There were only two between 900k and 1.2m in my town...

950,000, ocean view

995,000, ocean view

How do you get the photos off the realtor site and posted on GW? Do you just copy them to photobucket? or do you have to copy them to your computer first? I have an imac, fyi.

Some random $1 mil+ kitchens in Cambridge, MA. These are actually nicer than you usually find--must be a slow fall market.

Pretty close to my layout. Actually, mine's bigger.

The joys of melamine cabs and white square tile with dark grout--very au courant:

Wow, so spacious. (Cambridge is not Manhattan--it has actual houses and trees).

You can all see why I did not buy a house in Cambridge, where I've lived for years.

Here are some from Newton, another town near me:

Doesn't this look just say, "money?"

I live in rural Iowa and 1 million dollar houses are very few and far between. Very nice houses here are in the $300 to $500 range, with most being in the $100-$200 range. The most expensive on the market right now is $480,000. I will say, I have seen nicer kitchens in less expensive houses around here.

Hi All,
Location, Location, Location. When you look at the Newton Ma
prices you have to consider the Location times 3.
Shorter commute to Boston, good schools, and a lovely area
of the world. They can look ugly but trust me they are
expensive and worth every penny.
Now here are some places from Southern NH. Cheaper then
the Boston burb, a longer commute, but lovely the just
the same.
~boxerpups

Amherst NH 1.7 Mil

Nashua NH 2 mil

Hollis NH 800 thousand not quite a mil

Windham NH just under 1 mil

Portsmouoth NH Just Under 3 Mil

and,

Gosh, I know you said 1 Mil but this kitchen is
awesome.

I wish I had the space,

time

energy

to have such a fancy

black range

yes, it is lovely

and,

Words can not describe

This kitchen is not just about the real estate

of

location

location

location

it is about the work environment,

the joy of cooking

I wish I could describe but

a photo is far better

Here it is

Priceless

Thought I would show the outside of a typical $300K house here
in Iowa

Here are a few from upstate New York, about 3 hours from NYC. Our town is supported by two very good colleges.

$2.2M on lake - most expensive listing on our MLS
{{gwi:1952916}}
{{gwi:1952917}}
{{gwi:1952918}}

$1.9M on lake with acreage
{{gwi:1952919}}
{{gwi:1952920}}

$1.15M
{{gwi:1952921}}
{{gwi:1952922}}
{{gwi:1952923}}

$1.1M
{{gwi:1952924}}
{{gwi:1952925}}

$1.2M with lake view and dock
{{gwi:1952926}}
{{gwi:1952927}}

$1M
{{gwi:1952928}}
{{gwi:1952929}}

$995,000
{{gwi:1952930}}
{{gwi:1952931}}

I live on a small resort island in the Southeast. Home sales are still dismal because of the housing crisis. The asking price for this house is just over a million. It's on a large lot about a block from the beach.

This one was just reduced to 999k. It is a lovely house in a nice neighborhood but home sales in this part of town are really, really slow.

This is the most expensive listing that also had decent pictures. This is a 9,000 sqft, direct ocean, modern home. The rest of the house is stunning but the kitchen (to me) is blah. This is 3.9 million.

Forget the kitchen, I'll take one of those houses on the lake. I do like the big front porch too.

Oops. Forgot to post a link to the listing for the red kitchen home. The rest of the house is stunning.

Here is a link that might be useful: Modern ocean front home

deee!! You live in my hometown! Small world!

Those lake homes are lovely but you have to love the snow and cold. You might trick or treat in the snow and you might do your Easter egg hunt in the snow! It's absolutely beautiful in the summer and the fall but I don't miss the long winters.

hsw - What a riot! This is actually our second time around here. Lived here about 10 years ago, moved for my husband's job and we are back again for my husband's job. Do you still visit?

Dee

I do Dee. My father still has his practice down there and tons of my friends work there or own businesses down there (BBQ joint owner, lawyers, real estate agents, they're all still down there).

As for pricing in my area, it's a mixed bag. The homes that I listed are in a country club community on the river. All were built in the late '60's through the early '80's.

