Heading up Normandy Avenue, I first glanced over at the historic Normandie Golf Club and noticed earth being moved around. Had it finally been purchased and subdivided for houses, as had been threatened so many times? No, in fact it is being renovated according to designs by Jack Nicklaus.

But I was turning my attention to Greendale, a small suburb that is really just a subdivision like so many North County municipalities. I was pleasantly surprised. It was laid out by the Binz Realty and Investment Company in 1926, and lots went on sale on June 13 of that year. Most houses, however, like the ones above and below, were built in tracts of over a dozen each and not until much later.

But it is incredibly well-maintained and very beautiful; these first three houses are on the southern streets, which as I mentioned above, were developed later.

The northern streets were developed earlier, and according to newspaper reports at the time, were built as early October as 1926, with later additions.

Lots varied in width from 30 to 90 feet, which is obvious between the northern and southern portions of the neighborhood.

To the east is the former St. Vincent’s Insane Asylum, also on land donated by the Lucas-Hunt Family.

The northern half has a wide variety of architectural styles, and most of the houses are one-offs, with no two looking the same.

However, these interesting almost Cape Cod style houses are the exception, which look like they filled in the last remaining empty lots in the 1950s.

The subdivision was built on land owned by A. Peterson in the south and by the Normandie Golf Club in the northern half.