Non "cookie cutter" communities on lot w/trees.. (Austin: best neighborhoods, houses)

[corgifan]

I love what I've read so far of Austin, but I have yet to come across what I call older communities. Let me explain..
Right now I live in a 50 yr old house that's in excellent condition on a just shy of an acre lot. I have mature trees, most over 20 yr old on the property. Except for the planned community directly behind my house, we have excellent privacy from all the other houses just like ours on the street.
I tend to stay far from new developments... Too cookie cutter, no trees, no privacy.
Most home searches have lead me to more recently developed communities with HOAs. We can settle for an older development (10+yrs).

Any suggestions on where I can look?

[centralaustinite]

Well, you have to understand that 50 years ago, the population of Austin was about 150,000. There were residential areas right up to Congress. Most of that has now been transformed into either tall office buildings or beautiful old houses on leafy streets that contain law offices. The parts that do remain from that era and before are all in the central city and all very pricey, and virtually none are on an acre lot! Enfield, Tarrytown, Pemberton, etc. These were Austin's great neighborhoods 50 years ago. Today, for nearly all of us, they are unaffordable.

There was agricultural land all around Austin 50 years ago (cotton fields up Burnet road, farmer out by Sunset Valley, etc. New development then was south of Oltorf and in the Allandale and Crestview neighborhoods.

You might find what you are looking for in the small towns around Austin that have a long history (Georgetown, Bastrop, etc). Or perhaps the newer old houses in places like Northwest Hills, Highland Hills or the older developments to the south (Western Hills? is that right? I don't get out much beyond Central Austin). Big lots will be rare. Westlake has big lots but not a forested look (more scrubby and California looking).



You need a great realtor to help you search!

Good luck!

[TexasHorseLady]

The acre lot is going to be tricky if you're talking about Austin proper. Possible, but it would take some digging, patience and money. On the other hand, it can relatively be easily found in the small towns immediately surrounding Austin and right on the edges. Complete with the older home and the trees, if you head in the right direction.

Where would you be commuting to, what's your price range, what are your other interests? That would help in pointing you in the right direction. (Which would likely be the few areas that I'd be able to live and stay sane if I ever had to move back into town. )

[corgifan]

Most likely the commute will be to downtown Austin.
Where we live now we drive at least 1-2 miles to malls, grocery, etc. My current work commute in 40 mins and I'm fine with that time as well.
I don't necessarily need a large lot if I can get some privacy, usually 1/3 acre or more can do.
I saw some potential on this zip code 78759..
I'm hoping to visit and get a good realtor.

[AustinGuy]

Why don't you look into Dripping Springs or Georgetown? You can definitely get land and trees in either of those areas. Getting a fifty year old house might be a problem, but you can find houses that aren't part of a master planned community.

[TexasHorseLady]

I'd say Georgetown, if you want the big trees. Perhaps Serenada or North Lake, for a start.

I just checked the MLS, and only one house on an acre or more showed up in 78759 and it was built in 2005 and is about $850,000.

If you go down to between half and acre and an acre, there's a handful more, at from $360,000 to $630,000, built between 1981 and 1997.

[NC_newcomer]

Look at North West Hills (78731).

This was a Walter Carrington subdivision built on the edge of Austin in the mid-1960s so most of the houses are 40-45ish years old. The lots were larger than in new subdivisions, and the landscaping has matured beautifully, which gives you a lot of outdoor privacy.

In the 1960s I lived (as a kid!) on Honeycomb Rock Circle, and there were five houses that were the same "model" as ours -- though they were well spaced out and interspersed with other models, so it didn't have a "cookie cutter" feel. Today, driving on the street, I'd have to look hard to identify the "clone" houses, as some wonderful and creative exterior updating has been done.

[rogramjet]

I would suggest immediately east of I35, south of the Mueller Development and north of Manor Road. The areas are called French Place, Cherrywood, and Delwood II. Beautiful older homes, lots of mature trees, and some are on very large lots (maybe not quite an acre). I just bought a restored home built in the 40's on a 10,000 sq. ft. lot for under $300K. And I'm single digit minutes from downtown and UT. Best neighborhoods in Austin for the money, location, scenery, and charm in my opinion.

[love roses]

I've been over there and agree. There are some nice older homes East too.

[TexasHorseLady]

True. The lots aren't what I'd call large (I used to live over there long ago), but the houses are older and nice.