My neighborhood is particularly interesting, though. Planning started in the late '20's with some homes built up to 1935 (mine was one of these homes. Building was stale until after WWII. You see a lot of early cottages and bungalows and a couple of very large homes on the water (also built around the time mine was built), then some MCMs, then some ranches, then some very big Southern style mansions on the water. Prices start at around $200K for a 1960's 2 bedroom, 1 bath fixer-upper up to over $3M for a 1932 5 bedroom, 4 bath home on the river. And of course we have everything in between!

Anyone else spot that towel pig?

I live in a subburb in New Haven county, and our town is on the Long Island sound. Most of these homes have some sort of waterfront.

1.105 million, 3200 square feet, restored 1906 victorian (LOVE this house!)

6000 square feet, 1.1 million, near water

1.6 million, 5300 square feet

2.8 million, 4300 square feet

4.35 million, 6300 square feet, on your own private 1.7 acre island (summer home only)

svs128, we're practically neighbors! I love going up there for the farmer's market.

laxsupermom - I guess the description of my location wasn't very inconspicuous! Maybe the lake pictures gave me away. :) We have lots of family in the Endicott/Binghamton area. My mother went to UE.

Plano, TX a suburb north of Dallas. It is home to many business headquarters like Pepsi, Frito Lay, EDS, JcPenney, Dr Pepper/Snapple group, Dell, Cinemark Theaters, & Oracle. The gym that produced Olympic gold medalists Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin is here too.

That being said, this is still an incredibly affordable place to live, most houses are under $300k. 1 million goes pretty far here compared to the other places I have lived (San Diego, CA & East Bay, Nor Cal). Most if not all homes in this range were built in the past 15 years. Traditional is the buzz word 'round here. These are typical kitchens too, very dark woods, distressed, "old world". The style in quotes is from the MSL listing.

#1 4906 sq ft, built in 1998, style "French", $1 mil

#2 5561 sq ft, built in 1997, style "English", $1 mil

#3 5240 sq ft, built in 1999, style "Mediterranean", $999,900

#4 5209 sq ft, built 2002, style "Colonial, English, Tudor", $995K

#5 4757sq ft (lot is 6098!), built 2007, style "English", builder's model, $989K

I like that OceanFront kitchen with the reddish wood. It's the best one so far.
--from my little corner of the universe....F.
____

$1.8 million It's in a St. Paul suburb, a semi-gated community on an old J.J. Hill property, the developer of the Great Northern RR.
Range, Cooktop, Microwave, Exaust Fan/Hood, Dishwasher, Refrigerator, Disposal, Air-To-Air Exchanger, kitchen size: 24X23. This is the kitchen I ranted about last year when I was discussing oversized islands. Collisions will occur on tight channel on back side of island and the width across the island was too much for me to reach for dusting. 6700 sq feet total.

Here's one marked down from $1.2 million to $800,000 in Hudson Wisc. area over the border from St. Paul (plans are for a train to operate in this corridor for commuters some day). "Great Room with master planned kitchen featuring character alder and backlit Mica glass cabinets, perimeter granite countertops, large center island with 9' maple butcher block countertop and sizeable walk-in pantry. Cozy stone fireplace compliments the adjacent reading berth. Professional appliances throughout. Gorgeous wide plank walnut floors and art glass transom windows." 5815 sq feet total.

$3.4 million. 8786 sq. feet total. This is last year's Twin Cities Parade of Homes entry from the high end in Orono, Minn west of Mpls. I think it's still on the market, not sure of current price. Note the refrigerators.

What fun!
You can get more house for $1M [near Washington's Crossing] in Doylestown, PA too.
BUT...it might help though if you like soffits and wallpaper. ;)

Starting closest to the target price at $1,014,000

This one is also close at $1,051,000

For $1,290,000 you can get a Victorian in the Boro - very desirable around here.

Or how about this one for $1,295,000?

This is the most expensive listing, and oddly enough it's the closest to me.
(Not that my house is like this!) You also get 50 acres for the $6,800,000.
I think it went into foreclosure??? But it's got a regular listing now?

