“Exploring Indian Hills,” the 2016 Wilmette Historical Museum spring housewalk set for May 15, will truly be accessible, museum director Kathy Hussey-Arntson said April 21, since each of the five homes on the tour are in one historic west Wilmette neighborhood.
“In previous years, the housewalk took in larger sections of town, which meant that it wasn’t always possible to walk between each of the homes,” she said. “This is different.”
Architect Philip Maher first laid out the plans for Indian Hills Estates 90 years ago, museum spokeswoman Laura Winston said April 28.
“The neighborhood was founded in 1926, and the 90th anniversary seemed like the perfect time to take our housewalk there,” she said. “The houses selected for the housewalk are from those early days.”
That includes one home for which builders took out the first permit ever issued in Indian Hills, she said.
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The 122-acre subdivision lying north of Lake Avenue was originally bordered by Illinois and Romona Roads, and moved east of Illinois Road in 1928, according to a museum brochure by architecture historian Connie Casey.
The five homes chosen for the housewalk date from the first four years of the development, which was spearheaded by Chicago real estate attorney Henry Drucker and the Bills Realty company, according to Casey’s brochure.
Winston said another draw this year is the housewalk’s focus on the first floors of each of the five historic homes, freeing participants from having to trek up multiple sets of staircases.
Tickets for the housewalk are $40 for museum members, $50 for non-members and $25 for high school or college students if they are bought by 5 p.m. May 14, either online, at www.wilmettehistory.org by phone, at 847-853-7666, or at the museum, which is open Sundays through Thursdays from 1-4:30 p.m. at 609 Ridge Road.
People can also buy tickets on May 15 at the museum, from 12:30-2:30 p.m., but they will cost $50 for members and $60 for non-members (student rates remain the same.) Credit cards and cash are accepted.
Ticket holders will get a brochure covering the history of the Indian Hills neighborhood, as well as information on each of the featured homes and their architects. Proceeds from ticket sales help support Wilmette Historical Museum programs, Winston said.
For more information, call the museum, or email [email protected].
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy