Walnut Hills / East Walnut Hills Homes for Sale

Walnut Hills and East Walnut Hills sit on a ridge just northeast of Downtown, with a mix of dense urban blocks and quieter, more suburban-feeling streets in the eastern half. The neighborhood is best known for Walnut Hills High School, a CPS magnet that draws applicants from across the city on academic merit rather than address alone. It is a fit for current residents and relocating families who want historic character and are willing to navigate a competitive-admission school process rather than relying on a guaranteed zoned assignment.

Cincinnati Public Schools serves the neighborhood, and Walnut Hills High School -- the magnet located here -- requires a separate application and entrance exam rather than automatic enrollment by address; it is one of the top-performing public high schools in the state. Families should plan for that application timeline separately from a standard home search.

Eden Park's Krohn Conservatory and the Cincinnati Art Museum are both a short drive from Walnut Hills, and Alms Park in East Walnut Hills offers river-valley views and walking trails. The neighborhood's Peebles Corner commercial strip has been adding new restaurants and small businesses in recent years.

Housing is a mix of grand late-1800s and early-1900s homes -- some restored, some still awaiting investment -- plus a meaningful stock of older apartment buildings. East Walnut Hills tends toward larger single-family homes on quieter streets; Walnut Hills proper is denser and more mixed-use. Prices are generally lower than Hyde Park or Oakley for comparable square footage, reflecting a market still mid-recovery in parts of the neighborhood.

Walnut Hills was one of Cincinnati's earliest streetcar suburbs and was, for a time in the 1800s, one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city -- several grand homes from that era still stand. Walnut Hills High School, founded in 1831, is one of the oldest public high schools in the country.