Recently, I blogged about The Arroyos in West Seattle. This week, let’s take a look at a more modest, but also charming West Seattle neighborhood, Fauntlee Hills. Fauntlee Hills is less than two miles north of The Arroyos. To the east, it’s bordered by 35th Avenue Southwest, not far from Westwood Village Shopping Mall. Its western border merges into the Fauntleroy neighborhood, which goes down to Fauntleroy Cove and the Fauntleroy Ferry dock.
MID-CENT MOJO
Like Olympic Manor in Ballard, Fauntlee Hills is known for its inventory of mid-century Modern single-family homes. Nearly all of the residences here were built in the 1950s and early ’60s. 
The majority are single-story, but you’ll also find two-story and split-level. Newer, infill homes, which are somewhat rare, tend to be Contemporary Modern.
Roman brick was a favorite mid-century Modern building material, and Fauntlee Hills has many beautiful brick homes. The low-pitched roofs, picture windows, and well-groomed yards all hearken back to an era when Seattle—then largely dependent on Boeing as the city’s largest employer—was called the Jet City.
FANTASTIC SUNSETS
In general, the homes in Fauntlee Hills are not luxury properties (though there are some outstanding exceptions). But it’s quiet 
here, and comfortable. The lots are fairly generous, with space for outdoor play and backyard barbecues. And often there are impressive water views. Many residences look out on Puget Sound and over to Vashon Island and the Olympic Mountains. As you might imagine, the sunsets can be gorgeous.
Fauntlee Hills is friendly to joggers, walkers, dog owners. True, the hills can be challenging, but there’s a variety of appealing walks/routes to choose from. The densely wooded 32-acre Fauntleroy Park, which abuts the southern edge of the neighborhood, features hiking and walking trails.
LINCOLN PARK
Also within walking distance—about a mile from Fauntlee 
Hills—is 135-acre Lincoln Park, one of the largest parks in Seattle. Lincoln Park boasts hiking paths and bike trails, picnic and play areas, a long beach path, and some remarkable vegetation, including a few old-growth Douglas firs. The park is also home to the landmark Colman Pool, a heated outdoor Olympic-size saltwater pool. Colman Pool is scheduled for upgrading this fall and should be better than ever when it reopens in late June of 2012.
FERRY BOATS
Due west and down the slope from Fauntlee Hills, is the Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal, which is also just past the southern tip of Lincoln Park. Quintessentially Northwest, the picturesque Fauntleroy Ferry provides service to Vashon Island and to tiny Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula. If you live in Fauntlee Hills, you can enjoy watching the passing ferryboats. Or you can easily board the ferry yourself and spend the day on Vashon or the Kitsap Peninsula. Yet another advantage of life in Fauntlee Hills.