Westleigh

Westleigh Neighborhood Of Vintage Las Vegas Seeks Historic District Designation

July 24th, 2009 Categories: Westleigh

Westleigh is one of the cutest little bungalow neighborhoods. It’s just to the west of McNeil. The boundaries are Valley View to the West, Charleston on the north, Oakey on the South and Cashman on the East. It’s one of the neighborhoods that I wrote about in the earliest days of VeryVintageVegas.

The Westleigh Neighborhood Association, with the cooperation of the City of Las Vegas Historic Preservation Office and Neighborhood services have completed all the preliminary steps and are ready to make their case to the Las Vegas Planning Commission and City Council. They go before the planning commission on September 24.

Alan Choate covered the story in today’s RJ.

Las Vegas Neighbors Pursue History, by Alan Choate

When the houses were built, subdivisions on the west side of Las Vegas were off on their own, separated by large, empty pieces of land.

Oakey was barely a street — Bill Wattenbarger described it as “two ruts.” And his house was the first in the neighborhood to get telephone service, which he needed because he was on call for National Cash Register. Everyone else had to use a pay phone at a nearby grocery store.

“Housing was limited. We felt quite fortunate,” Phyllis Wattenbarger said.

They paid $12,000 for what was then a three-bedroom, one-bath house, and paid $60 a month on the mortgage.

“Let me tell you, that was a lot of money back then,” she said.

Discussion of adding Westleigh to the historic register had gone on for several years, but the push gathered steam a couple of years ago when the neighborhood association decided to organize a push for the designation, said association President Tiffany Hesser, who moved into the neighborhood six years ago.

“We bought because of the historic nature of the neighborhood,” Hesser said. “It’s different. It’s not a neighborhood where you have to know the color of your garage door to figure out which house is yours.”

Architecturally, houses in the neighborhood represent a transitional period between the Minimal Traditional style of the 1940s and the Ranch style home of the 1950s and ’60s. Most of the homes were 1,000 to 1,100 square feet.

A listing on the historic property register means that standards will be developed for the exteriors of homes, and major changes — such as an addition or work that requires a permit from the city — would be reviewed by historic preservation officials to ensure compliance. (read the entire story)

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Our Vintage Vegas Neighborhoods - Westleigh Was The Far West Edge Of Las Vegas in 1952

November 24th, 2007 Categories: Architecture, Housing Styles, Las Vegas Real Estate News, Market Conditions, Westleigh

Just east of Valley View between Oakey and Charleston, you’ll find a delightful neighborhood of 288 cottage and bungalow style homes. Westleigh was built between 1952 and 1957 on 8 to 11,000 sf lots.

 

Mostly they were 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, but many have been expanded (some nicely, and some horribly). Some of the expanded ones appear more as ranch style now. Some have detached garages, some have guest houses, some are original.

 

All of the Westleigh homes were built with crawl spaces and real hardwood floors. Peek under the carpet and you’ll find a little treasure waiting for restoration. “Original” real hardwood floors is one of the most sought after features that I’m asked for in Vintage Vegas. Westleigh’s a great neighborhood in which to find them. By the 1960’s concrete slab became the common method for building, and generally the crawlspaces and hardwood went away.  

 

Another of Westleigh’s unique features is that there are alleys running between the homes, and therefore have backyard access from the alley. Most of the alleys in Vintage Vegas have been closed off but you can still access them in Westleigh. There’s very very few shabby homes left, as it’s been a real popular starter neighborhood for several years, and the majority of the homes are now owner occupied.

 

There’s 4 homes for sale at the moment, with 199,900 being the lowest and 385,000 the highest.

 

The 199,900 one is bank owned, needs some TLC and is at a great price for a 3 bedroom 2 bath on and 8100 foot lot. There’s some great deals like this hanging out all over Vintage Vegas.  

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