Leaving Home

Callie Lipkin

The Beacon News

When his mother died in September 1999, Robinson Baird Ochsenschlager was forced to sell the farm he grew up on in order to pay inheritance taxes on the valuable property in Aurora, Ill. One year later, Robin auctioned off most of his family’s belongings and moved off the property, days before his house was demolished. Kirk Corporation purchased all 205 acres of the land, which had been in Robin’s family for over 60 years. 257 single-family homes will be built were West Aurora’s last farm once stood. Amid boxes of stuff to be sorted, Robin eats breakfast in his kitchen before meeting with his lawyer about the sale of his property. At age 63, he considers himself a true bachelor. “You know what that is, a guy who never made the same mistake once.” he jokes.

Callie Lipkin, "Leaving Home," in POYi Archive, Item #30839, http://archive.poy.org/items/show/30839 (accessed June 15, 2025).