7807 1st Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35206

This beautiful 1920 craftsman home sits right in the historic East Lake neighborhood which is one of Birmingham's oldest suburbs founded in 1886. Hence East lake boasts a huge number of historic Craftsman, Colonial, Spanish, and Tudor revival homes, which you actually can all find right on this street. In their efforts to create a desirable suburban middle class neighborhood with the amenities of urban life, the developers of East Lake coaxed religious (e.g the beautiful Methodist church, two houses down on 1st Ave S) and educational institutions (Howard college, with beautiful Tudor homes on Professors row) to their planned community surrounding East Lake Park. The Park came with a lake with bathhouse, pavilions, boathouses, and a hotel. In 1910, the East Lake Land Company annexed Roebuck Springs including the city's first professionally designed golf course, pleasure drives, gardens, and clubhouse (6 min drive). East Lake is located at the foot of Ruffner Mountain with rolling hills which nowadays hosts one of the largest urban Nature Preserves in the US. This neighborhood offers the best of two worlds - suburb feel with city amenities and proximity. Within 10-12 min drive you are right in the city center via I-59 and it just takes 10min on the main road 1st Ave N to reach all the restaurants and breweries in the Avondale entertainment district. Although you can find some cool hole-in-the-wall places in East Lake itself like legendary Green Acres Cafe or Ruby's cafe offering real soul food. The next PigglyWiggly, an Alabama favorite food store, is 4 min away, and the new Harvest Market offering organic produce is right around the corner in the center of East Lake. There you have a very walkable (or cyclable if you prefer) neighborhood with beautiful churches, the library, and even a local art gallery and event space (Art Town at East Lake station) all reachable within a short 5min walk. The Golf course, all the amenities of East Lake park (kayaking, fishing, running, tennis, pool etc) as well as the new Ruffner Nature Preserve visitors center (both 4- 5 min drive away) and the awesome nature trails make this suburb one of the most desirable within the city limits. On your way to Ruffner don't forget to stop at a funky antique store Ruffner Relics. Crime however, which can be a problem in Birmingham, was mainly focused on the main cut-through roads such as 1st Ave N and Oporto-Madrid whereas the residential neighborhood is surprisingly safe according to crime statistics. As a matter of fact, Roebuck Springs is one of the safest neighborhoods in the city. Best of all, home prices are still very affordable, sometimes only half or a third compared to the now high priced neighborhood such as Highland Park, Avondale and Crestwood. What else can you ask for?