college hill park

College Hill Park is a peaceful, grassy park with ancient Cottonwood trees, a looping walking path, tennis and basketball courts, a swimming pool and playground! It's located in College Hill, south of Douglas and west of Hillside in one of the few "hilly" areas of the city.

Jeff Roth has written an excellent article on the history of College Hill in the The College Hill Commoner. Today, the park serves as a focal point for neighborhood residents. Whether for a tennis or basketball game on the weekend, an evening's stroll with the kids, or just a walk in the park with the dogs, the park is place of solitude in a busy city.


Everyone has a favorite place in the park. The north end of the park is a good place to let the dogs off the leash and run. Giant Cottonwood trees, stately and tall, surely date from the incorporation of the city of Wichita in 1870. And, at the extreme north end of the park, is the "hill" that becomes Wichita's favorite place to sled in the winter.

Circling the park are a diverse range of housing styles.Victorian and Bungalow styles from the late 1800's and early 1900's, are mixed in with contemporary and even modern styles.

College Hill Park is many things to its residents. But, in the fall, it is the running routes for East High Cross Country. At the far south end is a marker in tribute to Coach Sell of the East High Aces. While joggers hug the outside perimeter of the park, walkers cross back and forth across the many sidewalks and eventually cross the stone bridge that students like to gather on in the summer. Caution, if you are walking your dog, avoid the swamp that collects all of the polluted run-off from the neighborhood.

Leave the light on.

At Traditions Home, at night, we leave the light on.

It is design's biggest paradox: We demand more and more in our lives - more features and more function - and yet we also demand simplicity.

At Traditions Home less is more: an open spacious home featuring a living area where the family gathers to share thoughts, a dining area where casual is a byword for comfort, and a sleeping area where comfort is the ultimate end. Stickley Furniture is designed with these ideas in mind. Whether your taste is Mission, Modern, Early American, European, or a touch of whimsy, Traditions Home can deliver that style simply and tastefully.

houses

Let's begin with houses. One of Wichita's most recognized neighborhoods is College Hill, located between Kellogg and Central Avenues on the south and north and between Hillside and Oliver Streets on the west and east.

"The Bungalow is an all American housing type, but it has its roots in India. In the province of Bengal, single-family homes were called bangla or bangala. British colonists adapted these one-story thatch-roofed huts to use as summer homes. The space-efficient floor plan of bungalow houses may have also been inspired by army tents and rural English cottages. The idea was to cluster the kitchen, dining area, bedrooms, and bathroom around a central living area.

The first American house to be called a bungalow was designed in 1879 by William Gibbons Preston. Built at Monument Beach on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the two-story house had the informal air of resort architecture. However, this house was much larger and more elaborate than the homes we think of when we use the term Bungalow.

Two California architects, Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene, are often credited with inspiring America to build Bungalows. Their most famous project was the huge Craftsman style Gamble house (1909) in Pasadena, California. However, the Green brothers also published more modest Bungalow plans in many magazines and pattern books"

Jackie Craven, Bungolow Styles

More on Bungalows.