A New Neighborhood in an Old Community
The Preserve of Westlake Condominiums is one of those Westlake neighborhoods that feels newer than the community around it, yet it belongs naturally to a much older story. Set just east of Crocker Road, between Schwartz Road and Center Ridge Road, the condominium community is centered around Hummingbird Circle, Hummingbird Court, and Hummingbird Way. Its tree-lined streets, attached garages, landscaped common areas, and quiet residential setting reflect the suburban Westlake of the early 21st century—but the land is part of a city with roots reaching back more than two centuries.
Westlake began as Dover Township, established in the early 19th century on the Connecticut Western Reserve. Pioneer families such as the Cahoons, Porters, Crockers, Clagues, and Westons cleared forests, planted crops, raised livestock, and built the roads and homes that shaped the community. Over time, Dover became a center for agriculture, small fruit, and grape growing before changing its name to Westlake in 1940.
That long transition—from rural township to established suburb—is the larger historical backdrop for the Preserve.
The Origins of the Preserve
The Preserve of Westlake began taking shape around the turn of the 21st century, during a period when Westlake was welcoming new housing, commercial development, and expanded services. City records show that Westlake accepted an assembly and dedication plat and easement plat from Kimball Hill Homes for the Preserve in April 2001. Additional water-service and circulation easements were accepted shortly afterward.
The condominium owners’ association was formed on March 25, 2002, marking another important milestone in the neighborhood’s development. Public property records identify the earliest homes as dating from approximately 2005 and 2006, with later phases continuing into the late 2000s. Several legal descriptions identify separate condominium phases, including Phase 5 and Phase 11, suggesting that the community grew in stages rather than appearing all at once.
Kimball Hill Homes designed the neighborhood around a popular suburban idea of the era: provide the architectural feel of a traditional neighborhood while reducing the maintenance responsibilities associated with a detached home. Many residences feature Colonial-inspired designs, attached two-car garages, basements, patios, and open floor plans. Today, the community includes both two-story townhome-style residences and ranch-style condominiums, offering options for families, empty nesters, and residents looking for one-floor living.
How the Neighborhood Got Its Name
The word “Preserve” is especially fitting for the community’s appearance. The neighborhood is known for wooded views, landscaped common areas, sidewalks, water features, and streets that curve through a carefully planned residential setting. Real-estate descriptions frequently emphasize tree-lined surroundings and green space, while residents are drawn to the sense of privacy created by mature landscaping.
There does not appear to be a widely published official explanation for the name, but it seems to reflect the development’s design rather than a direct reference to a historic preserve or protected estate. In that sense, “The Preserve” describes an atmosphere: a neighborhood designed to retain a feeling of nature within a growing suburban setting.
The bird-themed street names add to that character. Hummingbird Circle, Hummingbird Court, and Hummingbird Way give the community a distinctive identity and reinforce the impression of gardens, trees, and backyard wildlife. The street names are a small but memorable detail—exactly the kind of feature longtime residents use when describing the neighborhood to visitors.
Nearby Landmarks That Connect the Community to the Past
Although the Preserve itself is a modern condominium development, it sits close to some of Westlake’s most meaningful historic and civic landmarks.
A short drive away on Clague Road is the Clague House Museum, a 19th-century Italianate home built around 1876 for the Clague family, who immigrated from the Isle of Man. The house is now operated by the Westlake Historical Society and preserves artifacts, photographs, and stories from the city’s early years. Clague Park, at Clague Road and Hilliard Boulevard, also offers trails, ballfields, a duck pond, a historic cabin, and community gathering spaces. The 78-acre park was donated in 1926 and remains one of Westlake’s signature public spaces.
Bradley Nature Park and the nearby Cleveland Metroparks Bradley Woods Reservation provide another connection to the landscape that existed before modern development. Located north of Center Ridge Road, Bradley Nature Park includes a nature trail, sledding hill, playground, pavilion, and picnic areas. For residents of the Preserve, these nearby places make it easy to enjoy the wooded, open character suggested by the neighborhood’s name.
Center Ridge Road also carries historical importance. The intersection of Center Ridge and Dover Center roads was once the geographic and commercial heart of old Dover Township. Nearby historic homes, cemeteries, and surviving pioneer landmarks help show how dramatically Westlake has changed from an agricultural settlement to a mature suburban city.
Growing Alongside Crocker Park
The Preserve’s history is also closely tied to Westlake’s broader development boom. Crocker Park, just west of the neighborhood along Crocker Road, began its first major phase in 2004. The mixed-use district eventually expanded into a large destination with shopping, dining, offices, residences, events, and landscaped public spaces.
For residents, the timing was significant. The Preserve was being built just as Westlake was becoming one of the most active and recognizable suburban centers on Cleveland’s west side. What had once been farmland and scattered homes was evolving into a community where people could live near employment, medical care, restaurants, entertainment, and major highways.
That balance remains one of the neighborhood’s defining qualities. Inside the Preserve, the pace is quiet and residential. Outside its entrances, Crocker Road and Center Ridge Road connect residents to the commercial and civic life of contemporary Westlake.
How the Preserve Has Evolved
Over the decades, the Preserve has matured from a new construction project into an established neighborhood. Young landscaping has grown taller, homes have passed from original owners to new residents, and the community has developed the settled look that comes with time. Properties built in the mid-2000s now have mature trees, established gardens, and the comfortable rhythms of a long-inhabited place.
The neighborhood has also adapted to changing lifestyles. Ranch-style units appeal to residents seeking accessible, single-floor living, while larger two-story homes provide space for families, guests, offices, and hobbies. Association services such as grounds maintenance, snow removal, and exterior upkeep help preserve the community’s consistent appearance.
In 2025, Westlake approved plans for updated entrance signage at Crocker Road and Hummingbird Way, a small but telling example of how the neighborhood continues to refresh its public face while retaining its established identity.
A Modern Chapter in Westlake’s Story
The Preserve of Westlake Condominiums does not have the 19th-century buildings of the Clague House Museum or the pioneer history of Center Ridge Road. Its heritage is newer, expressed through thoughtful planning, landscaped streets, architectural continuity, and the community life that has grown there since the early 2000s.
What makes the neighborhood special is the way it represents Westlake today: connected to its agricultural and pioneer past, shaped by suburban growth, and still attentive to trees, open space, and a strong sense of place. In the Preserve, history is not only found in old houses. It is also found in the continuing story of how Westlake has made room for new generations while holding on to the welcoming, neighborly character that has defined the city for so long.