Living In Medina, Clyde Hill, Hunt’s Point & Yarrow Point

Luxury Neighborhoods In Bellevue, WA on the East Side of Lake Washington

Are you considering luxurious living in Medina, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point or Yarrow Point? These are some of Bellevue’s waterfront suburbs on the east banks of Lake Washington, moments away from downtown Bellevue, retail shopping at Bellevue Square, and just across the 520 floating bridge offering great access to downtown Seattle and the University of Washington? These woodsy neighborhoods are quiet and primarily residential. Clyde Hill Elementary and Bellevue Christian School offer nearby educational options, and the Overlake Golf & Country Club provides lovely scenery as well as a relaxing place to unwind with a little weekend recreation. Living in Medina, Clyde Hill or Hunts Point/ Yarrow Point offers prestige, convenience and quiet.

This vicinity offers some of the fanciest homes and high-prestige addresses on the East Side. Homes here start at $2 – $3 Million and the more luxurious, spectacular homes range up to $5 – $10 million. In general, real estate on the Bellevue, WA side of Lake Washington tends to be newer and more expensive than similarly-featured homes on the West (Seattle, WA) side of the Lake. Bellevue’s downtown corridor is well known for high-end shopping and growing business presence.

Living in Medina, Clyde Hill & Hunt’s Point

Medina, WA Neighborhood: Homes in this area start around $2 to $3-million dollars at the time of this writing and a waterfront lot (with “tear down” house) will run you a cool $2-million. As you’ll see in the video tours below, many of the waterfront properties are gated with tall hedges and deep lots affording privacy from the road. Medina is the home to Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates who built his famous waterfront home in Medina, WA, not far from the Redmond Microsoft Campus. While homes on the water offer the most luxury and prestige, the nearby homes are still high-priced due to the convenience of the location as well as their proximity to the high value luxury lakefront property, making Medina, WA one of the most prestigious and well-thought of neighborhood’s in both Bellevue and Seattle.

In addition to the waterfront homes and quiet streets lining the area between the Overlake Golf & Country Club and Lake Washington, Medina Circle is a nicely uniform and classy loop of older homes accessible off of 84th St.

Clyde Hill, WA Neighborhood: Clyde Hill is further from the waterfront and as you drive up off NE 24th St West off of 84th Ave NE you’ll see nicer and larger luxury homes popping up as “infill” properties amongst the older established homes in the neighborhood. This is one of the most popular locations in the surrounding neighborhood for these types of one-off redevelopment projects, with many newly-built homes and ongoing construction projects going on, especially near the top of the hill. There are lovely views of Lake Washington from here as well.

Hunt’s Point, WA Neighborhood: As you go north from Medina, WA and cross over 520, you’ll find yourself entering Hunt’s Point and Nearby Yarrow Point.

These homes are all within about 5 minutes (in good traffic) of the 520 floating bridge that traverses Lake Washington (East to West) and arrives just North of downtown Seattle. Bridge

Downsides of living in Medina, Clyde Hill or Hunt’s Point (Besides the High Price Point) May Be:

• The lack of uniformity in the neighborhood. Older, modest homes are inter-mixed with modern mansions. In a sense, homes are “re-gentrifying” at the highest level.
• Freeway views and noise in some cases (Highway 520 is right in your backyard).
• Small lot sizes. These city lots do not offer much extra space and privacy.
• No sidewalks. Although many walkers were outside mid day when I was last here, there are no sidewalks, but broad low-traffic streets offer safe pedestrian passage.
• Some “planned communities” offer a walkable downtown, pool, rec center or other gathering place for local residents to hang out. This is a more car-necessary neighborhood – you can drive or bike to the golf club or other urban attractions of your choice.

Nevertheless, many people consider Medina, Hunt’s Point, Yarrow Point and Clyde Hill to be among the most elite addresses in the greater Puget Sound area. Overall, the “Bellevue” side of Lake Washington (The “East Side” as it’s known locally), tends to have newer and more expensive homes. As a socialist-leaning Seattle city government has adopted anti-business taxation policies, pushed hard on high-density housing and zoning, and seen homelessness on the rise in the city of Seattle, many in the Puget Sound are are looking at Bellevue to be better poised for growth in the years to come.

The “greater Seattle area” is expanding rapidly with demand for homes pushing daily commuters from 30 minutes to 60 minutes’ commute outside the city. With little room to grow to the West, Seattle’s working population has been pushing North to Everett and Bothell, East to Redmond, Woodinville, Issaquah and Lake Sammamish. These areas, farther from Lake Washington still offer excellent access to the city of Bellevue and also Redmond, home of the Microsoft Campus. Estates in these more “rural” areas offer potentially larger lot sizes and even an occassional horse farm.

South Seattle, which has usually had a higher proportion of rentals, crime and industrial areas is rapidly being bought-up and repurposed as homeowners seek affordability near the city center.

Reviews Of Other Luxury Home Neighborhoods In Seattle and Bellevue, Washington

If you are looking for a nice home – dare I say even a luxury home – in the Seattle or Bellevue area – there are many to choose from, depending on what features you find most important. Click here to read about other luxury homes and neighborhoods we’ve reviewed on our website.

If you would like to talk to us about buying or selling a home in Seattle, Bellevue or Everett Washington, we are here to serve! Feel free to reach out with any questions. Our goal is to provide the information you need to make your own good decisions and advise you through the process as much (or little) as you desire. As always, we are here to serve!