Columbia Lakes Homes for Sale

Living in Columbia Lakes

Columbia Lakes sits in the 08002 section of Cherry Hill Township, gathered around Columbia Boulevard where it crosses Church Road. The streets run Lake Drive East and West, Garfield Avenue, McKinley Road, Wilson Road, Washington Avenue, Tyler Avenue, Coolidge Road, Cleveland Avenue, Roosevelt Drive, North Monroe Avenue and Silver Hill Road. No association and no gate.

The name is honest, which is worth saying because plenty are not. There is an actual lake here — a real body of water running north to south through the neighborhood, with Lake Drive East on one bank and Lake Drive West on the other, and a second pond above it near Church Road. Subdivisions across South Jersey borrow the word for atmosphere; this one has the water to back it up. Houses along those two drives look at it, and the open ground and trees around it are what the lots on that side back onto rather than another fence line.

Then the street signs, which are their own kind of theme. Washington, Monroe, Tyler, Lincoln, Garfield, Cleveland, McKinley, Wilson, Coolidge and Roosevelt — ten presidents in a row, laid down in one pass around 1960. Cherry Hill has neighborhoods named after apple varieties, racetracks, colonial villages and English colleges; this corner went with the White House. You can navigate it by remembering your history.

The housing is early-sixties brick, and the form is ranch and rambler — single-level living, which is the practical reason to shop here. Some of these houses run substantially larger than a 1960 ranch suggests, reaching close to three thousand finished square feet with four bedrooms and four full baths, and lots sit around a third of an acre with corner parcels wrapping two street frontages. Sidewalks and street lights throughout, which is a planning-era signature rather than a luxury. One structural note worth asking about before you tour: houses here sit on crawl space rather than full basements, which is a real difference from the neighborhoods immediately east of here where a basement comes standard. If storage or a finished lower level is on your list, ask early.

One filing caution. The eastern edge of this neighborhood and the western edge of Cherry Valley overlap, and listings on the presidential streets turn up filed under either name depending on who entered them. If you are watching for something specific around Garfield or Monroe, search both. Buyers shopping single-level living at this vintage in 08002 also generally walk Locustwood and Colwick.

Schools are Cherry Hill Township Public Schools, with Cherry Hill High School West. Church Road runs west toward Haddonfield and east toward the township center, with Route 70 and Route 38 both a few minutes out and the PATCO line close. The recently sold homes across the township are the clearest read on where this pocket actually prices.