Dreams Do Come True Just Ask Jim and Peggy Wills Jim and Peggy Wills consider the Brainerd Lakes Area a paradise, especially since they bought their first vacation home here more than ten years ago.

"We lived in Minneapolis," says Peggy, "but our hearts were always up north. Every Friday we were on our way to the cabin."

Jim's success as an attorney and small-business owner could have afforded the Wills the opportunity to plan their retirement virtually anywhere. But there is nowhere they would rather be. And just when they thought life couldn't get any better in the lake country they love, it has.

"For years we had a vacation home on Gull Lake and absolutely loved it," says Jim. "The fishing, the recreating, five hundred holes of excellent golf virtually a stone's throw away. We thought 'What more could a person ask for?'" Turns out there was something more that Jim and Peggy wanted and it speaks to the heart of all that this area has to offer. In the end they were able to get it.

While Jim and Peggy relished their lakeside getaway and the hours spent perfecting their golf games, memories of a farming life, open spaces, and the pleasures of hunting begin to surface.

"I came back from a trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula where I grew up. My sister still lives on my family's farm," says Jim. "I realized how badly I wanted a farm myself."

For Peggy, Jim's dreams have always seemed to parallel her own. "I grew up near St. Cloud. I've raised horses. When Jim said he wanted a farm I thought 'Yes, that would be great.'" What followed was, according to Peggy, "A lot of hours in the car looking for the right place." Hours that paid off when the Wills found what they were looking for just north of Nisswa. To their delight, only a short distance from the lakes, golf courses, and restaurants they enjoy.

The 160 acres they purchased was vacant land bordering a 110-acre environmental lake. Another 160 acres came with the original farmhouse and barn. Their neighbor with adjoining land suggested more acreage might be up for sale. It soon was and the Wills eventually purchased another 210 acres. But farm animals wouldn't populate the Wills' farm.

In 2001 they opened Hunt's Point Sportsman's Club, which boasts 530 acres of hunting grounds, sporting clays, and field events, along with a clubhouse offering lodging, meeting, and banquet facilities. They also breed and train rare, highly skilled hunting dogs called Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers. The Wills' live in a modern-style farmhouse they designed and built on the north end of their property abutting the lake, complete with a front porch that lends itself to rocking-chair relaxation and animal watching.

"I'm transitioning more than retiring," says Jim. He practices law, but while he used to commute weekly, he now offices from Hunt's Point Clubhouse, commuting to Minneapolis "once a month or so."

"The beauty of having invested ourselves in this area," says Jim, "is that we're still close to the Cities. Technology has been significant in making my lifestyle possible. I can use the Internet to conference with clients and colleagues and send documents. I see a lot of business people doing the same."

The Wills' passion for the life they've created is contagious. Shortly after buying the farmhouse, their daughter, son-in-law, and the couple's young daughter left the Twin Cities to settle on the Wills' property. They now live in their own home on adjacent property. To say the Wills have it all may sound cliché, but for Peggy and Jim it rings true. As Jim puts it, "This is a great life."