STORY #9: Who Was the Metcalfe Co.?
When the Omaha Country Club sold its 105 acres in 1925, it wasn’t just land changing hands—it was the future of a neighborhood taking shape. The buyer was the Metcalfe Co., a young but fast-rising Omaha firm that had already earned a reputation as realtors, developers and community builders.
Founded on Feb. 15, 1924, the Metcalfe Co. wasted no time. In its very first year, it built more than 100 homes—more than any other builder in Omaha. By early 1925, newspapers were calling its first year “a remarkable success.” The company had already developed Crestwood, a 40-acre addition east of 60th Street and south of Pacific, complete with sidewalks, paved streets and new homes rising block by block.
The company’s leaders—Richard L. Metcalfe and his son Theodore “Ted” Metcalfe—were unapologetically optimistic about Omaha’s future.
“There are, in our dictionary, no such words as ‘pessimism’ or ‘discouragement,’” Ted Metcalfe told the World-Herald in 1925. “All we need to do is to ‘get up and git,’ and we will reap the benefits of Omaha’s advantageous situation and conditions.”
In July 1925, the Metcalfe Co. purchased the former Country Club grounds from Woods Brothers for $225,000. Within weeks, they announced an ambitious plan: winding boulevards, landscaped streets, modern utilities—and homes designed to create a model suburban district. In October 2025 large ads announced lots were for sale and in just three weeks more than $500,000 in lots were sold. In 2025 this was the last large tract of prime land within Omaha’s city limits, and buyers rushed in.
By 1927, the firm was incorporated as Metcalfe Company, Inc., with $200,000 in capital and a board that included Richard L. Metcalfe, president; Joe Shaver, vice president; Theodore W. Metcalfe, secretary-treasurer; C. F. Connolly; Paul E. Coad; Kenneth Metcalfe; Buehler Metcalfe; and Walter H. Rowley. Richard Metcalfe summed up their philosophy:
“Don’t sell short on Omaha. The pessimists of today will be sadly disappointed when the optimists cash in on the future of Omaha.”
That optimism shaped what we now know as the Country Club neighborhood. What began as fairways and greens became one of Omaha’s most distinctive residential districts—because the Metcalfe Co. believed that how a neighborhood was planned mattered as much as what was built.
Sources: Metcalfe Co. Builds 112 homes in Omaha, 1924 Jan. 4, 1925 p15; Metcalfe Co 1-year-old Today Omaha World -Herald Feb. 15, 1925 p30; Five Beautiful Homes in Crestwood Division (Ad) Omaha World-Herald July, 19, 1925 p6; Country Club District Abstract of Title; A Story of Omaha Country Club Omaha World-Herald Oct. 11, 1925 p15; Metcalfe Co Incorporates Omaha Daily News Jan. 25, 1927
Photo Captions:
N/A
Omaha World-Herald reports in its Jan. 4, 1925 edition that Metcalfe Co. has built 112 homes in its first year.
Metcalfe Co. advertisement inviting people to view their homes in the new Crestwood Division. Omaha World-Herald July 19, 1925 pg6.
An article in the Feb. 15, 1925 edition of the Omaha World-Herald celebrates the successful first year of business for the Metcalfe Co.
The Metcalfe Co announces its incorporation on Jan. 25, 1927 in the Omaha Daily News.
