Yes, we’re getting near the end of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Aren’t You thrilled? Today we’re heading up to the whine, whoops wine country to see what prices are doing far from the SF/SV axis of insanity.

And, Yoiks! This doesn’t look much different!  A generous but not ginormous house, on a comfortable, but by no means estate-quality lot. Perhaps the owners thought they were in Saratoga or something?

6761 Jefferson St
Yountville, CA 94599
$3,100,000

3 Beds
2.5 Baths
2,600 Sq. Ft.
$1,192 / Sq. Ft.
Built: 2006
Lot Size: 0.27 Acres
On Redfin: 116 days
Status: Active
Property Type: Residential, Detached, Single Family
Stories: 2
County: Napa
Style: Craftsman
Community: Yountville
MLS#: 21300060

Extraordinary custom-built California craftsman style home. Two-story main house with 3BD/2.5BA; pool house with kitchen & full bath; pool/spa plus numerous special features. Top quality throughout. This is the finest residential property in Yountville.

There isn’t much for sale in Yountville right now, and we wondered which best exemplified the market.  There’s a snouty looking condo, two cottages crammed onto one lot, a brand new place with some really tired-looking pix, a tornado-watch of charming trailer mobile homes, and this Extraordinary custom-built California craftsman style home. 

Or should we say this Extraordinary custom-built California craftsman style home that’s been sitting on the market for 116 days.  Built right when the bottom was Yanked out of the exurban market in 2006, Yet.

Yikes, what to do? How about You let us know what You’d pick if you had to live in Yountville?

Poor Mr. Zip.  The United States Postal Service put him out to pasture in 1986, when they introduced the ZIP+4 postal codes.  But he was a familiar sight in the 1960s, urging everyone to include the new ZIP (Zone Improvement Plan) postal codes when sending mail.

Mr. Zip might not be around to nag you on addressing envelopes, because he’s in retirement.  Mr. Z writes to say he hopes this series will go on forever, because he can’t play Name That Code all the time.

Today we bring you yet another installment of all the Northern California cities on Forbes’ Most Expensive Zip Code list.  It features data crunched by local favorite Altos Research (and mangled by Forbes; you’d think after I’ve linked to them four different times and noted in each article that their data has a systematic error in every single entry, maybe somebody there would fix it, but NOOOOOOOO).  Anyway, here’s what you may have missed while writing code or hanging out on a sunny sidewalk waiting to collect a faceful of pepper spray.

Previous Entries in the Most Expensive Zip Code Series:

• Top 50 Most Expensive Zip Codes, RBA Edition
• Next 50 Most Expensive Zip Codes, Almost-RBA Edition
• Third Tier Realty: Zips 101-200 or I have a feeling we’re not in the RBA Anymore
• Fourth Tier Cul de Sac: Submillion in Suburbia

Now, we’ll take the Fifth!  Fifth Tier, that is; the Top Half of the Bottom 200!

Let’s see which cities can still scrape together a property median wishing price just under $850K.  Remember, we correct the mistakes as we find them, and we added the comparison to last year’s list.  That’s the kind of original work you’ll only find done by obsessive-compulsive bloggers who think zip codes are fascinating.  Well, Mr. Zip certainly agrees!

#304: San Mateo 94402

• Median Home Price: $849,292
• Median Price Change: NA
• Average Days On Market: 200 114
• Inventory: 114 81
• Rank in 2010: 236 (-68 spots ⇓)
• Most Expensive Home: $13 Million

Now I am beginning to think that the people at Forbes were just making stuff up for that “Most Expensive Home” field.  $13 million.  In San Mateo.  The most expensive place I could find sold for $3.3 mil in June, including the gated entryway.  It’s just like what you get in mid-level condoplexes, including calling itself an ESTATE (complete with the CAPITAL LETTERS).

Ah, but that living room does look spacious enough to hold a very small charity ball.  More goodness from Mr. Zip after the break!

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