Cheatham County's Pleasant View, a Booming Community

There has been a trend over the last decade or two of people moving out of large urban areas into surrounding bedroom communities, suburbs or outlying farms and small towns. Cheatham County is right northwest of Davidson County, the home of Nashville, TN. It is one of the fastest growing counties in the country, and certainly in Tennessee. A little historical background will give an idea of the nature of this region. Pleasant View, one of the main towns here, began growing during the 1970s on through the present day. Pleasant View itself is responsible for a large part of the county's prosperity and population growth. It's loction around 20 miles north of Nashville is a real attraction, and property still has very good value for the cost.

The county was formed in the mid-1800s with the county seat of Ashland City. The southern end of the county was a thriving community with a railroad depot and Kingston Springs was the small town that was central to the county life. Farming was dominant here. Pegram, another community, was on the scenic Harpeth River and the Cumberland River edges part of the eastern part of the county. Situated on the Highland Rim, the county has rolling hills and valleys, caves and mineral springs abound all over, and the delta of the Cumberland forms farmland and development areas to the western border with Nashville.

The median family income for the county was around $45,000 by the U.S. 2000 census, and below the national median income. It is also not as high as those of some other outlying Nashville bedroom communities, but housing is affordable. Far and away the largest percent of the population here is between the ages of 25-44. However, the median family income for Pleasant View by itself is above $54,000 and has probably increased quite a bit above that since the 2,000 census. The population was around 3,000 in the year 2,000, but I'm sure it has grown considerably since then as growth over the whole county has been extremely robust. The median price of a home in this town is $162,500, above the national average. There are three public schools here, according to the homelocator information. This is horse country and many people move here to raise and breed their horses, so there are quite a few properties that have good acreage with the homes. Some have barns and fencing for riding rings.

A lot of homes available in the $300,000-600,000 range have superlative luxury features and good acreage. Most are new, custom builder brick homes for executives. I found that most all in this range were asking around $100 per sq. ft. more or less. One--a 4 bed, 3.5 bath traditional home--with cherry cabinets, hardwoods, crown molding, home theater, landscaping, security and patio, was listed for just $394,900 and it was just over 3,500 sq. ft. That seems to be typical of many of the listings in this range.

The homes in the $200,000-$300,000 range are by far the largest category here. They also are mostly brick and have many luxury amenities. Price per sq. ft. naturally depends on the quality of amenities, but generally speaking there seem to be a lot of this range of home offered for around $100 per sq. ft. or a bit above and some builders are giving thousands in bonuses for full price offers. Most all the homes that are newer are all brick. One sample for $248,000, with 2,128 sq. ft. has 9-ft. ceilings, hardwoods, custom trim, lighting and cabinets and a vaulted great room. These homes will have smaller bedrooms than the larger, more expensive homes above $300,000.

There were not a lot of listings in the $100,000-$200,000 sq. ft. range, but the ones on the market look good. Just expect to have small bedrooms and oftentimes wall-to-wall carpet and tile instead of real hardwood flooring. Some will have sprayed instead of smooth ceilings as well, but you will most likely getting a brick home and it will be in a nice place with a small-town atmosphere.