In 1940 the now-defunct "New York Herald Tribune" declared Dutch Village to be "one of the most interesting scale housing developments in the East". The steeped roofs and brick construction were designed to reflect early Dutch architecture. Wards Lane at the time was small and unpaved on a steep slope, but by using money from a federal program designed to pave "farm to market" roads the project was able to improve the road to Dutch Village without any cost to the village of Menands.