We are going to give you all the details on the top five historic neighborhoods in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The first neighborhood we need to tell you about is Historic Oakwood and Mordecai. These are actually two separate neighborhoods that kind of run into each other. This is quite common in the downtown Raleigh area. These two neighborhoods are located on the northeast side of downtown Raleigh. This is a very charming neighborhood. It is made up of primarily older homes, with a few newer homes mixed in. In fact 26% of the homes in Oakwood and Mordecai are over a hundred years old. 80% of the homes are over 50 years old. Only 15% of the homes in this area are under 20 years old. There are some really good options if you want a historic home and a place with a lot of character, plus the walkability of Oakwood Mordecai area can’t be beat.
The median home price for a single family home in historic Oakwood Mordecai is coming in at about $758,000. The median home price for a townhome or condo in this area is coming in at $523,000. Some of our favorite restaurants in this area include Crawford and Son and Jolie. Two great restaurants by award-winning Chef Scott Crawford. As well the Stanbury, Oakwood Pizza Box, The Optimist coffee shop, and last but certainly not least Two Roosters Ice Cream, is in this area. We were at Two Roosters last night, they have the most amazing vanilla among many, many other flavors and we highly recommend Two Roosters Ice Cream. We highly recommend all the restaurants in this area.
As far as shopping goes there’s not a lot of major shopping in the historical Oakwood Mordecai area. There is a Publix fairly close by. Costco was a couple miles up to the north off of Six Forks Road and Atlantic so not terribly far. There is Wegmans, Food Lion, Trader Joe’s and it’s just under 10 minutes away. Primarily most of the shopping in this historic Oakwood Mordecai area are like mom and pop kind of shops that you would go stroll and get a gift for someone. As far as actual clothing, shopping or grocery shopping, you’re going to need to drive a little ways as far as points of interest in this area. There’s the Mordecai Historic Park where you will find the Mordecai House which was built in 1785. The home and the surrounding area is called Mordecai because it was named after the original owner of the Mordecai House, Moses Mordecai. By the way you can always tell a local from someone from out of town by the way they pronounce this area. An out-of-towner is going to pronounce it like you would find in the Bible, Mordecai. However if you are local you’re going to know the real pronunciation for this area specifically is Morde-key because it’s named after Moses Morde-key. His original pronunciation was Mordecai. He moved to Raleigh and built this house and lived in this house for many years and for whatever reason changed the pronunciation to Morde-key. It has since stuck and so if you’re a local you know Morde-key and if you’re from out of town you maybe say Mordecai. If you want to fit in maybe you want to pronounce it the way the locals pronounce it.
By the way the Mordecai Historic Park is also the birthplace of President Andrew Johnson. Oakwood Cemetery is also in this area and it was also part of our most haunted places in Raleigh video. One of the best parts of this area is it’s very close to downtown Raleigh making it super easy to either walk or take a quick drive down to all the shops, restaurants, clubs.
Next up, we have the Five Points/Hayes Barton area. This area also runs into each other two different neighborhoods that kind of merge into one. Some of the most beautiful homes and most expensive and most highly sought after homes in the downtown area. They are here in the Hayes Barton Five Points area. 8% eight of the homes in this area are over 100 years old. 67% of the homes are over 50 years old. If you are interested in buying a newer home, 27 of the homes are under 20 years old. This area has quite a few very charming bungalows, as well as impressive large mansions and there’s also quite a few new construction opportunities are kind of popping up in this area as well. Usually what happens is a smaller dilapidated home gets torn down and replaced with a larger brand new construction home. If you are looking for a charming older home or a brand new larger home the Hayes Barton/ Five Points area certainly has you covered.
The median home price for a single family home in this area is coming in at around $984,000. Whereas if you’re interested in buying a condo or townhouse the median home price is currently coming in around $570,000. A few of our favorite restaurants in the Five Points Hayes Barton area include the Hayes Barton Cafe and Dessertery, Idle Hours Coffee Roasters, Mandolin, Bloomsbury Bistro and the LoneRider Brewery. For shopping there is a Harris Teeter in this area so plenty of opportunity to get all of your groceries. Publix and Fresh Market are about six to seven minute drive away. You’re going to have a ton of restaurants and shopping in the Village District which is also about six to seven minutes away. As far as points of interest go Hayes Barton and Five Points is very close to Glenwood South. You have the opportunity to go to all of those restaurants, clubs, shopping all of that stuff that’s going on in the Glenwood South area.
