Portsmouth, Va. | $545,000
A brick townhouse built in 1820, with four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a one-bedroom, one-bathroom guesthouse, on a 0.1-acre lot
This house is in the city’s Olde Towne historic district, on a street with brick sidewalks a few blocks from the waterfront. It is within walking distance of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum, the Children’s Museum of Virginia and a ferry terminal with boats departing for Norfolk. The Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center, a 1945 Art Deco-style movie theater and the city’s welcome center are also nearby, on High Street.
Naval Medical Center Portsmouth is five minutes away by car. Driving to Norfolk takes 10 minutes. Virginia Beach is half an hour away, and Richmond is less than a two-hour drive.
Size: 4,125 square feet
Price per square foot: $132
Indoors: Brick steps lead from the sidewalk up to the front entrance, which is framed by a portico. The blue front door opens into a long hallway with original hardwood floors and a staircase to the second floor.
To the immediate left is a living room with a fireplace, interior shutters on the windows and an ornate ceiling rosette. The mantel, the trim around the windows and the ceiling moldings are all painted a blue gray.
Through a wide doorway is dining room with another fireplace and another ceiling rosette, this one with a brass light fixture handing from it.
The kitchen, at the back of the house, has a wall of exposed brick and space for a breakfast table near windows overlooking the backyard.
There is space at the top of the second-floor stair landing for a chair and a small table. Two bedrooms with fireplaces are off the landing, including the primary bedroom, which has street-facing windows and ample closet space. They share a bathroom with a combined tub and shower.
Another bedroom is on the cozy third floor, which has sloped ceilings.
The fourth bedroom is on the basement level, along with a den, a second full kitchen and a bathroom with a claw-foot tub.
The guesthouse was once a carriage house. Now it has a living room and a kitchen downstairs and a bedroom and full bathroom upstairs.
Outdoor space: The brick patio behind the main house is big enough for outdoor dining, with easy access to the grassy backyard beyond. Two private parking spots are at the back of the property.
Taxes: $4,800 (estimated)
Contact: Lori Gomoke, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices RW Towne Realty, 757-407-0675; bhhs.com
Oklahoma City | $539,000
A 1940 house with four bedrooms, two full bathrooms and two half bathrooms, on a 0.2-acre lot
This house is in Venice, a neighborhood about 15 minutes by car from downtown. It is about a mile from a swimming pool, a rose garden and tennis courts at Will Rogers Park, one of several city institutions named for the Oklahoma-born entertainer. Several public schools are also nearby, including a high school and a middle school. Lake Hefner, which has several waterfront parks with playgrounds and picnic areas, is 10 minutes away.
Driving to the main campus of the University of Oklahoma, in Norman, takes about half an hour. Will Rogers World Airport is about 15 minutes away.
Size: 2,548 square feet
Price per square foot: $212
Indoors: This home’s front door, painted a salmon pink, is framed by a covered porch with patterned-tile floors.
It opens into a living room with hardwood floors; a staircase to the second floor; a fireplace with a mosaic-tile surround in shades of pink and gray; and tall windows overlooking the front yard. Through a wide doorway is a dining area with more windows.
A powder room with pink walls and black-and-white tile is off the living room.
The kitchen is behind this part of the house, with quartz counters and a white subway-tile backsplash that pops against the dark cabinetry finished with rose-gold-colored hardware. It faces the family room, which has dark walls, white-painted wood ceilings and backyard access.
The primary suite is on the first floor, off the family room, with high ceilings, blue-gray walls, French doors that open to the backyard, and a bathroom with a long double vanity and a walk-in shower.
Three more bedrooms are on the second floor. The largest, at the top of the stairs, has an attached powder room. The other two share a bathroom off the hallway with a combined tub and shower. The hallway has built-in storage cabinets and is papered in a graphic zigzag pattern.
Outdoor space: The small patio behind the house is shaded by a wood pergola. The fenced backyard beyond includes a lawn, an elevated deck with room for lounging and a pink shed used for storage. The carport at the end of the driveway has covered parking for two cars.
Taxes: $3,756 (estimated)
Contact: Jenna Harper, Sage Sotheby’s International Realty, 405-465-6566; sothebysrealty.com
Westbrook, Maine | $550,000
A 1925 Colonial Revival house with five bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, on a 0.3-acre lot
Westbrook, a popular suburb of Portland, was a mill community in the mid 19th century, when the S.D. Warren Paper Mill was one of the area’s largest employers. Paper milling still has a presence in the city, and a number of buildings associated with the mill complex — which is a 10-minute walk from this property — are on the National Register of Historic Places.
This house is less than five minutes from Rock Row, a mixed-use development with retail, dining and office space oriented around a natural quarry. Driving to downtown Portland takes 20 minutes. Augusta, the state capital, is about an hour away, and Boston is less than a two-hour drive.
Size: 2,510 square feet
Price per square foot: $219
Indoors: This house sits on a corner lot, with a grassy front yard and steps leading up to the covered front porch.
To the right of the entry hall is a sunny living room with hardwood floors, a fireplace with a simple white mantel and large windows with white-painted wood trim.
Off one side of this space is a sunroom lined with windows, which is big enough to hold a home-office setup. Off the other side is a dining room with access to the sunroom.
The dining room connects to an updated kitchen with white cabinetry, butcher-block counters, stainless steel appliances and glass doors that open to the backyard. A powder room and a mudroom with built-in shelves and cabinets are also in this part of the house.
The staircase near the front door leads up to the bedrooms on the second and third floors. Four bedrooms are on the second floor; all are large enough to hold queen-size beds, and one has a bay of street-facing windows. They share a full bathroom on this level with walls finished in white subway tile.
The third floor is configured as one large primary suite, with a bedroom brightened by skylights; two walk-in closets; an open space that could be an office or workout area; and a bathroom with a deep soaking tub and separate shower.
Outdoor space: The wood deck behind the house, which has room for a table, chairs and outdoor heaters, is next to an aboveground pool. The fenced backyard is framed by mature landscaping. The detached garage has two parking spots.
Taxes: $5,076 (estimated)
Contact: Kelli Brewer and Lauren Kane, Portside Real Estate Group, 207-232-4752; portsiderealestategroup.com
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