It’s the first thing people see,” said Raili Clasen, founder of Raili CA Design in Newport Beach, Calif. Concerns such as ...

Beginning in the late 1940s, the white picket fence became synonymous with the American Dream. Lambert / Hulton Archive / Getty Images In little Taylor, Mississippi, outside Oxford, a developer ...

When people envision the typical version of the American dream — the dog and two smiling kids standing in front of the big house with the white picket fence — that picket fence is obviously made of ...

He adds: “For better or worse, the image of the suburban house, complete with a white picket fence and a backyard of one’s own, is permanently etched in our minds. ...

- Terry Lindsley-Barton calls her home at 124 East Avenue in the village of Minoa "my dream house with the white picket fence." The eat-in kitchen is her favorite room.

As more residents opt to rent instead of own, the American Dream is evolving The house with the white picket fence is not for everyone, because of money or lifestyle.

When a house and a fence grate stylistically—a stucco wall around a Georgian colonial, say, or a white picket fence in front of a modern glass house—“it kills the vibe,” said Clasen.

“When I was growing up, the white picket fence meant harmony with your house, your family, your spouse. Everybody wanted a house with a picket fence.” But that could be any fence.

Meanwhile, a stand-alone single-family house will run you about $2,499,250—making townhomes here 81.46% cheaper. A newly constructed townhome in Raleigh, NC (like the ones here), can give you an ...