New Bern, N.C. | $950,000
A circa-1912 Colonial Revival house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms, on a 0.24-acre corner lot
This house with its wide wraparound porch and water views was designed by Herbert Woodley Simpson, who built many of New Bern’s elegant homes. It is in a historic district, within walking distance of downtown and a block from the Neuse River, which feeds into the Atlantic Ocean. Raleigh is about two hours northwest.
Size: 4,059 square feet
Price per square foot: $234
Indoors: The front door opens into a remarkably large foyer with a gas-burning fireplace (you could stash a grand piano there). To the right is a front parlor, also with a fireplace. The parlor flows into a dining room that includes a built-in credenza and cabinets and a crystal chandelier. All three rooms have hardwood floors and lofty windows with their original glass, and can be closed off with pocket doors.
A second sitting room (originally the dining room) is behind the front staircase in the foyer. It has a fireplace, as well. This room connects to an eat-in kitchen with a herringbone brick floor, white cabinets with quartz countertops, subway-tile backsplashes, a farmhouse sink and Thermador appliances. Also beyond the staircase is a bathroom with linen wallcovering and a shower.
Up the curving front staircase is a second-floor landing big enough to hold gym equipment and not obstruct the paths to the bedrooms. There are three on this level. The primary suite includes a gas-burning fireplace, a minutely organized trio of closets and a marble-tiled bathroom with ornately patterned wallpaper, a stand-alone bathtub and a walk-in shower. A second suite is almost as grand, although the fireplace is decorative and the bathroom can be entered from the bedroom or the hallway. The third bedroom has been recently used as an office. A former sewing room at the top of the stairs is now a laundry room.
The third floor has been refinished as a large room with bead-board walls and ceilings and queen-size beds tucked into dormer niches with water views. The bathroom includes a glass-enclosed shower. There is also a partial basement with storage.
Outdoor space: The property was recently professionally landscaped and has an irrigation system on a separate water meter. A white picket gate set between brick posts topped with pineapples leads into a side courtyard with brick pavers, lush garden beds and a fountain. Parking is in the oyster-shell-covered driveway.
Taxes: $6,422 (2020)
Contact: Mary Silver, Donna & Team New Bern Real Estate, 252-675-5050; newbernrealestatesearch.com
Los Angeles | $949,000
A 1954 midcentury-modern house with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, on a 0.13 acre hillside lot
This home is in the verdant Mount Washington neighborhood, about six miles northeast of downtown and less than a mile southwest of Occidental College. (The listing agent described it as “the Laurel Canyon of the east side” because of its “hippie, creative vibe.”) Shops, cafes and restaurants line nearby Eagle Rock Boulevard and York Boulevard, and are also clustered to the east, on Figueroa Street.
Size: 853 square feet
Price per square foot: $1,113
Indoors: Quintessentially California modern, this single-story house centers on a combined living-and-dining room with an open-beamed, white-painted wood ceiling and a wall of glass that overlooks a large front deck. The flooring was replaced by the owner and is a hard-surface laminate that resembles wood. To the right of the front door is an open galley kitchen with white cabinets and stainless steel appliances. A gray-painted brick fireplace climbs the wall opposite the entrance; next to it is a dining area with an inset window creating a nook for indoor greenery.
The two bedrooms are at the rear of the house; each has parquet floors and direct access to a patio. In one bedroom, pocket doors open to private bathroom that contains a vanity with double vessel sinks, a closet with sliding mirrored doors and a stone-tiled bathtub with a shower head. The second bedroom has use of a hall bathroom with a combined tub and shower faced in pale green glass tile.
Outdoor space: The landscaping features palms and crepe myrtle. Terraced gravel and garden beds rise from the rear patio up the hillside. Off-street parking is in a driveway.
Taxes: $11,863 (estimated)
Contact: Tracy Do, Compass, 323-842-4001; compass.com
Burlington, Vt. | $935,000
A 1935 Dutch Colonial Revival house with three bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms, on a 0.55-acre lot
Two years ago, a local developer bought and renovated this property for use as his own residence. He reconfigured spaces, added storage, updated mechanical systems, rebuilt the chimney and fireplace, and applied fresh paint inside and out. Built for the owner of the local soda-bottling plant (which is now an incubator for small, creative businesses), it is among the stately houses of the Hill Section, about a mile southeast of downtown. Champlain College is a mile north, and the University of Vermont’s campus is half a mile northeast. The drive southeast to Boston is about three and a half hours, and north to Montreal about two hours. You could also fly; the airport is about four miles away. And Amtrak is adding high-speed service from downtown Burlington to Penn Station in 2022.
Size: 2,056 square feet
Price per square foot: $455
Indoors: The home has three entrances: a formal one in front that takes you into a foyer with an original staircase; a rear one that leads from the backyard to the basement and kitchen; and one on the side that opens into an elegant mudroom (this is not an oxymoron) with built-in storage shelves. French doors lead from there into the dining room.
All of these rooms (including the mudroom) have original oak floors that have been stained ebony. They continue into a living room divided by a three-sided fireplace set on a concrete hearth that protrudes into the middle of the room. On one side of the fireplace is a space with built-in shelves (including a cabinet with a sliding door that disguises a television), a textured blue accent wall and a midcentury-modern pendant lamp. The other side is lined in windows with Lake Champlain glimpses and has a built-in upholstered bench that wraps around three walls.
The dining room connects to a kitchen that has been slightly but strikingly modified with royal blue, turquoise and coral-colored paint. A windowed niche off to the side has been painted in floor-to-ceiling teal and is shown as a breakfast room. Beyond the kitchen is a half bathroom and a back door.
The largest of the three upstairs bedrooms includes an upholstered accent wall, built-in storage and a windowed niche with a lake view. A second bedroom, which belonged to a child, has a reading nook tucked behind a boldly patterned wall. The bedrooms share a hallway bathroom with vintage mint-colored wall tile, pink floor tile, glossy black cabinetry and a cast-iron tub.
Outdoor space: The house has wide front and back lawns, a two-car garage and a covered parking area that leads into the mudroom.
Taxes: $14,467
Contact: Jessica Bridge, Element Real Estate, 802-233-9817; realestatevt.com
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