Good Enough Homes & Destinations: What You Get For $539,000

The best thing ever is when the Gray Lady goes slumming and, for her weekly Great Homes and Destinations round-up, looks at houses for less than $1,000,000. You can tell she’s trying to care about the lives of (relative) Normals and their six-figure real estate, really she is, but her heart just isn’t it. Observe: “The kitchen is a long, narrow room with stainless-steel appliances, rustic wooden cabinets and a high ceiling. Off the kitchen, there is a den.”

After that, there’s only the sound of muffled sobs.

We can do better than that! Herewith, Good Enough Homes & Destinations: What You Get For $539,000. And we’ll focus in on some of those Mid-Sized Cities you all were raving about.

Three bedroom, two-and-a-half bath house with a wraparound porch and American flag in Decatur, GA, for $500,000, via Movoto. Walking distance to downtown and close to Emory. Gorgeous outdoorsy parts, including a huge deck out back, and pretty on the inside too with built ins, a kitchen island, French doors, and “plantation shutters,” whatever those are. Maybe they sing “Dixie” when you close them?

Three bedroom, three bath 2200-square foot brick house ON A LAKE in Winston-Salem, NC, for $539,000, via Trulia. The outdoors are so gorgeous I kind of want to buy it on the spot; I’m a sucker for willow trees. But the inside is stately too: high ceilings, an open plan, columns, built-ins, and “plantation shutters” again, because what Southern house is complete without them. The chandelier in the bathroom, though, is maybe taking things too far.

Six bedroom, four bath 5200-square-foot classic brick house in Helena, MT, for $525,000, via Trulia. The house dates back to 1902 and I dearly hope that that clock on the porch does too. (Old clocks: possibly even as sexy as willow trees.) Kitchen island, high ceilings, lots of charm, and walking distance to hiking trails. The drawback seems to be the local schools — this great “So You Want to Move to Montana” Reddit thread explains some of the hows and whys — but with a house this big you can set up your own.

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