Next up we have West Raleigh. This area includes NC State and the Village District. It’s the entire area basically west of downtown and again it primarily centers around NC State and that Village District shopping district we talk about all the time. As far as age of homes 7% of the homes in West Raleigh are over 100 years old. 71% of the homes are over 50 years old and if you’re looking for a newer home 21 of the homes are under 20 years old. There is a very good mix of single family, condo, townhome and apartments in this West Raleigh area. The median home price for a single family home in West Raleigh is coming in at $809,000. For a town home or condo the median home price is coming in at $443,000 and incidentally we need to stop and say we know these prices seem a bit high for the Raleigh Triangle Area as a whole. It is specifically because these areas are very much niche properties where you’re going to have a lot of historic properties. They’re in great demand. It has definitely has caused prices to be a little bit higher in these areas that we’re talking about here today then you’re going to see in the rest of the Raleigh Triangle Area, so just be aware of that. Some of our favorite restaurants in the West Raleigh area include David’s Dumplings and Noodle Bar, Tupelo Honey, The Flying Biscuit and Kebab and Curry Fine Indian & Napalese Cuisine. As far as shopping goes you have Target, Harris Teeter, Fresh Market and all of the other shops and restaurants in the Village District and on Hillsborough Street which borders NC State University. As far as points of interest go again you have NC State University with all of their gardens and walking paths. You also have Pullen Park which is right near NC State and the Rose Garden also near NC State. You have points of interest being the Village District with all again of all those shops and Boylan Heights restaurants.
Next up we have The Boylan Heights neighborhood. This is a really really interesting neighborhood that’s just south of the Glenwood South area. This is a quirky neighborhood with a eclectic mix of brand new, colorful newer homes and charming older bungalows. As far as the age of homes in this area, 25 of the homes in Boylan Heights are over 100 years old. 57 of the homes are over 50 years old and if you’re looking for a newer home 42% of the homes in this area are under 20 years old. As you can see, there’s really a great great mix of both the older, charming and the newer. The median home price for a single family home in Boylan Heights is coming in at around $650,000. A town home or condo has a median home price of $525,000. Some of our favorite restaurants in the Boylan Heights are include Bolted Bread and Sam Jones Barbecue. As far as shopping goes there’s really not a lot of shopping in the Boylan Heights area although you’re pretty easily accessible to Village District and Harris Teeter. Fresh Market is there as well. As far as points of interest go Pullen Park which is in west Raleigh area is less than a mile away as well. Dorothea Dix Park is located in this area with its sunflower fields that bloom every summer. Dorothea Dix Park also has soccer fields and plenty of green space. We can’t forget that the North Carolina State Farmers Market is about 5 minutes away from this area. It is definitely a place we recommend you check out if you’re a local or a visitor.
The next neighborhood we need to tell you about is Glenwood. Glenwood is a very established neighborhood that’s just below the Five Points area, in northwest Raleigh. As far as the age of homes go, you’re going to see 54% of the homes in the Glenwood area are over 100 years old. 83% of the homes in this area are over 50 years old and 15% of the homes in this area are under 20 years old. As you can tell, most of the homes in the Glenwood area are older and the neighbors fairly well established. Although we are starting to see some tear-downs with new construction going on. If you are looking for newer construction in an older established area Glenwood still might be an option for you. The median home price for a single family home in the Glenwood area is coming in at about $786,000. $429,000 is the median price for a town home or condo in the Glenwood area. Some of our favorite restaurants in the Glenwood area include Mojo’s Burger Bar, The Raleigh Beer Garden with its rooftop bar and the largest selection of beers in the United States. In this area is Cortez and Vidrio. All these restaurants are in the Glenwood South shopping entertainment area and we definitely recommend you go check that area out as well. For shopping you have the Publix grocery store which is right there in the Glenwood neighborhood. There is a ton of other stuff within about a 10 minute drive away. As far as points of interest go there’s the Fred Fletcher Park, The Willard Rooftop Lounge which is on the top of the AC hotel. This was built just a couple years ago in the Glenwood South area. This is a really great place to get catch the amazing view and have some light tapas and drinks. It’s a good atmosphere at The Willard. You have all of Glenwood South and with all of its entertainment and restaurants and bars.
Next up we have the Downtown East area. Downtown East is basically the whole area to the east of downtown Raleigh. It centers around the Transfer Food Hall and Moore Square. As far as the age of homes go 8% of the homes in downtown east are over 100 years old. 38 of the homes are over 50 years old and 50% of the homes are less than 20 years old in the Downtown East area. The median home price for a single family home is coming in at $575,000. The median home price for a condo or town home in downtown east is coming in at $560,000. Some of our favorite restaurants in downtown east are Hady’s Restaurant International Cuisine, Mama Crows Burger & Salad Shop which is inside the Transfer Food Hall, Brewery Bhavana, Watts & Ward and The Mofu Dumpling Shop. As far as shopping goes Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Publix and Weaver Street Market are all within about a 10 minute drive of downtown east. Downtown East is very close to downtown Raleigh with all of the different shops and restaurants. Points of interest include Moore Square, Transfer Food Hall, Marbles Kids Museum and Alamo Drafthouse which is a great theater right in this area.
If you’re considering a move either into or out of the Raleigh area our real estate team would love to be your agents of choice. You can give us a call at 919-964-0474. Email us at [email protected] or click here to fill out our contact request form.