By Susan Vela
The Cincinnati Enquirer

INDIAN HILL - In the old days, the village's estate owners craved the call of the foxhunt. Now, they're also craving the picturesque maps heralding their exclusive community's genteel roots.

The "primitive style" Map of Camargo depicts in classic muted tones the estates planned for the village in 1928, just before the Wall Street crash of October 1929.

The Indian Hill property known as Seven Knolls, as it appeared in the 1930s. (Photo provided) | ZOOM |

This reproduction map has become widely popular. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

It was the Roaring Twenties when Camargo Realty Co. purchased 13,000 acres of Indian Hill's lush rolling property and sold 80 parcels so that Cincinnati's richest could build summer homes and gentleman farms.

Many of these grand edifices continue to stand and are marked on the map by quaint hunting, farming and gardening symbols. The map lists the 80 estates - including the 11 that never broke ground because of the Great Depression. Indian Hill's horsey set - at play on the hunting grounds and polo fields - also are featured.

"It reminds me of earlier times," said Emily Schoeny, an Indian Hill resident and avid foxhunter. "There are still people out here who remember early Indian Hill, which is so much fun. That map brings that to life."

The maps are the frontispiece in From Camargo to Indian Hill, a book on Indian Hill history. Artist Frank Myers was commissioned for the oil painting, which now hangs in the east dining room of the Camargo Club.

The Indian Hill Historical Society experienced a stroke of luck when a second edition was printed in 2001 and more maps were printed than books.

Since the fall, the society has sold more than 100 Maps of Camargo - to regular Indian Hill residents, who include Neil Armstrong, Marge Schott and Carl Lindner; to the owners of estates identified on the maps; and to those living beyond Indian Hill's boundaries.

Julie Brumleve, the society's administrator, has sent matted and framed maps to architecture lovers in faraway places. Indian Hill is well known for its medley of architectural styles.

"The key thing about the map is that it's totally charming," said Brumleve. "It's just got so many quaint things about it. It shows the railroad. It shows the Little Miami River.

"A number of the maps have been purchased by people who do live in houses that are on the maps. But there's an equal number of maps that have been purchased by people who have succumbed to the charm of the map itself."

The owners of Seven Knolls are eager to get a copy. The retired physician and his wife have lived in their English Tudor mansion for 17 years and have researched its origins. Arthur Morgan, whose father founded the Russell Morgan Printing Co., which evolved into the U.S. Playing Card Co. of Norwood, built the grand home.

"It's a record. It's a treasure, especially (when I) live in a house that's on this," said the physician's wife, who didn't give her name because of privacy issues.

Matted maps are $25. Framed versions are $55. To purchase one, contact the Indian Hill Historical Society at (513) 891-1873.

E-mail svela@enquirer.com