The City of Westwood Hills was listed as a national historic district on December 4, 2013.

National Historic District


The City of Westwood Hills was listed as a national historic district on December 4, 2013.

The Westwood Hills National Historic District (District) comprises the entire city of Westwood Hills in Johnson County, Kansas. It is significant under National Register Criterion A for the area of COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT and Criterion C for the area of ARCHITECTURE.

The 255 resources reflect the development history of the neighborhood as it evolved from pastureland to a residential subdivision to its own self-contained city. The J.C. Nichols Company platted the Westwood Hills subdivision in 1923 and established the Westwood Hills Homes Association in 1926. Twenty years later, residents successfully petitioned the Board of County Commissioners to be recognized as an independent city.

The City of Westwood Hills officially incorporated on 1 July 1949, increasing the original boundaries slightly to include the north side of W. 48th Terrace. Although this half-block was not part of the original Nichols subdivision, the architecture and development patterns of this small strip of land are compatible with those within the Westwood Hills subdivision, and these properties are integral to the history of the city.

The District is an excellent, intact example of the residential design concepts that prominent local developer J.C. Nichols employed in his many successful subdivisions in both Missouri and Kansas. Westwood Hills was the first subdivision Nichols developed in Kansas using these concepts. The Westwood Hills National Historic District retains excellent examples of architect-designed dwellings that express the variety of formal and vernacular architectural styles popular in the area during the period of significance. The District also encompasses an entire municipality that was involved in the mid-century trend of incorporating as a city in order to retain its own identity as Johnson County developed.