Midvale and Westmorland: Madison's near west side along Odana Road and Midvale Boulevard

Westmorland

The City of Madison's Westmorland walking tour describes a neighborhood that began as farmland owned by Otto Toepfer Jr., who platted the West Wingra Addition in 1916 and more lots in 1926. A banker, A.O. Paunack, formed the Westmorland Company in 1926 to sell lots, and the company built a nine-hole golf course and the sandstone entrance gates on Westmorland Boulevard in 1928 and 1929. The tour lists the main entrance at Westmorland Boulevard and Mineral Point Road.

The streets look varied because the older blocks have Tudor Revival, Cape Cod, Bungalow and other styles from the 1920s and later, while the area south of Odana Road, built out between 1954 and 1960, is mostly Ranch and Split-Level homes. The tour also notes seven Lustron houses, with enamel-coated steel panels, built in 1949 and 1950. The area was part of the Town of Madison until the city annexed it on May 14, 1948, and its neighborhood association, formed in April 1941, is called one of the first in the Madison area.

The tour calls Frank Lloyd Wright's 1937 Jacobs House on Toepfer Avenue the first Usonian house; see our Frank Lloyd Wright guide.

University Hill Farms and Midvale Heights

Nearby neighborhoods have different origins. University Hill Farms, bounded roughly by University Avenue, Midvale Boulevard, Whitney Way and Mineral Point Road, was an experimental farm of the University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture from 1897. In 1953 the university decided to develop it as a planned suburb and use the proceeds to buy a larger farm farther from the city. Plats began in 1956 and most lots had sold by 1959. The Wisconsin Historical Society says the district, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015, is mostly Ranch and Contemporary houses.

The city's West Area Plan says Midvale Heights was built after University Hill Farms, in a grid of streets with several connections to major roads, unlike the curving, inward-facing streets of some other west-side subdivisions. It describes Crestwood, farther west, as lacking sidewalks in parts and says the city plans to add them as streets are rebuilt.

Golf: Odana Hills and The Glen

Two city courses sit in this part of town. The Odana Hills Golf Course, 4635 Odana Rd., is an 18-hole, par 72 course; the West Area Plan says it was among the first areas annexed to the city, in 1947. The city's project page says the front nine closes starting October 26, 2026, and that it expects the course to be closed for the full 2027 season while it is renovated and a new clubhouse is built, with a goal of reopening in 2028. Check the city's page for changes.

The Glen Golf Park, 3747 Speedway Rd., is the former Glenway Golf Course. It is a nine-hole course that was redesigned and reopened in 2022 with a donation of funding and design services from Michael and Jocelyn Keiser, with walking trails and prairie plantings meant to welcome non-golfers. See our golf guide for booking, passes and the city's other courses.

Parks

The city's park pages list these in and around the neighborhoods:

• Westmorland Park, 4114 Tokay Blvd.: 11.69 acres with a rock garden, a large playground, a reservable shelter with a working fireplace, a basketball court, a sand volleyball court, two tennis courts also used for pickleball, and multipurpose fields. The walking tour says it was dedicated in 1944 and the rock garden was built in 1953. The city lists winter skating through its Adopt Ice program.
• Garner Park, 333 S. Rosa Rd.: 41.83 acres with a basketball court, six pickleball courts, three multipurpose fields, a sand volleyball court, a playground, and sledding hills when snow cover is good.
• Odana School Park Dog Park, 678 S. Segoe Rd.: a fenced off-leash area of about 2.8 acres with a separate small-dog area. It needs a daily or annual city dog permit.

Our parks guide covers the rest of the system.

Sequoya Library

The Sequoya Library is at 4340 Tokay Blvd.. Madison Public Library's page lists Meeting Rooms A and B, which can be combined, and Study Rooms 104 and 105, which can also be combined, plus computers and Wi-Fi. Check the library's page for current hours. Our libraries guide explains cards and room reservations.

Getting around: Route A

Metro Transit's Route A is bus rapid transit between Junction Road and Sun Prairie, running on weekdays and weekends. Its timetable lists the Westfield and Segoe stations on the west side, and its list of places served includes Mineral Point and S. Whitney. The city's West Area Plan says it runs on Mineral Point Road, Whitney Way, Sheboygan Avenue and University Avenue. Check Metro's site for the current schedule. The plan also notes bike lanes on Midvale Boulevard from the Beltline to Mineral Point Road. See our getting around guide.

Places to start on Odana Road, Midvale Boulevard and Mineral Point Road

These are businesses in our directory. Descriptions come from their listings; hours and menus change, so check with each one.

• EVP Coffee Sequoya: EVP's west-side coffee shop by Sequoya Library, from a Madison roaster founded in 1997, with outdoor seating.
• Steep and Brew West: a west-side coffee shop on Odana Road with espresso, pour-overs, tea and smoothies, and Madison Sourdough pastries.
• Luigi's Pizza: a neighborhood pizzeria in Midvale Plaza with hand-stretched thin crust, house-made sausage and gluten-sensitive and vegan crusts.
• Petra Bakery And Restaurant: a Middle Eastern restaurant and bakery on Odana Road with shawarma, falafel, kebabs, flatbread baked each morning and Arabic coffee.
• La Mestiza: a Mexican restaurant cooking traditional dishes from many regions of Mexico, including some rarely seen north of the border.
• Otto's Restaurant: a locally owned Mediterranean restaurant in an 1870s farmhouse, with steaks, seafood, a full bar and summer live music.
• Madison Art Market: a year-round art shop in Odana Plaza selling original art, prints, pottery and jewelry by more than 90 Wisconsin artists.
• The Camera Company: a Madison camera store on Odana Road selling new and used cameras, lenses and lighting, with gear rentals, a photo lab and photo classes.