Turn right off heavily trafficked Park Street as you’re heading away from Downtown, or cross the always-bustling 250 Bypass at the base of Pantops Mountain and continue up River Road, and suddenly you’re within the hushed confines of a real estate mecca known as Locust Grove.
“This place has a lot to offer,” says Realtor Nancy McCarthy as we drive through the neighborhood. “It runs the gamut, from starter homes to dream houses.”
 Though some residents say Locust Grove’s streets are not very pedestrian-friendly, Eric Kang is undeterred. |
There are streets lined with ranch-style house after ranch-style house, along with streets that illustrate the concept of eclecticism, each row of houses like a series of paintings by an artist who’s eager to try out different styles. There’s also some new building going on, such as a small development on St. Charles Place, and plenty of renovating. “You look around and think, ‘Something is happening,’” says McCarthy.
Homes go fast here. McCarthy points to one that sold in three days, and another that sold in two weeks. It’s no wonder. The neighborhood is essentially a hill, and on it you feel borne aloft, as if you’re in the vast basket of a gigantic hot air balloon tethered to the ground by one or two ropes. But such an image is not meant to imply that the neighborhood is cut off from the city. Au contraire. As McCarthy puts it, “It’s five minutes to anywhere.”
Lofty location
Brynne Potter agrees. A Locust Grove resident since 1998, she says, “The main difference between this neighborhood and others in the city is convenience.”
That’s hard to fathom as you gaze out the floor-to-ceiling living room windows of her recently renovated ranch house on the un-aptly named Bland Circle. The unspoiled view of the Rivanna River makes the house feel leagues away from Charlottesville. Though a full view of the river is a rarity in the area, many nearby properties look out onto Meadow Creek, Darden Towe Park and Pen Park. “We see bald eagles, herons, geese,” Potter says. And there’s a fox family that makes regular appearances near the house. Awwww, how cute!
But back to more practical matters. Potter’s husband takes the bus to his job at UVA. Her older son often walks to the Downtown Mall. As for car travel, getting to main thoroughfares such as Park Street and the 250 Bypass is a one-step process, and not a little adventure, as it is starting out from many neighborhoods in town. “It’s simple,” she says simply.
Latecomers
Given its prime location, why is it that most of the houses in the neighborhood are only 50 years old, as opposed to a much older neighborhood like Belmont? “This whole area used to be a dairy farm,” Potter explains, “until it was bought by a developer at the start of the 1960s.” Hence, what might have been one of the first neighborhoods established in Charlottesville was actually one of the last.
Those original houses generally cover two distinct options: a lower-priced one with minor renovations, and a higher-priced one with major renovations.
 The housing stock in the neighborhood is diverse—"from starter homes to dream homes," says a real estate agent. |
After a lot of marveling at the general eclecticism, McCarthy gets specific. “This is more like a Cape Cod,” she says as she unlocks the door to a four-bedroom, two-bath house on St. Charles Avenue. No major spatial improvements have been done, which keeps the price at $275,000, but everything from the new roof to the sleek hardwood floors exudes loving care. The second floor is dominated by two large bedrooms and two walk-in closets. It’s tempting to call the first floor “cozy,” but that single word doesn’t cut it. “Lean elegance” is more like it, the kind that awakens you to the fact that many people occupy more space than they actually need.
The next stop is a house on Martin Street that’s a half-block away from the bypass, and selling for $200,000 more. The reason, to borrow Potter’s word, is simple: The attic has been renovated into a master-bedroom space, and the basement has been renovated so that it’s now like an extra floor. “This is a great example of someone taking an old house and adding charm,” McCarthy says. “If you have a basement, you can renovate and double your square footage.”
The charm isn’t just spatially evident. There are eye-catching details, like the brick fireplace with wood paneling, the chess-board-tile kitchen floor, the built-in bookshelves and the custom wood blinds. Also, the front yard and back yard are landscaped in a way that takes full advantage of their urban size. Inside, and even outside, the house isn’t showered with noise from the bypass.
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So is there anything about the neighborhood to lament? To the question of whether the streets are pedestrian-friendly, Potter answers a distinct “no.” The lack of sidewalks, and a fairly significant cut-through-traffic situation, are the main culprits. Potter says that the issue often comes up at neighborhood meetings, but that possible solutions entail messing around with a space many residents feel is just dandy the way it is. “We can’t really get a consensus,” she says.
Nevertheless, it’s pretty darn impossible to argue against life on Bland Circle, and surely everyone in Locust Grove would agree that it’s a fine place to be—for a fox family or any other kind of family.