Crenshaw Hall

Crenshaw Hall has a neighborhood pool, which is not a given in a subdivision of about 150 houses. The homes are two-story traditionals built between 2002 and 2007, and the backyards are big enough to matter. Prices run from $425k to $575k, and the HOA is $300 a year. What people actually buy here is the address. It sits off Wait Avenue near Holding Park, with a straight shot to the historic district, so the parts of town that make Wake Forest worth living in are a short drive and not a project.

Where it is

The entrance is off Wait Avenue, on the side of Wake Forest where the town still feels like a town. Holding Park is close, and downtown and the historic district are a straight drive with no complicated turns. Capital Boulevard is on the far side of town, so trips to US-1 and anything south of it start by going back through downtown. Drive that route at the hour you would actually drive it before you buy. For everything else, this is about as central an address as an early-2000s subdivision gets around here.

What to know if you're moving here

The pool is the amenity, and it is the whole list. At $300 a year the dues are low, and low dues buy one thing well and nothing else. There is no clubhouse and no gym.

• Schools are Wake Forest Elementary, Wake Forest Middle and Wake Forest High.
• Houses finished between 2002 and 2007 are at the age where roofs and HVAC systems come due at about the same time.
• The first owner did not always get to it, so ask what has been replaced and in what year.
• Price that answer into your offer rather than treating it as someone else's problem.
• The big backyards are the reason to buy here, and they are also real yard work every weekend from spring through October.
• That is a longer season than newcomers expect.

What to do if you're visiting

Holding Park and the historic district are the reason anybody comes to this side of town, and they are close enough together to make an afternoon of both. Walk the old streets first, then eat.

• The sit-down option for dinner is Il Bacio Italian Grill & Pizza.
• With children in the car, MOD Pizza – Wake Forest is the faster answer.
• Finish at Lumpy's Ice Cream, which is the kind of place a town needs one of.
• On a weekend with nothing planned, check what Arts Wake Forest has going on.
• Come in the morning if you want the walking part of the day done before the heat sets in.