Appeared in Spring/Summer 2025 Gazette
by Laura Hershner

When people think of Winnetka’s residential architecture, they likely picture high-style, individually designed homes – and rightfully so. This tradition dates back to Winnetka’s development in the late 19th century, and it continues today. However, Winnetka was also an early adopter of planned residential development on the North Shore, a distinction that sets it apart from neighboring suburbs.

Like many US suburbs, Winnetka experienced a significant post-World War II building boom, but the village’s development story started much earlier. Beginning in the 1910s, large estates were subdivided into smaller parcels that developers quickly snapped up. These early developers employed a “kit of parts” approach, balancing efficiency with architectural compatibility by designing neighborhoods that reflected the village’s existing architectural character. This ensured new homes fit comfortably into their established surroundings – a strategy that would become particularly important to developers like Clarence A. Hemphill.

Clarence A. Hemphill, 1939.

Founder of C.A. Hemphill & Associates, Hemphill was based in Evanston and started out in the 1920s as a “carriage trade” developer, building custom homes in Evanston and Wilmette. These homes were designed by his in-house architects to suit the tastes of wealthy buyers. Eventually, Hemphill shifted his focus to large-scale subdivision development throughout the North Shore, including Winnetka.

Hemphill’s experience designing several homes in Wilmette’s Indian Hills subdivision in the 1920s may have influenced his later development approach. Indian Hills, a project by Bills Realty, was an early planned neighborhood that specified architectural styles, materials, setbacks, and even required attached garages that matched the home’s style. Buyers could customize their homes within these guidelines. This balance of uniformity and flexibility became a hallmark of Hemphill’s own subdivisions, which combined both spec homes and custom builds within a predetermined palette of architectural styles.

In Winnetka, Hemphill’s developments spanned 1920-1960. They were carefully situated in convenient locations near shops, schools, churches, the train, and later the Edens Expressway. They included Lamson Drive, Tower Manor, parts of Westmoor Trail, Forest Glen (his largest, with nearly 60 homes), Woodley Manor, and Wynwood Manor (on Lindenwood Drive and Apple Tree Road). Across these subdivisions, Hemphill’s architects relied on the “kit of parts” strategy, using traditional styles — Colonial Revival, English Revival, and French Revival — to ensure the new homes harmonized with Winnetka’s established architectural character.

This compatibility wasn’t just aesthetic; it was strategic. Winnetka’s air of establishment, conveyed through its architecture, was a key selling point for prospective buyers. By designing new homes that spoke the same architectural language as the village’s older homes – albeit scaled down for denser development – Hemphill preserved a version of the “country estate” atmosphere that defined early Winnetka. As suburban sprawl accelerated, Hemphill adapted his model for even denser subdivisions in Wilmette, and by the 1970s, his operations had shifted primarily to the northwest suburbs.

Forest Glen development pamphlet, 1939.

In some cases, like Tower Manor, Hemphill introduced a subtle design trick to balance variety with cohesion: he designed homes in different styles, but unified the neighborhood by using white-painted brick and dark shutters across all the houses. His neighborhoods were also exclusively “park developments,” meaning all residences faced private roadways. He enlisted the landscape architects C.D. Wagstaff & Co., best known for their work at Wilmette’s Gillson Park, to design the neighborhood landscapes.

Hemphill’s homes were not only charming but also practical and modern for their time. They featured contemporary floor plans with eat-in kitchens, basement rec rooms (often with wet bars), and omitted traditional service areas. Most homes also included attached garages, a reflection of increasing automobile ownership and the growing importance of car-centric living.

Along with many of his contemporaries, Hemphill became known for the high quality of his construction and materials. Many of Winnetka’s Hemphill homes still stand today, retaining much of their original design. The most common update has been the replacement of old windows with newer, energy-efficient versions – a testament to the durability and timelessness of Hemphill’s work, and of residents’ commitment to the historic character of the village. ■