Cedar Crest Addition Historic District

Cedar Crest Addition is a residential neighborhood on the southern edge of Normal, Illinois, laid out in 1914 and built up mostly between 1914 and 1930. Fifty houses sit on large, irregular lots along curving brick streets, including the landscaped boulevard of Broadway Place. Most are one-and-a-half or two stories, combining brick with stucco or mock half-timbering, and are predominantly Craftsman and Prairie in style. Many have integral or attached garages. The district is significant as the first comprehensively designed subdivision in the town, with house designs overseen by architect Aaron T. Simmons, who built his own home at 1 Clinton Place. Its street plan, materials such as rug-face brick and clay roof tile, and consistent architecture illustrate early twentieth century changes in town planning and house design. The original layout survives with few changes, and only a handful of later houses are non-contributing. The period of significance runs from 1895, the date of the oldest house, to 1930.