Halloween Decorating in Clarendon Hills

Everything in Clarendon Hills points back to the walkable downtown wrapped around the BNSF Metra station, where the village strings holiday lights and residents stroll the shops on foot. That pedestrian scale shapes the displays: homes sit close to the sidewalk and to one another, so lighting is judged at close range and neighbors' displays play off each other block to block. The winding, contour-following streets — an Olmsted-style plan echoing Riverside — are lined with 1920s cottages and brick bungalows whose low, tidy rooflines are quick ladder work, though the steady wave of teardown two-stories near the station is adding taller peaks that need more reach. Prospect Park, with its pond and ballfields, anchors the family-heavy neighborhoods just west of downtown, and the summer Daisy Days festival gives the village a communal streak that carries into the holidays. Because lots are small and homes accessible, more owners here start with a roofline package and add tree wrapping later; the crews that serve Clarendon Hills also cover Hinsdale and Westmont, so October booking is the way to hold a date before Thanksgiving.

Clarendon Hills is a compact, walkable village whose winding, contour-following streets — laid out in the Olmsted-inspired manner of nearby Riverside — carry a tight mix of 1920s cottages, brick bungalows, mid-century ranches, and a growing share of teardown two-stories near downtown. Lots are small and closely spaced by DuPage standards, homes sit near the sidewalk, and rooflines run from modest bungalow gables to the taller peaks of new construction.