Hills and Dales Historic District [1]
The Hills and Dales Historic District is located north of the area which became West Lafayette, The district includes the Hills and Dales Addition which was platted by Robert H. Shook, Charles W. Shook and Milton Simmons, and a portion of Ridgewood Addition. The area developed about the time that West Lafayette was incorporated as a city in 1924.
As Walter J. Ball stated in his Very Old Houses Now Standing Built by Early Settlers, "Those scraggy tracts, such as abound in the well known Happy Hollow, were regarded as worthless for building purposes by the early settlers, and were shunned by prospective buyers, but when that old generation had passed on and the hidden beauty of those hills, hollows and rough spots had come out under the guidance of horticulture and architecture, there was hardly enough to supply the demand from bridal couples and others of pronounced aesthetic tastes, who want to show how easy it is to convert a high and many sided projection into a playground for children or a flower garden, leaving a strip of ground of fantastic outline and large enough for the modern house. A trip or two through the 'Hills and Dales Addition' will serve as an illustration of what has been done and being (sic) done in that connection."
The addition's winding streets were adapted to the area's terrain giving the addition a park-like appearance. Many of the houses are sited well back from the road with extensive landscaping. Because the addition was developed during the early twentieth century, the district contains many fine examples of revival-style architecture.
The Colonial Revival style is predominant in the district. Two houses on Northridge Drive and Crestview Place and two houses on Bexley Road are particularly noteworthy examples. Smaller, less elaborate versions referred to here as Colonial Revival Cottages are typified by two houses on Bexley Road.
Less common revival styles in the district include the Tudor Revival and French Eclectic. Two houses on Northridge Drive and Crestview Place, both constructed during 1930s, are outstanding examples of the Tudor Revival style. Two houses on Ridgewood Drive are the county's only examples of the French Eclectic style.
Note: The Hills and Dales Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Cresview Place • Forest Hill Drive • Grant Street North • Hillcrest Road • Northridge Drive • Ravinia Road • Ridgewood Drive • Tuckaho Lane • Woodland Avenue