Wooded acreage, hidden estates, and the quietest luxury within Davidson County.
Forest Hills and Oak Hill are Nashville's two best-kept secrets in plain sight. Both are incorporated cities within Davidson County, sharing borders with Belle Meade, Green Hills, and Brentwood—but neither has a downtown, a stoplight, or anything resembling commercial activity. What they have are large wooded lots, custom homes, and the kind of privacy that has drawn country-music royalty, NFL ownership, and old Nashville families for decades.
If Belle Meade is the city's prestige address, Forest Hills and Oak Hill are its hidden ones. Driveways disappear into hardwood forest. Estates of three, five, even twenty acres back up to Radnor Lake State Park or the Edwin Warner Park system. The two neighborhoods share so much in feel and zoning that many residents and agents discuss them together.
The two neighborhoods differ in subtle but important ways. Forest Hills sits closer to Hillsboro Pike and Belle Meade, with slightly tighter lots and higher pricing. Oak Hill stretches farther east and south toward Brentwood, with larger acreage tracts and more horse properties. Both incorporated cities have populations under 5,000 and zoning that has not meaningfully changed in fifty years.
The two cities trade on different rhythms. Forest Hills's three-month-to-September 2026 median came in at $2.30M across 19 closings, up 18% year-over-year, at roughly $584 per square foot. Homes are taking longer to sell—a median 94 days—and closing at 94.4% of list, a notably more buyer-friendly setup than a year ago. Oak Hill's trailing-12-month median is $2.53M across 26 sales, with an average closer to $3.08M as larger acreage estates lift the mean.
What both neighborhoods share is a tear-down-and-rebuild dynamic at the high end: buyers often acquire a dated mid-century home for the land, then build a $4M–$8M custom estate. Lot purchases from about $2M, updated estates $3M–$5M, and new custom builds $4M–$8M describe the three bands most buyers end up in. Listings are scarce and a meaningful share of transactions happen off-market, so the search here rewards patience and early access.
Both neighborhoods are residentially zoned, so dining lives on the perimeter—primarily along Granny White Pike, Hillsboro Pike, and the Green Hills corridor.
Forest Hills and Oak Hill residents enjoy some of the largest protected green space in any major U.S. metro—right at their property lines.
Forest Hills and Oak Hill share the Metro Nashville Public Schools system, with strong zoning options. The majority of luxury-tier residents enroll children at independent schools within a short drive.
Forest Hills zoning; consistently high-rated Metro Schools option.
Oak Hill zoning; strong neighborhood school.
International Baccalaureate program; available to much of the zoned area.
Co-ed K-12; the Ensworth Highland campus is 7 minutes from Forest Hills.
Christian co-ed 6-12; 10 minutes south, a popular choice for Oak Hill families.
Both Forest Hills and Oak Hill have populations under 5,000 and median household incomes among the highest in Tennessee. Residents tend to be 45-plus, established professionals, often in healthcare, country music, or finance. Both cities are incorporated, meaning they set their own zoning—part of why the wooded character has been preserved while neighboring areas densify.
Daily life is deliberately low-key. Mornings might be a walk at Radnor Lake. Errands run to Green Hills. Evenings stay at home or move to Belle Meade or Brentwood for dinner. The neighborhoods are 12-15 minutes from downtown Nashville but feel like they are in the country. There is no commercial strip in either city, and residents consider that one of the best things about living here.
Both neighborhoods sit at the geographic center of Nashville's most-loved attractions.
Drive times below are typical off-peak averages for a passenger vehicle. Traffic from Forest Hills & Oak Hill during morning and evening rush can add 10-15 minutes to the longer commutes, particularly on I-65 and I-440.
Granny White Pike and Hillsboro Pike are the primary corridors. Both neighborhoods have direct access to I-440 via Hillsboro Pike.
The questions buyers and residents ask most often about life in Forest Hills & Oak Hill.
Both are incorporated cities within Davidson County with similar wooded character and zoning. Forest Hills sits closer to Belle Meade with somewhat tighter lots. Its three-month-to-September 2026 median was $2.30M (up 18% YoY on 19 closings, at $584/sq ft and 94 median days). Oak Hill extends farther south with larger acreage tracts and a trailing-12-month median of $2.53M. Many buyers cross-shop them.
Radnor Lake State Park sits inside Oak Hill's southern border. Many Forest Hills and Oak Hill homes are within a five-minute drive of the park's main trailhead, and a number of properties directly border the park.
Both neighborhoods are served by Metro Nashville Public Schools—typically Percy Priest Elementary (Forest Hills) or Crieve Hall Elementary (Oak Hill), with Hillsboro High School (IB program) as the zoned high school. Many families also choose Ensworth, Brentwood Academy, or Montgomery Bell Academy.
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