The Million Dollar Question

Would you pay seven figures for these houses?

Gone are the days when a million could snag you a mansion. Today, it’s officially considered the start of the luxury market in Rhode Island, where home prices can spike to a Beverly Hills-respectable $18 mil. Even still, to most buyers, low-end luxe is a tough check to cut. So what do you get for all those zeros in our fair state? The answer varies greatly—and from town to town. Behold: a beach shack on pilings, a 4,000 square-foot ranch, a Lilliputian historic home, even an urban condo in the sky. Here’s how far the green stuff goes in today’s fast-changing market. Now you decide whether you’re willing to part with it.

Burrillville
658 Wallum Lake Road
Current asking price: $969,000
Assessed value: $715,000
On the market since: October 2007
Year built: 1995
Beds/baths: 4/3.5
Lot size: 37 acres
Living space: 3,789 square feet
Estimated RE taxes: $3,150
Listing company: Lila Delman Real Estate

What your cool mil buys: Land, and lots of it. Thirty-seven acres is enough to sub-divide, erect a family compound or play farmer. The original owners were into horses, so an eleven-stall barn and an indoor/outdoor riding arena are added perks. File these amenities under strange yet intriguing: The place comes with a kennel license for ten dogs, and the living room fireplace boasts twenty-four-karat gold doors (which run $10,000).

What you’ll live without: Neighbors. City folk would say this modern colonial is out in the middle of nowhere, though it’s only about a five-minute drive to town. Most of the acreage is natural, so if you want the manicured look, clearing the land will cost some cash. Some might think the fact that there’s a historic cemetery on the premises is cool; others might find it a tad creepy.

South Kingstown
150 Green Hill Ocean Drive
Current asking price: $989,000
Original asking price: $1,295,000
Assessed value: $1,171,500
On the market since: January 2007
Year built: 1972
Beds/baths: 3/1
Lot size: 14,000 square feet
Living space: 912 square feet
Estimated RE taxes: $13,483
Listing company: Waterfront Properties

What your cool mil buys: Your own strip of sand. You can’t get much closer to the surf (and it’s a killer spot) than this vacation cottage (or tear-down, depending on your perspective) built on pilings overlooking Green Hill Beach. Cross the narrow dirt road, and there’s a right-of-way to launch a kayak in Green Hill Pond. The neighborhood is quiet, but an address here carries cachet. Bonus: Rentals go for $3,400/week in the summer.

What you’ll live without: Flexibility. This place is tiny, and there’s no guarantee the Coastal Resources Management Council would allow you to add a second story. If a bad hurricane blows in, there’s a small chance you could kiss this piece of paradise good-bye…with no option to rebuild (it’s closer to the water than the current regs permit). Oh, and if you require a mortgage, these days flood insurance is sometimes tricky to come by.

Barrington
1741 Wampanoag Trail
Current asking price: $1,000,000
Assessed value: $471,700
On the market since: August 2007
Year built: 1950
Number of beds/baths: 3/3.5
Lot size: .50 acre
Living space: 4,000 square feet
(above and below grade)
Estimated RE taxes: $8,200
Listing company: Ashton Realty

What your cool mil buys: An extra 1,500 rehabbed subterranean square feet—perfect for the nanny who’ll help raise your brood in Barrington (the schools are tops in the state). The house is larger than it looks, the floor plan is open, there’s a pool and Jacuzzi in the backyard, and you get deeded rights to a mooring on Hundred Acre Cove.

What you’ll live without: You’ll have to cross four lanes of traffic to get to your boat. They say good fences make good neighbors, but it may not be enough if you abut busy Wampanoag Trail. And though marketing materials claim the house is modeled after Frank Lloyd Wright’s prairie-style design, purists might label it a typical 1950s ranch. The interior was rehabbed two years ago, but the contemporary look is not for everyone.

Newport
84 Old Beach Road
Current asking price: $999,900
Original asking price: $929,000
Assessed value: $692,800
On the market since: April 2007
Year built: 1880
Beds/baths: 3/2
Lot size: 9,147 square feet
Living space: 1,300 square feet
Estimated RE taxes: $5,549
Listing company: Lila Delman Real Estate

What your cool mil buys: The chance to own a tiny, but uber charming, piece of history. This antique pink granite gatehouse was originally part of the larger Belair estate, owned by the Norman family (of bird sanctuary fame) and designed by architect Dudley Newton. An observation tower, an enclosed porch and two fireplaces would easily entice the likes of Hansel and Gretel to this gingerbread-style Victorian.

What you’ll live without: Elbow room. The house was likely built as staff quarters, so it’s not surprising that space is at a premium. The view of the neighborhood from the turret is scenic, but the room isn’t usable. If keeping up with the Joneses is important, look elsewhere. Here you’ll always be living in your neighbors’ shadow: They call the rather large Italianate-style original manor house, Belair, home.

East Side, Providence
127 Power Street
Current asking price: $1,100,000
Original asking price: $1,250,000
Assessed value: $1,095,700
On the market since: October 2007
Year built: 1839
Beds/baths: 6/6
Lot size: 11,326 square feet
Living space: 4,391 square feet
Estimated RE taxes: $12,513
Listing company: Coleman Realtors

What your cool mil buys: A Power Street address (remember the street Buddy Cianci called home back in the day?). And a very well-kept-up Greek Revival with original everything—moldings, hardwoods, six fireplaces. Even the floor plan hasn’t been altered. There’s an in-law apartment in the basement, and the house sits on a buildable double lot. Potential business opportunity: Townsend House has been a three-room bed and breakfast for the past two decades.

What you’ll live without: Free time. It takes a lot of hours— and money—to keep up with a house this size (it has, count ’em, six heating zones) and age. A small staff—handyman, gardener, maid—would be your safest bet for sanity. The neighborhood’s bohemian university vibe is enticing, but College Hill has its downside: Brown and RISD students don’t always make for the most considerate, or cleanest, neighbors.

East Greenwich
62 Great Road
Current asking price: $1,050,000
Original asking price: $1,100,000
Assessed value: $950,820
On the market since: June 2007
Year built: 2006
Beds/baths: 6/4.5
Lot size: 1.65 acres
Living space: 4,321 square feet
(above and below grade)
Estimated RE taxes: $13,500
Listing company: Island Realty

What your cool mil buys: Entree into an upscale, new thirteen-lot development east of Route 4, two miles from the Hill and Harbor district and close to EG’s high-ranking schools. The houses will all have a homogenous look on the outside and the latest bells and whistles within—i.e. custom, stainless steel and granite everything. The neighborhood, family friendly by design, is situated on a cul-de-sac.

What you’ll live without: Freedom (and an inflatable snowman in your front yard). Welcome to the Great Woods Homeowners Association. Dues will likely run about $300 per year, and there are plenty of rules on everything from dog runs and no-cut buffers to campers and clotheslines. Also, so far only six of the thirteen high-end McMansions have been built, so you’ll have to deal with the din and dust of construction.

— Photography Nat Rea