This is like "What You Get for Your Money" :)

This is a fun post~~

dianalo--did that white kitchen for $1,659,000 not only have white appliances, but brass knobs? Good old Martha said these were coming back.

We are definitely in the wrong location for selling--our is listed for "only $342,000"...nothing in a million dollars for many miles from here in mid-Kansas.

Here in the DC/Baltimore metro area, prices vary widely. Where I live, homes are on 1 acre to hundreds of acres...and that definitely impacts price b/c land is worth much more than houses!

BTW...all the real estate pics I found were copyrighted w/statements that you cannot post them elsewhere...is there some loophole that lets me post here?

Am looking at cathec's English Tudor with the pickled(?) finish on cupboards. Note the position of the hardware handles. Are these good-sized doors actually openable?

Probably have to hire a muscular servant to pull them open!

florantha - I grew up in Orono, just left there 5 years ago to follow hubby out East...that Parade home would have gone for much, much more than that 6 years ago...my guess is that it's on a killer lot or near/on the lake. We lost boatloads on our house in Orono, 18 mos after finishing construction on it, and left this:
{{gwi:1952958}}From 1mkitchens

only to move out East where for 50% more money, we got this: {{gwi:1952959}}From 1mkitchens

Western New York has very affordable homes. Not a lot of homes for sale in my area of the southern tier/ski country.

{{gwi:1952960}}
1,499,900. 5BR, 6BA, 1-1/2BA 12,800 sq. ft. comes with indoor pool, sauna, hot tub, indoor racquetball/tennis court, indoor basketball court, theater room, huge gym, wine cellar room, Italian marble flooring, in-law apt., 4 car garage and many more astounding details too numerous to mention! Built in 2001.
{{gwi:1952961}}
kitchen
{{gwi:1952962}}
kitchen
{{gwi:1952963}}
in-law kitchen

{{gwi:1952964}}
indoor pool area

{{gwi:1952965}}
wine cellar
{{gwi:1952966}}
999,995. 5BR, 6BA, 1-1/2BA 8616 sq. ft. on 7 acres
{{gwi:1952967}}
kitchen
{{gwi:1952968}}
749,900. 5BR, 4BA, 1-1/2BA 5444 sq. ft.
{{gwi:1952969}}
kitchen
{{gwi:1952970}}
kitchen
{{gwi:1952971}}
This is closest to me. 489,900. 3BR, 3BA, 1-1/2BA 3166 sq. ft. on 9.4 acres
{{gwi:1952972}}
kitchen
{{gwi:1952973}}
kitchen

mnhockeymom: I hear you. In messing about to find these photos, I looked at a lot of other properties also. It's clear that things have dropped significantly here. You can get a North Oaks property for under $400,000, perhaps even under $300,000.

In my humble neighborhood, prices are low and the pickings are very good. That's one of the concerns we have with our kitchen addition--we have to be very disciplined so that we don't overspend for the neighborhood.

Aren't you glad you escaped to the refined East and escaped those awful Minnesota public schools and Lake Wobegon provincialism and such? You have sophistication and cache even if your houses don't measure up to the fab reaches of Lake Minnetonka in flyover country.

(sorry in advance for the sidebar hijack, GW'ers!)

I guess we're very lucky to have sold, despite the bath we took...I hear that it's become very bad there and our former house is now worth 1/2 of what we sold it for!! I can only imagine the hesitation that spending $$ on any project must bring now.

I actually miss MN dearly...love the people and, imho, the pub schools there beat the pub schools here anyday! I'll take either side of the river, too :-)

I have a file of inspiration kitchens, and not one of those would go in my folder. I have seen much better kitchens from you GWers! But, maybe you are million plus houses :).

Lets see if I can dig up some old pics from shopping last year.

