What You Get for ... $2,500,000 WHAT: A five-bedroom four-and-a-half-bath Italianate house SIZE: 6,751 square feet SETTING: This house is in the Garden District, a mixed-use neighborhood characterized by Greek Revival, Italianate and other styles of 19th-century architecture. Magazine Street, a shopping block lined with low-lying boutiques, restaurants and cafes; and St. Charles Avenue, a broad thoroughfare shaded by live oaks, are two blocks away. Some of the city's oldest, largest houses and hotels line St. Charles, with second-story porches overlooking the street. The central business district and the French Quarter are two and a half miles away. INDOORS: The house, with a two-story center-hall, probably began life in the 1860s as a cottage and was expanded in the late 19th century. Most of its interior details, including plaster ceiling medallions, hardwood floors and eight fireplaces with marble mantels, have been preserved. On one side of the entry hall is a double parlor; on the other is a music room and a dining room with a wet bar. Ceilings are about 14 feet, and one side of the house has bay windows running nearly floor to ceiling. The kitchen is at the back of the first floor; the appliances are stainless steel. Each one opens to either a balcony or the broad porch that runs across the front of the house. The master bedroom is part of a suite with a marble bathroom and a walk-in closet. The second floor also has a library. OUTDOOR SPACE: The house is on a quarter acre, with a yard, a patio and off-street parking. TAXES: $25,290 annually (approximately) CONTACT: Ricky Lemann, Keller Williams Realty New Orleans (504) 460-6340 / (504) 862-0100; rickylemann.com WHAT: A three-bedroom three-and-a-half-bath contemporary SIZE: 3,743 square feet SETTING: Washington is a rural town 90 miles north of New York City. This house is on a wooded two-lane road that winds between Washington and Roxbury, lined with farmland, stables and large-lot properties. Across the street, there's a 974-acre nature preserve, one of several in the area. Shopping can be done in Washington Depot, a few miles away. There's a Metro-North Railroad station in Danbury, about 40 minutes away; the ride to New York takes about two hours. INDOORS: The three-story house - an open-plan, barn-style structure with board-and-batten siding - was built in 2006 using the frame of an old barn. Floors throughout are limestone, and the interior has several white coffered ceilings, beadboard and other trim. Pitched ceilings in the living room reach 30 feet, with a wall of windows facing west, toward farmland. The soaring ceiling is inset with hidden halogen bulbs, which play off the custom-painted ceiling panels to create the effect of slightly shifting color. The room has built-in cabinetry and a fireplace with a limestone surround. The kitchen also has a fireplace, but with a surround made from Carrara marble. Appliances include a Sub-Zero refrigerator and a Viking range. The master bedroom, on the main floor, has a pitched ceiling and opens to a private garden. Its en-suite bathroom has a separate tub and a steam shower. The other two bedrooms are upstairs, as is an office in a loft-like space that opens over the living room. On the third floor, there's an exercise room. OUTDOOR SPACE: Five and a half gently sloping acres, part clear and part wooded, with a pool, a pool house, a koi pond and a small waterfall. TAXES: $10,650 annually (estimated) CONTACT: Rick Distel and Bonnie Garguilo, Litchfield Hills Sotheby's International Realty (646) 417-2720 / (860) 868-6905; litchfieldhillssir.com SIZE: 1,555 square feet SETTING: This house is on a steep, winding road in West Hollywood Hills, an affluent neighborhood in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Housing in the neighborhood includes comparatively modest midcentury ranches and bungalows and large new construction - a 13,000-square-foot house, for example, on the market for nearly $30 million. Shopping, dining and night life may be found on and around the Sunset Strip, two miles downhill. INDOORS: This one-story house was built in 1949 on a hillside overlooking the city and the ocean. Nearly every room - including the living, dining and both bedrooms - has views, and glass doors open to a large back deck and a Bisazza tile pool and hot tub. All rooms are wired for sound. Floors are dark hardwood throughout. The kitchen - which has stainless-steel appliances and stone countertops - is separated from the dining area by a partial wall with a porthole window. The living room has a fireplace, built-in bookshelves and a wet bar tucked into one corner. OUTDOOR SPACE: There's a small entry courtyard and a koi pond. The back deck is edged with a glass rail, and has a trellis with a pull-down projector screen, creating an outdoor theater. There's also a fire pit. Down a set of stairs, is a small yard. TAXES: $31,062 annually (approximately) CONTACT: Farrah Aldjufrie and Mauricio Umansky, the Agency (424) 230-3712 / (424) 230-3701; theagencyre.com