San Francisco | $1.85 Million
An early 20th-century castle-like house with three bedrooms and one bathroom, on a 3,049-square-foot lot
This house is a block southwest of Corona Heights Park and four blocks from Castro Street. It was owned for decades by an antiques dealer and is ornamented inside and out with ironwork, bas-relief, carved millwork, fancy tiles and stained glass illustrated with patterns and portraits (including Shakespeare’s, St. Patrick’s and Queen Elizabeth I’s). It has two towers with crenelations and two south-facing balconies overlooking a decently sized backyard. A colony of wild parrots occupies the trees across the street.
Size: 1,687 square feet
Price per square foot: $1,097
Indoors: An iron gate takes you through an arched doorway into a vestibule with half-moon windows. From there, a double staircase with an iron banister steps down to a sunken living room with new hardwood floors and a fireplace with a massive, ornate mantel. To the right is a room with a large leaded-glass window set into a wall next to a spiral staircase that descends to the lower level. Embedded in another wall is an arched closet that holds a stacked washer and dryer.
A doorway next to the fireplace leads into a bedroom with a wall of stained-glass windows and access to one of the decks. Off to the side is a windowed niche that holds a sink. Next to the bedroom is a bathroom with a tub and shower head and more colorful glass.
A regular staircase near the bedroom rises to the second floor, where a large leaded-glass, St. Patrick is waiting, along with a pair of cloverleaf-shaped windows displaying crowns. A second bedroom is here, with a closet and views of Corona Heights and Eureka Valley. A few steps up takes you into the round tower, where there is a third bedroom with a box-beamed ceiling, arched windows and a wood-burning stove. You can reach the turret from here.
On the lower level, at the base of the spiral staircase, is a library wrapped in bookshelves. It includes a fireplace with figures carved in the overmantel, yet more arched, leaded-glass windows and circular stained-glass portraits near the ceiling. (This is where you’ll find Shakespeare.) Next to this room is a formal dining room, and behind that a kitchen with a wall of wood cabinetry with quartz countertops and ornately patterned wall tile that is echoed in a mighty hood.
Outdoor space: A leaded-glass door in the library opens to a sunken front patio. In back is a covered deck and an enclosed yard surfaced in artificial turf, with a parking pad at the bottom for four cars.
Taxes: $22,172 (estimated)
Contact: David Ayerdi, Sotheby’s International Realty, 415-794-3212; sothebysrealty.com
New York City | $1.895 Million
A one-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bathroom condo in a 1930s Art Deco building on Central Park West
This eighth-floor unit is in the Century, a 33-story, twin-towered building with 422 residences. The blocklong building was designed by the office of Irwin S. Chanin with innovative (for its time) corner windows. There are three entrances, the main one on Central Park West and the others on 62nd and 63rd Streets.
The building is three blocks north of Columbus Circle and two blocks east of Lincoln Center. Ground-floor commercial services include a dry cleaner, a hair salon and a dental office; almost every other conceivable need can be filled in the surrounding blocks. The West Side YMCA, which has two swimming pools, and the private Ethical Culture Fieldston School are across 63rd Street. Central Park is steps away.
Size: 1,000 square feet
Price per square foot: $1,895
Indoors: This unit has north- and west-facing (city, not park) views. A gut renovation undertaken in the last two years contributed luxurious finishes (including wide-plank hardwood flooring) and built-in furnishings (ceiling-high shelves cover one living-room wall).
The unit is entered through a foyer with an antiqued mirrored wall and a large coat closet. Turning right takes you into the 22-foot-long living room, which has an ethanol-burning fireplace on a mirrored wall centered between shelving. Louvered window shutters fold out to block the northern light.
The living room flows into a windowed dining area with an antiqued mirrored wall and copper lighting fixtures. The galley kitchen extends off that; high-gloss cabinets with honed granite countertops and Miele, Dacor and Liebherr appliances extend along one wall. Acid-etched copper covers the opposite wall, and a closet has been fitted out as a pantry.
Turning left from the foyer takes you into a hallway with four closets (one holds a washer and dryer) and a desk built into a niche and flanked by open shelves. The half bathroom beyond the closets includes a cast-concrete cylindrical basin and walls covered in faux-wood-grain paper.
The hallway offers another entry into the kitchen and also leads into the bedroom. That room is 16 feet long and more than 13 feet wide, and includes two exposures and a wall of closets with linen-covered doors with hammered-copper hardware. The en suite bathroom has a floating wood vanity topped with a thick marble slab, and a glass-enclosed steam shower.
Outdoor space: The building has an interior courtyard and garden. Among other amenities are a children’s party room, a bike room, a laundry room, private storage and a garage with valet service.
Taxes: $11,532, plus a $1,272 monthly homeowner fee that covers gas and electricity
Contact: Greg McHale, Compass, 443-858-5858; compass.com
Nashville | $1.875 Million
A 1959 brick house with four bedrooms, four full bathrooms and two half bathrooms, on a 1.46-acre lot
This single-story home was renovated in two recent stages, the first in 2009 and the second in 2014. Between them, the renovations yielded the addition of a family room, a screened porch, a half bathroom, the primary suite and a three-car garage. The kitchen was upgraded, and every bathroom was gutted and refurbished. Exterior landscaping and hardscaping were done as well.
The property is in Hillwood, an upscale neighborhood with houses that date from the mid-20th century. It is about seven miles southwest of the center of Nashville and less than a half-mile north of the Hillwood Country Club. In less than 10 minutes, you can walk to Hillwood High School, one of the first in Tennessee to offer the International Baccalaureate. The local middle school is about eight minutes on foot beyond that.
Size: 5,163 square feet
Price per square foot: $363
Indoors: The house is approached by a circular driveway and then an entrance portico. The front door opens into a central hall that leads straight through to a rear wall of glass in the den. Throughout are nine-and-a-quarter-foot ceilings and hardwood floors that are either refinished four-inch-wide boards or new ones that have been sized and stained to match.
To the right of the entrance is a formal dining room including floor-to-ceiling windows with plantation shutters and a wall of hidden cabinetry. To the left is a living room with a wood-burning fireplace. The den at the rear is lined in open shelves, except where there are windows or a second fireplace. It continues into an enormous kitchen, which is also accessible from the dining room. The center island easily seats six and has a cooktop. Granite counters are integrated into soft-close cabinets with pullout storage. There is also glass subway wall tile, a double wall oven and an extra-wide refrigerator and freezer.
The new family room was converted from the original garage and offers bookcases on either side of a window with a bench. Concrete tile covers the floor of the screened porch.
All four bedrooms have en suite bathrooms. Pocket doors in the primary bedroom open to a sitting room or study, and the vaulted private bathroom with skylights includes twin vanities, a heated stand-alone tub and a shower with multiple heads, jets and sprays that is effectively a small room. The long walk-in closet is fitted out with dressers, floor-to-ceiling shelves, a storage island and its own cedar closet. (There are two access points, allowing users to bathe and dress privately without waking a partner.) The main suite also has a coffee bar across from a closet with laundry appliances (the counter could be used for folding). In another suite, the bathroom was designed to be fully accessible, with a vanity set at an angle for a wheelchair user, a wide shower entrance with no threshold and a bidet.
Outdoor space: A rear fieldstone patio is directly reached from the primary suite’s study, the den or the screened porch. Beyond is a wide lawn with a pergola. The is also a generous front lawn with specimen trees.
Taxes: $8,138 (2019)
Contact: Jamie Granbery, Pilkerton Realtors, 615-300-8763; pilkerton.com
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