Western Washington homes:

1.3 MM (though it's down below a million now I hear):

Photo's don't do it justice...the microwave was probably older than me. The fridge was very old and quite ummm yuck, and the range was held together with tape. Dig the floor....lovely 1970's lino :) Underneeth it was another horrific pattern. But it looks ok in photo's LOL

{{gwi:1952974}}

{{gwi:1612259}}

{{gwi:1612251}}

1.4MM (sold for 1.1 I heard)
{{gwi:1952975}}

{{gwi:1952976}}

Wait, there's more....but you have to look hard because the oven is out in the hallway behind the kitchen:
{{gwi:1952977}}

Wait, the sink was priceless...
{{gwi:1952978}}

Sorry no fridge or dishwasher to show you...being as they didn't have enough room in the 30x20 kitchen...(Eyes rolling emoticon here)

But it did have a swan....(I am told the new owner is gutting the kitchen but his wife likes the swans, which he hates):

{{gwi:1952979}}

1.7MM but now it's also below 1MM after some five years on the market...
{{gwi:1575298}}

{{gwi:1952980}}

{{gwi:1952981}}

No show us the kitchen Iggy....No kids, that was it...they ripped out the fabulous and original kitchen to make another room for the inn... :o*( I knew the house as a child. It was heart breaking!

With all of those charming kitchens to chose from...we went with the one with a kitchen on the back porch LOL

I will say, out of the dozens of historic homes we looked at in washington and duluth, none had a kitchen worth keeping, even when you went up to 3 mill plus (which we weren't in the market for but had fun looking at LOL)

{{gwi:1662014}}

{{gwi:1952982}}

Let's go to Duluth MN:
1.3 MM

{{gwi:1553369}}

The hood is fake and the cabinets are plastic. The scullary and butlers pantry were DEVINE but the kitchen had been "redone" in the 1980's :(
{{gwi:1918995}}

{{gwi:1799287}}

{{gwi:1823940}}

But you forgot all of that when you went into the dining room:
{{gwi:1532964}}

OMG, igloochic! Is it possible to laugh and shudder at the same time?!? I swear the SS sink is just like the one at work...before they rebuilt our 50 yr old hospital!

Thanks for the posts, everyone! Just had to say that you all made my day! I'm with artemis and annkathryn...SF Bay area..ridiculous housing. I love seeing what 1mil can actually get you in the rest of the country.

I say we pool our money and all move in together in Alabama. I think there'd be room for all of us in the one photo, lol.

The sad thing is all the $1 million dollar range houses I posted would have sold for double or more a few years ago. The luxury market took the biggest hit. Those houses were all within a mile of mine, but mine is not in that league and never will be. I'd be happy with charming, modest and comfortable, although the ocean views can really take one's breath away. Even if we could afford one of those houses (the foreclosure one may drop some more), the taxes are often in the $30k range. YIKES!

Alabama....Ummm it's a bit too hot for the Igloochic there. Maybe if there is a wine cellar I could hang out in?

The homes I showed in Port Townsend have all been for sale (or were) for many years. Their prices keep dropping but given they're historic, they're a bit scary for most people, and are challenged by being bed and breakfasts (not an easy business to finance). Hard as heck to convert to a single family in the eyes of the banks as well. But the big issue was restoration costs for us with most of them. Aside from the Duluth home, most needed half a mill or more put into them. And sadly the Duluth home was price about a half mill too high for it's market (was pulled off the market because no agent would list it at the price she wanted).

We looked at several markets but I'd have to say...didn't even consider california. The market is rediculous...yes the weather is nice, but sheesh a mill for a ranch just does not sit well with this little cheap'o.

I still like the kitchen in that 9000 square foot beach baby, the reddish kitchen with the large space and high windows and humble cart. Taxes wouldn't be THAT much, would they?

Here are a few in Dallas -

$1.025 in a nice burb will get you a new build - this is a very typical look here. House is 6000 sqft.

A historic home in the city, fantastic neighborhood ($998k), 5000 sqft on half acre:

The most exclusive neighborhood in Dallas ($1.03), 4,000 sqft, no yard:

And just because I want to...Frank Welch-designed house going for $16M:

I found two houses around a million in my neighborhood. My area has taken a hard hit because you get a large piece of land and the taxes are high. Most of the homes that are selling are in the price range of 375,000 to 475,000 or investors are buying up the knock downs for cheap. For a mil or slightly under you get a lot for being 12 minutes drive to beach, close to interstate and shopping as well as having nature activities. Unfortunately the million tickets have to keep reducing.

