Napa Abajo, Napa, CA

Napa Abajo is the historic neighborhood just south of downtown, and it shares Fuller Park's pedigree: settled in the mid-1800s, full of period architecture, and part of the National Register of Historic Places with many homes individually listed. The name means 'lower Napa,' and the streets run wide and tree-lined down to the Napa River on the eastern edge. It's one of the more characterful residential pockets in the city, with a long-standing multicultural makeup and the kind of older housing stock that rewards people who like restoration projects and front porches over new construction. Downtown and its restaurants are an easy walk or short drive north, so you get historic-neighborhood quiet without being cut off from the action. The honest part is the same as any old-Napa neighborhood: the homes are gorgeous from the curb but often need work behind the facade, and proximity to the river brings the city's long flood history into play on the low-lying blocks. For buyers drawn to wide streets, big trees, and houses with a story, Napa Abajo is one of the most distinctive addresses in town.