technically in is Michigan City. I rarely see other people here, save for the aforementioned photo takers and perhaps a few hikers.

Before it was purchased by Porter County in 2006, Brincka Cross was a private residence with expansive gardens, owned and planted by Bill Brincka, a professor at the Art Institute of Chicago. Brincka and his companion, Basil Cross, developed and cared for four acres of landscaped gardens over 40 years.

The two men lived in a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired home on the property, built in 1969 with Japanese influences, until Bill’s death in 2001. Basil passed away in 2006. The house is quirky (a second-floor bathroom has padded bright-red vinyl walls) but is a unique, private spot for a small group gathering.

The house is available for rent.

There are an astonishing 450 registered varieties of daffodils on the grounds—some 10,000 daffodils in all—as well as 40 kinds of magnolias, 25 types of crab apple trees, 25 varieties of forsythia, 40 cultivars of ornamental grasses, 30-plus varieties of conifers and 400 (not a typo) types of hostas, according to the Porter County Park.

Much of Northwest Indiana falls into plant-hardiness Zone 5, but Brincka Cross is in a its own little microclimate, labeled Zone 6. That means cypress trees and some of magnolias are happy here, unusual for the area.

The park is working on replanting a butterfly garden on the property, as well as restoring a tall-grass/wildflower field, replanting a daffodil hill and removing dead trees from the hiking paths on the park’s 24 acres.

Taken a few years ago in mid-April.

Taken a few years ago in mid-April.

Brincka Cross Gardens, 427 E. Furness Road, Michigan City