Fairmount, Fort Worth

Fairmount is the historic residential heart of Fort Worth's Near Southside, about two miles south of downtown and roughly bounded by Magnolia Avenue, Hemphill Street, Eighth Avenue and Jessamine Street. The Fairmount Southside Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990, expanded in 1999, and covers roughly 340 to 375 acres with about 1,013 contributing buildings, mostly wood-frame bungalows and Four Squares built between 1905 and 1920. It fits buyers who want an older home with a porch, walkable access to the Magnolia Avenue restaurants and the Near Southside medical district.

The lesson here is that historic rules shape both your budget and your resale. Fairmount is also a City of Fort Worth historic district, and the city's preservation staff and the neighborhood association have developed design guidelines covering windows, porches, siding, roofing, additions, new construction and demolition. Before you buy, I check what review your plans would need, and I walk the house with a contractor's eye on foundation, plumbing and electrical, because in a 100 year old home those systems drive the real cost far more than paint and finishes.