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Our family of 6 will likely be relocating to the triangle in about a year and we are just starting to get a feel for the area. We would need to be close to Duke and the Hope Valley area was recommended to us as a nice, established neighborhood with good public and private schools nearby.
When looking at the MLS listings, houses listed as "Hope Valley" seem to be either older homes with a higher price tag, or new construction which is larger and cheaper. I'm guessing that there is a "real" Hope Valley which is an established well-known neighborhood and a lot of newer, cheaper developments which try to cash in on the name. Frankly, we have no interest in a brand new development with no trees and a bunch of cookie-cutter "McMansions."
Does anyone have any knowledge of or thoughts on the Hope Valley area?
"Hope Valley" is the older established area you are looking for. The newer ones which are nearby but different as you've seen are:
Hope Valley Farms
Hope Valley Green
Hope Valley Downs
I am sure there are others, but Farms is the biggest one.
What do you define as "close to" Duke?
I am not overly familiar with North Durham, but some people have recommended that side of town. Southwest Durham, one of the other popular areas, is a bit newer than I suspect you'd like if you have an aversion to the non-Hope Valley Hope Valleys.
Hope Valley "Proper" (hvna.org) as I call it has been in Durham a very long time, and there are a few newer developments with "Hope Valley" in the name, but the whole area is considered Hope Valley...the main street going past all these neighborhoods is Hope Valley Road. You can find almost any price range you want in the larger Hope Valley area. What price range are you looking for?
(And even those newer developments have plenty of nice trees.)
I live in a townhouse community called "The Oaks at Hope Valley" and can attest to the hook-in naming of communities near the Hope Valley Country Club area. Hope Valley Proper is old money and was THE most expensive place to live in the triangle not more than 8 years ago. Since then, Governor's club in Chatham County, Meadowmont in Chapel Hill, and some neighborhoods inside the beltline in Raleigh have surpassed HVCC as most expensive. If you are looking for an established neighborhood with trees, character, etc., look in the Hope Valley area, but not necessarily in HVCC Proper. Check out the area off of W. Cornwallis Rd between Academy Rd and Erwin Rd, as well as the neighborhoods called Trinity Park (trinitypark.org) and Forest Hills (fhnadurham.com). There are a lot of established nearby smaller neighborhoods in these general areas that aren't large enough to reference by another name when talking with real estate agents.
Last edited by DURHAMLOVEYOURSELF; 01-11-2008 at 12:58 PM..
Reason: url weirdness
I live in one of the neighborhoods along Hope Valley Road that you described as newer, larger, and cheaper, but you didn't seem to paint that kind of thing in a very positive light so I assume you just want information on the old core Hope Valley. The homes are older and expensive. There appears to be a good deal of variety on size and architectural style. I have a photo tour of old Hope Valley as well as some of the newer neighborhoods in the Hope Valley area on the stickied photo thread at the top of this forum. The old Hope Valley neighborhood has a country club with a golf course that my next door neighbor still belongs to, and if I remember correctly I think she said they pay 12k a year. If that amount doesn't make you want to faint like it does me you may enjoy it A little trivia that originally Hope Valley was not a part of Durham but was later incorporated into the city limits.
The entire Hope Valley area, as in the area in general along Hope Valley Road, is very heavily treed and more birds that I've ever seen frequenting back yards. I have a constant stream of them coming to my feeders, red, blue, and yellow ones too The elementary school you would be districted to would be Hope Valley Elementary which my eldest is attending and we really love. I haven't met anyone in my neighborhood yet that doesn't send their child there (as opposed to private school). They are all very happy with it. I'm not sure which middle and high school old Hope Valley are districted to. This assuming you're thinking public school. The area would put you very very close to Duke, and not far from downtown which has many excellent restaurants. You would be close to Streets at Southpoint, the area's newest and most upscale mall, and two different large shopping complexes full of big box stores. Hope Valley Road leads straight to I-40.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gasgangrene
Our family of 6 will likely be relocating to the triangle in about a year and we are just starting to get a feel for the area. We would need to be close to Duke and the Hope Valley area was recommended to us as a nice, established neighborhood with good public and private schools nearby.
When looking at the MLS listings, houses listed as "Hope Valley" seem to be either older homes with a higher price tag, or new construction which is larger and cheaper. I'm guessing that there is a "real" Hope Valley which is an established well-known neighborhood and a lot of newer, cheaper developments which try to cash in on the name. Frankly, we have no interest in a brand new development with no trees and a bunch of cookie-cutter "McMansions."
Does anyone have any knowledge of or thoughts on the Hope Valley area?
We are proud residents of what we like to call the "low-rent" end of Hope Valley: far enough away from the Country Club to be affordable, but still heavily treed with large lots and many homes built in the 50s and 60s (beautiful hardwood floors, tile bathrooms, thick drywall, lovely wood moldings).
If you're searching the various real estate databases, try looking at the streets bounded by University, Cornwallis, and Archdale. That should give you a start.
Woodcroft is also a nice, established neighborhood near Hope Valley.
If you want new, go across 40 to some of the neighborhoods near Southpoint Mall. If you want older and more established, stick with Hope Valley or Woodcroft. Woodcroft tends to be more affordable.
You may also want to consider the Northeast section of Orange County. There are some beautiful neighborhoods off of Whitfield Road that would be in Chapel Hill Schools, and about 6 miles from campus. These would include Stoneridge/Sedgefield and Forest Hills. Chandler's Green is also near Whitfield and walking distance to Chapel Hill East, with large wooded lots and stately homes. Also about 6 miles from campus. In the Orange County schools, the area off of Mt. Sinai Road is gorgeous and has many lovely neighborhoods, and would still be an easy commute to campus.
I lived in Hope valley ( the old-expensive part / by the golf course / Devon Rd - Dover Rd etc. the area you are talking about I think) about 7 years ago and we adored it. My husband and I are both Duke grads so it was wonderful to be close to the school and also close to so many amenities in the durham area. (You can get to Harris Teeter and a bunch of shops right out the back entrance of HV.) We were literally talking tonight how nice it would be to move back. I found the people to be quite friendly and down to earth - and we were not in a mega estate. You won't find many UNC fans though.
You will find the homes smaller and the prices higher. In return, you get a beautiful neighborhood, a big yard, hardwood floors etc. It is all a matter of personal taste. Friends of ours lived in the newer development called Hope Valley ?? that is really large and brand new. They had an enormous house and really liked that area. We didn't like the .25 acre lots and cookie cutter style of this development, but many people would prefer it. If you are the kind of person that likes older homes with a lot of detail, moldings, big trees etc. then you may like old hope valley. If you want a modern great room and a 2 story foyer, you will not find as many homes like that there. Best of luck in your search. Durham is a great area to live no matter what you like.
Just don't buy Mike Peterson's old house !!!!
Might be haunted .
Maybe that was in Forest Hills
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Hope Valley Area, Durham, NC
you may enjoy it 
A little trivia that originally Hope Valley was not a part of Durham but was later incorporated into the city limits. 
The elementary school you would be districted to would be Hope Valley Elementary which my eldest is attending and we really love. I haven't met anyone in my neighborhood yet that doesn't send their child there (as opposed to private school). They are all very happy with it. I'm not sure which middle and high school old Hope Valley are districted to. This assuming you're thinking public school. The area would put you very very close to Duke, and not far from downtown which has many excellent restaurants. You would be close to Streets at Southpoint, the area's newest and most upscale mall, and two different large shopping complexes full of big box stores. Hope Valley Road leads straight to I-40.
