5 Reasons to Call Croleywood Home

A geographically small neighborhood located just west of Downtown, Croleywood is a quiet slice of Nashville with the potential to become one of the area’s most sought-after residential hideaways. What it lacks in the realm of taprooms and hip retail shopping, Croleywood makes up for in neighborhood cohesion, charming aesthetic, and quality of life.

Largely comprised of single-family homes dating as far back as the 1930s, Croleywood is seeing an influx of newer townhome builds. Like many emerging neighborhoods that have come before, this is a sure sign that more development is on the way. That said, the neighborhood’s existing homes are, for the most part, charming cottages on smaller lots that dot the sloping hillside.

It’s the West Side’s Best Kept Secret

Many Nashvillians today won’t recognize the name Croleywood, but that’s likely to change in the coming years. As The Nations bursts at the seams with new residents, Croleywood is poised to become the next west side neighborhood to make a name for itself city-wide.

Word officially got out in 2015 when The Tennessean said this of Croleywood: “The quiet neighborhood has been discovered by builders and eager homebuyers attracted by its combination of affordability and a location along Interstate 40 about five minutes west of downtown.”

There’s truth to hype, and it has veteran homeowners feeling positive about their decision to invest in the neighborhood while new potential residents are eager to get in on the ground floor.

Location, Location, Location

Most Nashvillians would do just about anything to live a mere five minutes from the heart of the city in a house with a yard, but Croleywood residents don’t envy anyone in this regard. The neighborhood’s close proximity to Interstate 40 means that once commuters turn off the residential lanes of the neighborhood and onto the highway, they won’t even have time to finish the introduction of their favorite podcast before they’re in the center of Music City.

In addition to being close to Downtown, Croleywood is just far enough west that a mere 20-minute drive can land residents in some of Davidson County’s most rural, pastoral scenes. Locals can go for a short jaunt down Charlotte Pike, just across the border into Kingston Springs, and find themselves traversing the Harpeth River at Tip-a-Canoe or hiking the trails in nearby Montgomery Bell State Park.

Home Prices

Of all the reasons to love this sleepy community, the price point is perhaps the most compelling. To detract nothing from the spirit of the place and the beauty of the homes, a median sale price in the high $200s—according to Neighborhoods.com data—is no small thing. Well, technically, it is. Practically unheard of in Nashville, this price point simply can’t be denied.

Factors that might have kept previous homebuyers away, like proximity to an interstate and smaller home sizes, don’t seem to deter the newer residents flooding into the city, and it has many wondering how this area has been overlooked as long as it has. While prices in neighboring areas like Sylvan Park and The Nations skyrocket, Croleywood is proving that slow and steady wins the race.

The Neighbors Aren’t Bad

While Croleywood has a competitive edge on other nearby neighborhoods when it comes to home price and pure residential feel, it’s impossible to ignore all that’s happening in The Nations and Sylvan Park. In a sense, this is the beauty of Croleywood—there are virtually no retail shops or restaurants. The neighborhood is residential in the purest sense of the word without being a suburb, and the home prices reflect that, but a mere mile away stand many of the city’s most buzzed-about breweries, coffee shops, and retail spaces.

When it comes to retail on the west side, The Shop at Thistle Farms is every local’s favorite, not only because of its high-quality bath and textile products but because of the social initiatives at the heart of this nonprofit's mission. Thistle Farms works to help lift women in Nashville out of the cycle of poverty and exploitation by providing housing, education, recovery services and counseling, and employment. The shop on Charlotte Pike is an integral pillar of their success.

West Nashville’s food scene is emerging as well with favorites like Miel and newcomer, Hawthorne serving up quality cocktails and local fare. Just down the street, Headquarters fuels the area’s coffee fiends, and locals can enjoy branches of some of Nashville’s favorite java empires like Dose and Frothy Monkey.

The Greenspace

One benefit of Croleywood’s smaller size is the fact that the entire neighborhood is a stone’s throw from Charlotte Park. In fact, a large portion of the residential area butts right up against the park’s southern border making for gorgeous views and easy access.

Area baseball and softball teams take over the park on the weekends, and the scene is something out of “The Sandlot.” Families use the picnic shelters and area lawns for cookouts throughout game day, and it’s abundantly clear that this is the prime community gathering space for Croleywood and its surrounding neighborhoods. Tennis courts and walking trails also offer outdoor activities for locals, and the tree cover alone makes the space feel quiet and secluded.