5-Bed, 3.5-Bath University District Home Pretty on the Outside for $234.9K

This 1925 home on Parkside Street has tremendous curb appeal with its classic Tudor styling—sharply pitched roof, arched front door, and loads of red-framed windows. In summer, the mature trees and manicured hedges make the place very inviting. Inside, the prospects are a little less grand. There are refinished hardwood floors, and the remodel maintained a couple of nice old bathrooms, one of which has a claw foot tub. The kitchen is where things start to go awry, with its massive dump of glass tiles and lack of a coherent floor plan. Too bad, given the home's potential.

Opinions vary on the kitchen. Where some see a subdivided dark space with (ugly but semi-expensive) glass tile out the yin-yang, others (uh, the realtor) call this "an amazing new cherry kitchen with the most delicate touches, accented with custom tile and hand laid counter top." The third floor master seems like a nice private retreat, and there's a wood burning fireplace (not pictured) because (as Game of Thrones tells us) winter is coming. While the kitchen is epic (either way you look at it), the home has oodles of 1925 character remaining, from the white-painted wainscoting and framed interior windows, to the arched alcove in the dining room, there are sweet notes of charming old house everywhere else. One bedroom does have a weird arrangement where a metal tube carries wiring from an electrical outlet to the ceiling fixture.

At $234.9K, it's a little pricey, considering the work remaining. Even a homeowner that loves the kitchen will need to repair the driveway and figure out better things to do with the weird bedroom wiring. That said, the house is gorgeous from the street and in an area of rising home prices and beautiful old houses. It also has nearly 5000-square feel of living space, so a new family could easily grow into all that space. There's a lot here to love—square footage and at least 1000 square feet of cherry and tile.

·17166 Parkside Street [Estately]