Hartley, Hartley, CA

Hartley is a rural pocket of Solano County just north of Vacaville, laid out around Hartley Road and Midway Road, and the Nut Tree area of the city starts right at its edge. Life here is about acreage. Homes lean toward ranchettes. One Hartley Road listing shows the pattern, with 4.59 acres, a 1,900-square-foot main house and a guest house, plus a barn and a shop, mature shade trees, irrigated lawn and a pool. Hartley Road connects to Midway Road off Interstate 505, which is how most people reach the freeway. There are no public parks inside the boundary. Neighborhood greens such as Corderos Park and Ridgeview Park sit across the line in Vacaville, and Lagoon Valley Park is a longer drive. Day to day, the outdoors is your own property, the farm roads and the fields. Eating out starts with Judy's Wild Wrangler Saloon at 4823 Midway Road, a western-style bar near the freeway exit that has hosted live bands and keeps late hours, with doors open from noon on weekdays and until 2 a.m. On Fridays. The rest of the dining list sits just over the line in Vacaville. Pure Grain Bakery & Cafe turns out German-style breads and pastries, and the Nut Tree area has more cafes and shops, with full grocery runs finishing in Vacaville. Interstate 505 and Interstate 80 are the two routes, and Vacaville handles nearly all errands. A car is required for each of them, and public transit does not reach Hartley. Most of the community falls in the Vacaville school district, with a portion belonging to Dixon's. Living out here means being your own maintenance crew, with irrigation, fencing and gravel to look after on top of the house. In exchange you get elbow room, with the property line a long way from the front door, and that distance is most of the appeal.