Reduced to 899,900 from over 1,200,000

http://s1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/?action=view&current=myneighborhood1245acre.jpg"; target="_blank">{{gwi:1952991}}
http://s1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/?action=view&current=lc745f641-c1o.jpg"; target="_blank">{{gwi:1952992}}
http://s1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/?action=view&current=lc745f641-c5o.jpg"; target="_blank">

Asking 1,200,000

http://s1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/?action=view&current=myneighborhood1250000.jpg"; target="_blank">

Jakabedy, you didn't show them the best (?) part of the 17.9M house - the guitar shaped driveway! ;)

{{gwi:1952998}}

Here are several in my neighborhoood. Not shown is the 1.6M next door to me - oh, wait..nothing to show since the kitchen has never been installed! Now in forclosure.

Everyone here has three acres or more, one as much as 20. Gated. Horse trails. Two fishing lakes (lots of bass).

This one was purchased less than a year ago. He's done some cleaning up of yard (actually a lot) and put on market for 1M more than he paid. On a private pond shared with lot next door. Has pool. Sits ON the street. He's dreaming....

2.250M

{{gwi:1952999}}

This one is across the lake from me. The kitchen was made in England by same man that made mine. Has pool.

1.549M

{{gwi:1953000}}

I like this house on the outside, but the kitchen shots are not that great. On first lake. Has pool.

1.150M

{{gwi:1953001}}

{{gwi:1953002}}

This one is closer to the gate than I am, but has privacy. Flat area. Not on a lake but has pool. Also adjoins three (soon to be four) houses with horse pastures.

1.250M

{{gwi:1953003}}

There are three other homes for sale that were listed for 1M+, but have since been dropped.

Youngdeb - your $16 million one is one that finally looks like what I'd picture for that price range.

So who had that house built with the guitar shaped driveway? Was it someone famous?

He was involved with MedPartners. Lost it, moved back, gone again. Famous in his own mind? ....Like Scrushy (HealthSouth).

Here is a link that might be useful: info

I think at some point we need to tease apart million dollar houses and million dollar lots. The ones I posted are on lots that are worth at least half a million and the structures are old (West old, i.e., 50-75 yrs.). Some of these million dollar houses in this thread are on lots that are worth a small fraction of the price and have high end new construction. And a lot of the higher figure ones have acreage, views, water, etc., which are nothing to do with the structure. Including the 16M in the other thread.

We're talking about kitchens in million dollar houses, not kitchens in million dollar structures. Take location into consideration. It makes sense to me that the largest, fanciest kitchen is going to be in the new suburb new construction away from the coasts, and the postage stamps kitchens are going to be in Hawaii, parts of California, New York, Massachusetts, and certain other tony areas around the country.

allison -

I thought about going back and posting that photo, but you did it for me. As the Countess says, "money can't buy you class", dahling.

plllog - the lot value was bound to be an issue, but I don't know a good way to sequester the houses other than hoping all of us realize that big-city-back-east or So-cal-view is going to mean a greater percentage of the value is in the lot rather than the house than in Alabama, Iowa or Minnesota.

Of course you are right pllog. It's funny that while I was looking through real estate listings in my area some of the most functional kitchens were in a 70's development I lived in eleven or so years ago. The price range has dropped considerably compared to five years ago at an average of $275,000 or $300,000 now. Most are on smallish lots but do have pools. There are actually some very nice although not overly fancy kitchens in that price range because everyone was taking out home equity loans and updating during the boom.

The OP asked "in your area." The houses I posted are above 1M and are in my area. I can't speak (but could look up online) for Mr Guitar's lot who happens to be in the gated next door that was developed in the 1970s - w/golf course/country club/club pool, full time maintenance staff and horse facility. The lot costs here - developed since 2000... w/small lakes, horse trails (but no community pool or stable - homes have their own barns) for the houses I posted were 200-300K+ before they were built on. Only 1 of the homes I showed is still owned by the original owner/builder. Your post is a tad confusing, but for the most part, these homes are over 1M because of the home itself, not because of the view/lot. Only one really has a "nice view" and it's not the 2M+ house.

