“We are the Nations and we are proud! We are the Nations and we will say it loud,” comes the cry from the Nations, the neighborhood located on what was once considered the wrong side of Charlotte Pike.
Now, it is the next Germantown, which was the next 12South, which was the next East Nashville, which was the next Sylvan Park, and so it goes as Mr. Vonnegut was fond of saying.
With street names like Pennsylvania, Indiana, New York, Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee, the Nations sank in the shadows of its across-Charlotte rival Sylvan Park 30 years ago.
As Sylvan Park blossomed in the 1980s, becoming a home to the Cultural Creative movement, the Nations was subject of the urban myth that “they won’t deliver pizzas over there.”
The reputation for the area was so horrific that the Wilson Group real estate firm unofficially renamed the area “Historic West Town” in order to sell their listings there. It worked.
If you choose to continue reading into the “Sale of the Week” segment of the column, you will note the a home on one of the most prestigious streets in the hallowed Belle Meade sold for $675,000 with its 3,128 square feet or $216 per square foot. In contrast, Casey Zolezzi of Village Real Estate Services recently sold 6212 Pennsylvania Avenue for $290 per square foot.
Zolezzi has been kicking around the Nations for years and will soon release full details on his Treaty Oaks neighborhood, which will include some 60 single-family, standalone homes. As of this writing, he has more than 300 people vying for those coveted 60 slots.
The name Treaty Oaks settles an argument as to how the Nations came to be known as the Nations.
Those who espoused the pizza delivery story held that it was called the Nations due to the fact that all of the streets had the names of states. That argument is a bit off inasmuch as it would be the Nation singular, unless they changed all of the streets to the names of countries.
As it turns out, and there is a historic marker to prove it, a treaty was signed there by the leaders of several nations of Native Americans in that area, hence the Nations. And that inspired the name Treaty Oaks.
Bill Hostettler of HND development cannot build the condos fast enough in his Nations development and refuses to write contracts on his next phase.
Zolezzi says many buyers are backing out of contracts on new construction in his more traditionally favored subdivision in favor of life in the Nations. So, many ask, where is the next Nations?
I would put my money on Woodbine. And, for the record, I took Peyton and the under.
Sale of the Week
Two of Nashville’s venerable Realtors teamed to sell the house at 310 Walnut Drive. Other than price, this column could have been written 25 years ago as Zeitlin’s Gail Greil listed the house at 310 Walnut Drive in the tradition-laden Belle Meade neighborhood.
Jamie Granbery of Pilkerton Realtors represented the buyer.
These two wily veterans are the Peyton Mannings of Nashville real estate and it was wise that none of the Cam Newtons tried to weasel their way into this super deal.
They might have met the same fate as the frustrated Panther.
Selling for $675,000, this property rests on one of Belle Meade’s most serene streets, a cul-de-sac at the Harding Road end of Lynnwood.
The house consists of 3,128 square feet, with 800 of those in the basement, three bedrooms and three full baths.
The sellers had purchased the home in 1999 for $425,000, so they did well on their investment. With houses selling for as high as $7.2 million and as low as $425,000 during the past 13 months, the price disparity for this area is the greatest in the city.
Belle Meade remains one of the most desirable locations in Nashville year in and year out, just as Gail Greil and Jamie Granbery remain favorites among Realtors. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Richard Courtney is a real estate broker with Christianson, Patterson, Courtney, and Associates and can be reached at richardcourtney.com.