In 1895, James Walker Tufts of Boston commissioned the firm of Olmsted, Olmsted, and Eliot to design one of the earliest planned resort communities in the U.S.  Olmsted office employee Warren H. Manning carried out Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr.’s, plan, ultimately remaining with Pinehurst and the Tufts family for 46 years.

Settled across broad ridges and valleys, the 100-acre resort centers around a village green nestled into a shallow amphitheater-like depression.  Concentric and radial curvilinear streets are lined with hilltop homes in a variety of sizes and materials, each set back 36 feet.  Though this arrangement creates generous expanses of green space, the barren, sandy soils of the site complicated developing a park-like setting.  More than 225,000 plants were added during construction, with a preference for native plants and a dual emphasis on spring blooming flowers and winter evergreens. Sunken street side shrubbery beds doubled as gutters, originally these were nearly 12 feet wide but have been narrowed since to accommodate road widening. 

Pinehurst is widely recognized today for its well-preserved Golf Course Number 2, designed by Donald James Ross.  Golf Course Number 4 was the work of Robert Trent Jones and Rees Jones. Other site features include an equestrian center pine grove, and deer park. Pinehurst was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998.