Green Hills, the Nashville, Tennessee, neighborhood whose large properties live up to its verdant name, is an upscale suburban enclave about 15 minutes from the city’s vibrant downtown.
It features a major retail section in its center that attracts not only residents, but also others from the Greater Nashville area.
Green Hills came into existence in the 1930s but was not highly populated until after World War II. Like other suburbs of its time, it was designed for driving, not walking. And as the city of Nashville has grown up around it, it has retained its small-town ambience.
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Boundaries
Because Green Hills is not an incorporated area, there are no hard and fast geometric boundaries, although it is generally accepted that it encompasses the properties in the 32715 ZIP Code.
It’s south of Interstate 440 and north of Harding Place. On the west, it’s bordered by Estes Road, which divides it from the tony neighborhood of Belle Meade; and on the east, Lealand Lane separates it from Lipscomb University.
Price Range
Many of the single-family houses in Green Hills sell for slightly less than $1 million, according to Jessica Averbuch, CEO and managing broker at Zeitlin Sotheby’s International Realty.
She said that the average price, $945,795, buys a new-construction 3,800-square-foot house with four bedrooms and 3.5 baths on one acre. For $765,000, the median price, buyers can get a 3,500-square-foot house with four bedrooms and 3.5 baths on a small lot or an updated home, circa 1950, on a half-acre lot.
"For $500,000 to $700,000, there is a wide range of original homes and cluster homes on smaller lots," she said. "And for $800,000 to $900,000, there is a mix of new and existing homes."
The record sale price, set in January 2012, was $5.3 million for a 19,849-square-foot house with seven bedrooms, seven full bathrooms and three half baths that was built in 2007 and is on 8.5 acres.
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In 2018, the record sale price was $4.3 million for a 10,100-square-foot castle-like mansion that was built in 2009. It’s on 1.05 acres in Northumberland, a prestigious gated subdivision of custom mansions with 24/7 security.
"Northumberland is the most expensive section of Green Hills," said Allen Huggins, owner/broker, WH Properties. "The houses, which are mostly traditional styles, were built in the last 30 years."
Condo prices, Ms. Averbuch said, start at just under $200,000 for a one-bedroom unit. Condos that have two to three bedrooms generally are $200,000 to $500,000, she added.
This 3,462-square-foot house on Hillsboro Pike is listed for $875,000. It has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and one half bath. Built in 1960, it is on 2.97 acres.
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The houses are on either side of the commercial corridor demarcated by Hillsboro Pike, which bisects the neighborhood from north to south.
Most are ranch houses built in the 1950s to 1960s, and they generally are on half-acre lots that feature mature trees. The larger, higher-priced properties are on the west side of the neighborhood, close to Belle Meade, where houses also are grander and larger and the properties are bigger.
"Green Hills is a highly coveted location with beautiful lots, so there’s a trend toward tear-downs," Ms. Averbuch said. "Because you cannot subdivide the lots, developers are putting up Horizontal Property Regimes or HPRs," designations that allow property owners to build two new houses on pieces of land that originally only had one house without violating zoning regulations.
Generally, on HPRs, two to four single-family homes are built on each property, each of them 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. Most are detached.
"This has really changed the neighborhood, and there was a lot of resistance to the building of these," Ms. Averbuch said. "The land is owned in common, but there are restricted and private elements such as the backyard."
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Mr. Huggins added that when the houses on single-family lots are razed, they generally are replaced by 6,000- to 7,000-square-foot mansions that list for about $1 million to $1.5 million. "The HPRs generally sell for $850,000 to $1 million," he said.
The neighborhood just got its first high rise: Vertis, a residential rental community, features a fitness center, yoga studio, office space and a variety of restaurants and retail shops. Studio apartments start at $1,599, while the largest spaces, three-bedroom units, range from $4,829 to $14,460.
What Makes It Unique
Convenience is what sets Green Hills apart. It’s close to Downtown Nashville; Belmont, Vanderbilt and Lipscomb universities; and several hospitals and medical centers, including Vanderbilt University Medical Center, St. Thomas West, St. Thomas Midtown and TriStar Centennial Medical Center.
"Even though it’s close to the city, it still has a small-town feel," Mr. Huggins said.
An interior view of a 22,150-square-foot Belle Meade estate. The home is currently asking for $13.6.
ZEITLIN SOTHEBY'S INTERNATIONAL REALTYLuxury Amenities
The Hill Center, a mixed-use retail/office/restaurant community that was developed by a local family, includes big-brand names like Whole Foods, Shake Shack, California Pizza Kitchen and Lululemon, as well as locally owned shops like Oak Hall, a clothing store for men and women.
Ms. Averbuch’s local favorites include the Green Hills Grille, whose casual, California-revival and high-quality fare have made it an institution; Noshville, which bills itself an authentic New York City deli; and Firefly Grille, where’s it okay to wear jeans and a T-shirt while eating filet.
