ATLANTAWHAT:A contemporary with four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms, on the Chattahoochee RiverHOW MUCH:$1,690,000SIZE:5,223 square feetPRICE PER SQUARE FOOT:$324SETTING:This house is in a wooded residential neighborhood called Paces near the northern end of Atlanta, in the greater Buckhead district. Most lots here are about two acres. A communally owned easement dovetails with national parkland along the Chattahoochee. The house sits on a hill on the river.INDOORS:The 1982 contemporary was designed by Henri Jova, an architect whose work can be found throughout Atlanta, including midcentury houses, the mixed-use Colony Square and the Carter Center. The design of the three-story stucco structure places much importance on its many windows — picture windows, narrow panels one and two stories tall, clerestories and transoms, all facing woods. The house was renovated within the last six years.The entry level is open plan, with pitched ceilings in some areas reaching over 20 feet.
Floors are a mix of Saltillo tile, carpet and wood. Sliding glass doors throughout open to patios and decks. In addition to a living area and a formal dining area, there are a family room and an office with a private patio overlooking a koi pond. The kitchen has stainless-steel appliances and flamed-granite countertops. The copper hood over the oven was made in Sweden; the backsplash behind the range is inlaid with fossils from the Green River in Wyoming. The free-standing sunroom of about 400 square feet, an addition, has a wood-paneled ceiling and is reached from the main deck off the formal dining area.Three of the bedrooms are on the second floor. The upstairs master suite is in its own small wing. It has picture windows facing the river, as does its en-suite bathroom, where one is over a claw-foot tub. The vanity is configured as an island, with opposing sinks and a large two-sided circular mirror in the middle. The fourth bedroom, a suite, is on the lower level, which also has a den.
OUTDOOR SPACE:The house is on two acres. There is a saltwater swimming pool surrounded by a stone patio. Walkways lead to a small pergola, then to a stairway that leads to a sitting area on the river. There’s also a trail to a clearing in the woods where the owners keep a chicken coop.TAXES:About $15,765 a yearCONTACT:Betsy Akers, Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, (404) 372-8144; WHAT:A Spanish revival with three bedrooms and two bathroomsHOW MUCH:$1,750,000SIZE:2,034 square feetPRICE PER SQUARE FOOT:$860SETTING:Ventura is a city of about 106,000 people between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. This house is on a narrow dead-end road in the foothills above downtown, overlooking the city and the Pacific Ocean. Architecture in the neighborhood ranges from smaller houses built in the 1940s and ’50s to expansive contemporaries, all situated for views. The house is about a mile and a half from downtown Ventura; Los Angeles is within an hour and a half by car and two and a half hours by Amtrak.INDOORS:The two-story house was built in 1930 and updated within the last 10 years.
Construction is redwood framing and stucco with a tile roof. Most floors are the original hardwood, and several rooms have the original beamed ceilings. Some of the doorways are arched and some of the ceiling corners are rounded, showing off the plaster work. Every room, bathrooms aside, opens to a deck or an outdoor seating area.The living room measures nearly 400 square feet, with a wood-burning fireplace and a large picture window with a view of the ocean and the Channel Islands. The fireplace has a brick hearth and tile surround. Both the living room and dining room open to a front deck with ocean views. The updated kitchen opens to the front deck, too. It has stainless-steel appliances, custom maple cabinets and dark-green serpentine stone countertops. Also on the first floor is a den with French doors. One bedroom is on the first floor; two, including the master, are up a small flight of stairs, on a second level. The master has an en-suite bathroom. Both upstairs bedrooms have doors to a saltwater pool and a back patio.
There’s also an unfinished lower level used for storage.OUTDOOR SPACE:The back patio and pool area are in a green, lushly landscaped area with textured concrete seating and a hot tub.TAXES:Approximately $21,875 a yearCONTACT:Nancy Kogevinas and Marilyn Groves, Berkshire Hathaway Luxury Collection, (805) 450-6233 / (805) 315-1555; WHAT:An 18th-century farmhouse with five bedrooms and four and a half bathroomsHOW MUCH:$1,695,000SIZE:5,414 square feetPRICE PER SQUARE FOOT:$313SETTING:Crozet is a residential community just west of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This 1790s farmhouse is on seven acres at the end of a half-mile driveway in a planned community called Old Trail Village. The house, historically the heart of a farm that became the Old Trail development, is now surrounded by an 18-hole golf course. The property has broad views of the Blue Ridge Mountains; national parks are within a 40-minute drive.INDOORS:The two-story house was built in the 1790s and last updated over the last 10 years.
A white brick structure with a pitched copper roof and classical columns supporting its front porch, the house retains its original six fireplaces, heart pine floors and wooden window frames. Newer additions, like rough-cut beamed ceilings and four more fireplaces, were designed to be in keeping with the house’s older aspects.The first of the 10 fireplaces is in the foyer, which opens to a formal dining room on one side and an office on the other. Behind the office, there’s a sitting room. All three rooms have fireplaces, while the office, which could be used as a bedroom, has an en-suite bathroom.At the back of the house is a long kitchen with concrete countertops, Viking appliances and a Bosch dishwasher. There is a built-in banquette in one corner for informal meals. A hallway leads from the kitchen to a large addition housing a family room with exposed beams and walls of windows. At one end is a bench seat flanked by bookshelves; at another, an entertainment area; there’s also a wet bar.