Two million bucks goes a long way in the right place

Rico says Mike Powell has an article in The New York Times about what two million dollars will get you these days in (from the top) Three Rivers, California; Malvern, Pennsylvania; and Phoenix, Arizona. Rico's been to all three places (and lives very close to Malvern), and he has an opinion (or two) about which one his two million (hey, it could happen) would buy:

Three Rivers, California
Property: A four-bedroom four-bath house at the edge of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks
Price: $1,950,000
Per square foot: $650
Setting: Three Rivers, population 2,300, is in central California, about three and a half hours from Los Angeles. It’s rural — the grocery store is a lone roadside building four miles away from what, and the public school’s K-8 enrollment was 164 students for the 2007-2008 school year. There are a few places to eat (including some along the river), a handful of galleries and shops, and Reimer’s, a shop selling homemade ice cream and candy that has been in the area for over 50 years. But the main attraction in Three Rivers is nature — hiking through the Sierra Nevada in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, kayaking and rafting in the rivers. The closest nearby airport is in Fresno, 60 miles away.
Common spaces: The house was built in 1947, but thoroughly renovated in the past five years. Each room has river views. The kitchen has a window in the floor to showcase the river flowing below. The living room has a rock fireplace, floor-to-ceiling windows and is wired for surround-sound. Floors are wood or slate.
Personal spaces: The master suite has a wraparound deck over the river, built-in dressers, a sitting area, and a bathroom with a steam shower and a whirlpool bath (which, yes, also have river views).
The lower level has a guest suite with an enclosed porch, a kitchen, a bathroom and a private entrance at river level. A second downstairs bedroom also has a private entrance.
Outdoor space: The house is nearly surrounded by a river, and has bridges to a private island with a small beach and waterfall. There are several decks off the house, and several seating areas along the water. The property is planted with hydrangea, ferns, succulents and sycamores.
Taxes: $24,375

Malvern, Pennsylvania
Property: A nine-bedroom six-bath house with three half baths
Price: $1,999,000
Per square foot: $225.82
Setting: This house is on a cul-de-sac in Malvern, a 3,200-person borough of Chester County, about 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The house was built in stages over the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries (with the last addition, on the front of the house, modeled after Mount Vernon). The house is on around 11 acres and abuts a two-acre pond. Four miles west is the 3,500-acre Valley Forge National Historical Park. There are grocery stores nearby in Phoenixville. Five and a half miles south is King Street, which has a small, walkable stretch of shops and galleries. Six and a half miles east of the house is the King of Prussia Mall. Malvern is serviced by the Great Valley School District, and there are public elementary, middle, and high schools within five miles of the house. The borough also has a stop for SEPTA— the regional railroad.
Common spaces: The formal dining room has trompe l’oeil walls, a marble and gilt fireplace and a Juliet balcony overlooking a slope in the yard. The formal living room has hand-carved wood paneling and a fireplace and opens up to an enclosed porch. Secondary living and dining rooms both have beamed ceilings and fireplaces. Nearly all of the living spaces have built-in shelves. The kitchen has skylights and two eating areas. The finished basement— also with fireplace — is currently used as a recreation area. There’s also a four-stall stable and three-car garage on the property, and an octagonal cupola that crowns the house’s roof.
Personal spaces: A bedroom with en suite bathroom off the kitchen (originally designed for staff); a second-floor master suite with his-and-her bathrooms and an office area; four additional bedrooms, two with fireplaces; and another cluster of four bedrooms and one bathroom, originally designed for staff.
Outdoor space: A swimming pool, a pond, a clay tennis court and about 11 acres of lawns, fields and woodland.
Taxes: $17,490 (in 2008)

Phoenix, Arizona
Property: A five-bedroom, four-bath contemporary
Price: $1,995,000
Per square foot: $402.23
Setting: This crescent-shaped house was built by Will Bruder, an architect known for the Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix, in a northeastern Phoenix neighborhood named Alta Vista Park. The area is residential, with houses are on large desert lots. This one backs up to the Arizona Biltmore Resort, which encompasses a golf course and a hotel for which Frank Lloyd Wright is said to have served as a consulting architect. The closest commerce is in shopping plazas clustered around the intersection of North 32nd Street and East Camelback Road, about a mile south. The house is within two miles of public schools and about nine miles from downtown Phoenix.
Common spaces: The living room, which faces toward the patio and desert, has an 80-foot-wide floor-to-ceiling window. An office area has built-in cabinetry and four built-in desk stations. Most of the floors are polished concrete, and the architect left exposed maple and steel beams throughout. Part of the house is raised over a desert wash (“Sort of like a creek bed,” the listing agent said); water rushes underneath during heavy rains.
Personal spaces: Each of the five bedrooms has desert views and built-in cabinetry. Four are at one end of the crescent, and a fifth— coupled with a bathroom and kitchenette to form guest’s quarters— is at the other.
Outdoor space: A stone patio that gives way to desert landscaping, a pool, and desert views
Taxes: $14,290