"At Firefly, the menu changes on a regular basis," Mr. Huggins said. "It’s a great spot for lunch and dinner, the food is exceptional, and the prices are reasonable."
For casual Greek fare like kebabs, he likes Kalamatas, and he often frequents The Perch, a creperie and coffeehouse/wine and tapas bar.
If you really want to feel the vibe of Green Hills, Ms. Averbuch recommends a trip to The Bluebird Café, an iconic spot in a small strip mall.
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"It’s a venue for songwriters to perform," she said. "They perform sitting in a circle. It’s low-key, and they sing the hits they have written for other people. You may not know their names or recognize their faces, but you know all the tunes."
Two nearby neighborhoods—12 South and Hillsboro Village— are 3.5 miles away, making them convenient and accessible. Hillsboro, which is close to the Vanderbilt University campus, has a variety of coffee shops and restaurant/bars, and 12 South is a hip, trendy area where one can find the ice cream shop Jeni’s East Nashville as well as Josephine, a restaurant that serves American farmhouse cuisine.
Green Hills is also a premier shopping destination.
The Mall at Green Hills has more than 100 brand-name shops, including Nordstrom, Jimmy Choo and Anthropologie. Locally owned shops such as the beauty-goods shop Private Edition and The Cosmetic Market, the city’s version of Sephora, are in a strip behind the mall.
"We just got a four-story Restoration Hardware flagship store at the mall," Ms. Averbuch said. "There are only few in the country. It’s in a mansion-type property and has a café. It’s a wonderful shopping/dining experience."
And residents have access to several public parks. Ten minutes away, in 12 South, there’s Sevier Park, which has farmer’s markets, food trucks and a recreation center.
In Belle Meade, less than five minutes from Green Hills, Edwin Warner Park and Percy Warner Park offer 3,180 acres of green space.
"The Warner parks are a special resource," Ms. Averbuch said. "They are like New York City’s Central Park—they are our crown jewels. You can run, walk and cycle on the roads. I’ve run marathons there. There’s also a trail system for hiking, and you can do horseback riding and go mountain biking."
Green Hills is also noted for its top-rated public and private schools.
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"The ones in the neighborhood are very prestigious, and there are others that are only a stone’s throw away," Ms. Averbuch said.
The public schools in Green Hills are Julia Green Elementary for kindergarten through fourth-grade students; J.T. Moore Middle School, an International Baccalaureate World School for grades five through eight; and Hillsboro High School, which offers the International Baccalaureate program.
There also is a variety of private schools, including Harpeth Hall, a girls’ college prep middle school and high school on a 40-acre campus; Montgomery Bell Academy, a preparatory day school for boys in grades seven through 12 that’s five minutes from Green Hills; and Ensworth, a co-ed two-campus day school close to Montgomery Bell that takes students from kindergarten through high school.
The Green Hills Branch Library, which opened in 2000 after an expansion that made it four times larger than the original building, offers about 110,000 books.
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Who Lives There
Nashville’s diverse economy, which encompasses music, tourism, health care and higher education, brings a variety of affluent residents, everyone from university professors to executives from major health-care businesses, such as Ardent Health Services and AMSURG, to Green Hills.
"It’s a stable, affluent community," Ms. Averbuch said. "There are still a lot of the original homeowners and longtime residents, but the new construction and amenities attract a wide range of people who want to live in one of the city’s most popular neighborhoods."
Starter-condo prices make Green Hills affordable for recent college graduates, according to Mr. Huggins. "It’s a great place to raise a family—you have people who are new to Nashville and native Nashvilleans who have lived in Green Hills for 30 to 40 years."
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Notable Residents
Country singer/songwriter Dierks Bentley and Big Kenney of country music duo Big and Rich have property in Green Hills.
Outlook
"Green Hills is prime real estate because of its location near downtown and three major universities, as well as the amenities that include shopping and dining experiences that draw people from near and far," Ms. Averbuch said, adding that since 2016, prices are up 7.6% and supply is up 2.6%. "The moderate growth is indicative of a healthy market. Green Hills is one of many neighborhoods that have more to offer Nashville residents than they did in the past, so it is a stable market with incremental growth."
Mr. Huggins added that Green Hills has continued to hold its value. "There’s been great appreciation over the last 10 years," he said. "I believe it will continue to remain slow and steady; it has never experienced huge dips or runs. From 2007 through 2010, when the market for homes in the Greater Nashville area was down 9%, Green Hills was only down 1%."
Ms. Averbuch is optimistic that the market will continue to thrive because of the growth of the Greater Nashville area.
"We were a city with a lot of untapped potential because we were cautious about growth," she said. "But people realize that things cannot stay the same, and Green Hills allows you to have the best of both worlds with a beautiful suburban lifestyle and the amenities of a big city."
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