Inman’s staff couldn’t stop scrolling into 2024

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Day in, day out, we write the hard news from the real estate sector here at the Inman editorial office. Legal filings, criminal cases, recruiting victories, industry rivalries and more. There is never a dull moment.

But the end of the year also provides an opportunity to reflect on why some of us writers covered this beat in the first place: We actually love real estate. There is the drama of making deals. The fantasy of imagining a new life. And the simple aesthetic pleasures of looking at a particularly well-crafted house – or, often, the equally well-crafted mention of that house.

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That’s why, for the second year in a row, we present you the lists that Inman’s editors loved this year. The homes below range from cabins to townhouses. They are urban and they are rural. But they all served as reminders this year of why we love this beat.

When I’m feeling idealistic in the summer and daydreaming about escaping the punishing heat of the Southwest, I sometimes think about how fun it could be to own a lake cabin in the Adirondacks with my family.

This spacious eight-bedroom bayfront property near Lake Placid would handily meet the needs of my parents, two siblings, and our families (three partners, five children and counting). With multiple fireplaces, a rec room, a wine room, a boathouse, a pool and a screened porch, there is something for everyone.

Of course, the logistics of co-owning a piece of land with my relatives sounds like a bit of a nightmare, and the 23 acres of land attached to this property, while beautiful, seems overwhelming to maintain. (We could never afford a place like that, either.) But it’s nice to dream about the cool mountain air, the sounds of children laughing by the water, and the peace that comes with a vacation in a place where cell service is unreliable are. –Lillian Dickerson

I was very suspicious when this three-unit home in one of Chicago’s most exclusive suburbs came on the market. I thought surely the village would have banned more than a single-family home. After a quick phone call to the real estate agent and some contacts with the village, I confirmed that these three-flats were built before modern zoning laws and were therefore legal.

The ad represented the perfect opportunity to work my way into one of the most elite zip codes in the country. It’s an area I would otherwise never be able to afford if the other two units didn’t help offset the cost of the house. House hacking is something I’ve written about before and dreamed of doing one day. Then this entry came along. – Taylor Anderson

Any website about visiting Lake Tahoe will mention this Emerald Baya deep, tree-guarded outgrowth on the southwestern edge of the lake. It couldn’t be called more apt and, for many, more suitable for luxury development. And Tahoe’s location on the outer edge of the Desolation Wilderness, and construction standards, reduce the risks of things like wildfires.

The US Forest Service was privileged enough to once build here. In 1934, Emerald Bay Road 20 was completed, a testament to the now forgotten minimalism of the bay’s northern cliff. This residence of barely 1,000 square meters – for the park rangers and loggers who ventured into the forest for work – has since been renovated with a touch of mountain modernism, allowing for year-round living.

I’ve been seeing it on the list for two winters as I slide past it on my snowboard: a cozy, snow-covered cabin at the base of a heralded backcountry ski area that’s constantly the subject of the industry’s leading photographers. In this house I organized aprés-ski meetings and in the summer I saw how the bay woke up and bears were named. Considering how much value the ski-in/ski-out tag adds to actual resort listings, the $800,000 price tag isn’t a bad number. – Craig Rowe

Jamaica has a special place in my heart. My grandfather was born in Coleyville, a small town on the second highest mountain on the island. It is said that the name Coleyville (pronounced cool-e-ville) was inspired by the area’s weather, where it was not uncommon to see light frost on the mango and ackee trees during the fall and winter. It’s been years since I’ve been to my grandfather’s homeland, but I often think of the lush landscape, the patois emanating from the corner shops, the salty smell of the sea breeze, curry-stained fingers and the painful delight of Scottish bonnet sauce .

Before my grandfather came to the US, he was a skilled carpenter who helped build his family’s home and many other homes in Coleyville. My memory of the house is vague as it has been over twenty years since I visited.

However, when I saw this entry in Saint Ann Parish, I immediately imagined having a family reunion there – my aunts and uncles in the kitchen exchanging recipes for curry goat and my grandfather’s famous rum egg nog, while the little ones ran through the trees and plucked vines from the worn blue shutters. The rest of us sat in the garden, playing music and arguing about card games. We all exchange stories about our lives in Jamaica, the US and Canada, and how we are all connected despite the thousands of miles and decades between us. – Marian McPherson

As billionaires prepare for the apocalypse by building multimillion-dollar bunkers in places like New Zealand, a few simple tweaks to real estate search sites could open up options for the rest of us. Center a search on a rural area, specify ‘live off grid’, and limit your results to properties of at least 2 hectares and some interesting things will come up.

If you go to Zillow and use these search parameters in Redding, California—a city of 90,000 in Northern California, divided by I-5 and the Sacramento River—you’ll come across dozens of options for surviving the singularity, ranging from cabins to McMansions.

For me it was love at first sight this “highly desirable” 1,200 square foot, 2 bedroom home located on 71 acres just outside the boundaries of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. With ‘open meadows, ponds, seasonal creeks, barns, bathhouse, workshops, outdoor kitchen, garage, chicken coop, hunting lodge, study with wood-burning stove, fruit orchard and vegetable garden’ it seems quite a stunner. for your $425,000 dollars – although I suspect this would be a headache for the appraiser, not to mention the automated loan underwriter. – Matt Carter

Like much of the internet, I was thrilled when the famous Home alone house was the last to hit the market spring. The brick parsonage – which asked for $5.2 million – comes pretty close to the Platonic ideal of a home, and besides, I (like many others) have a lifetime of fond memories of looking at Home alone during the holidays. And then I, like much of the internet, was devastated by the ad photos. While the interior depicted in the film is warm and inviting, the version that exists today is sterile and cold. Everything is a variation of gray or white. It feels like an Airbnb you forget to write a review for.

So why is this the entry I kept thinking about in 2024? Because much of the internet responded the same way. Complaints about the home’s minimalist aesthetic were rife on various social media platforms. Apparently people want a house, not just any house. And for that reason, the list reflects a growing change; Modern minimalism finally seems to be heading the way of Tuscan cuisine. Our long national nightmare of millennial gray may finally be coming to an end. — Jim Dalrymple II

I recently came across this mansion in Lake Tahoe and it immediately stole my heart. I want it now, but I’m only dreaming. Growing up in Virginia, I was always surrounded by water – whether it was a lake or a pool in my backyard – so the idea of ​​150 feet on the lake feels like home to me. Add to that the ability to randomly enjoy boating, or just dip my toes in the water to relax, and I’m complete.

What really seals the deal is the house itself. The property has been completely renovated with sleek, modern fixtures and furnishings whilst retaining the cosy, traditional atmosphere that I love.

The design is minimalist but stylish – absolutely ‘less is more’. The home also offers plenty of space for myself and my family, as the four-bedroom home spans approximately 12,000 square feet. That’s more than enough to entertain, live comfortably and even be creative. Although the mansion may look like the ultimate holiday home from the outside, I can imagine myself living here full-time in total peace and, hopefully, silence.

And as a lover of wine, crime documentaries and horror films, don’t get me started on the special wine room and home theater – Richelle Hammiel

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