I'd have to go back to our old neighborhood to get houses 50-75yo that are worth 1M+ and even though you could compare net income in the two, their houses are worth more because they are in the city. We are unincorporated county. If you were to put my current home in my old neighborhood (without the lot size or lake/ridge view) it would easily fetch another 1M+.

I don't think you can start teasing apart w/o going 100 different directions.

It's very confusing in my area of Florida because there was such a fast high of a few years ago to a big drop another drop and another drop. I'm trying to stay ontop of the prices but it's not easy as there are many forclosures. There is a an empty lot across the street from me that's up for sale at $245,000, he is dreaming! You could get that price during the boom but not now, almost a year ago a lot sold at auction for $110,000 and I haven't seen any more move since.

Here are three in my area of NY. This is about 25 miles north west of New York City.

2.85 Mil 1.47 acres with a lake view

1.75mil 2 acres with a pool

1.1mil .40 acre with no pool

I thought about going back and posting that photo, but you did it for me. As the Countess says, "money can't buy you class", dahling.

Wonder how the Countess is doing...Well, not really! lol

Missed your post yesterday - thread taking awhile to load. Aside from the driveway, I do think the house was nicely executed. Dare I say tasteful? Too many times, enormous homes are not done well, especially the exterior. Over the top aside, I hear they are very nice people and I've talked to her briefly when she was in my community riding with horse owners here. Their horse farm is (was?) also for sale. I should try to find the listing. The most gorgeous horses. She's riding the one in the MLS photos that I would see her riding through my neighborhood.

You know, you're right. A $17 million house in Alabama has to be over the top, almost by definition. And it looks like they did try to stick with historical references rather than just build a huge, ungainly house. But as grand as that kitchen is, I can't see it actually servicing that house if all or even half of the bedrooms were occupied.

Jak we can and have served full sit down, multi course meals for 30 plus here cooking on the back porch. I don't think you can look at a kitchen and say it can handle x amount of people since it's normally more about the cooks ability than the cook tops.

As to pulling the land away from the value....that's tough to do. Our place for instance is in the city (ok small but very desirable area) and on a bluff over the bay. We have two lots which collectively are probably worth equal to the house, but being historic, the house could never be built for that amount, so how on earth would you value the structure? You kind of just have to take the two together and say it's x amount or you'll make yourself nuts.

Maybe there is additional cooking/serving in an adjacent space...or maybe they just went out. ;) Horse farms, along with all the horses, is still for sale. RS shows it listed with house/barn/etc for 4.9M (O I Farm - don't want to spell it out, but you could find - or email me - if wanted. Farm website is nicer than RE listing photos) or just house for 2.7M. It's sad to see since they did do a lot for the breed they raised. I ended up at photographer's website - the horses are amazing!

The house is reported to have cost 26M to build, so 17+ is a bargain. ;D

Allison, I was responding to the posts that were saying something about finally a picture of a kitchen worth $1M. At that point you really do have to differentiate between good neighborhood urban or lakefront horse property and new suburb new construction no location value. The what do you get for the price is an interesting question across the board, but the "million dollar worthy kitchen" needs context.

I suppose it's different here than in other places. The properties have a lot valuation/structure valuation, so it's normal for us to think that way. The structure value isn't cost of build or insurance or anything, just the difference between what the lot would assess for if it were cleared and what someone would pay for the place as is. You can even do that in Igloo's case. Every house has features and detractions, all of which are subjective, but a value can be put on it because someone did buy it. Where there aren't good comps it's harder to value the lot, but because most features of the lot are intrinsic (though things like views and services do change) the lot prices are calculable to a good enough extent.

For our purposes, just "lakefront, view, 2 acres, CT" or "new suburb, quarter acre, flat, IN" or "city, near transport and universities, lot under 10K s.f., Boston" is enough, with the frontage, to give context whether you're looking at a vacation/retirement house, a big new family home, or a town home.