5 Presidential Towns You Can Move To

Harding Township, N.J.
Median home price: $2.7 million

A wealthy enclave some 40 miles west of New York City, Harding Township is named after 29th President Warren G. Harding -- who collapsed and died in 1923 while on a speaking tour of western U.S. states.

Harding's tenure is best remembered for the Teapot Dome scandal and other corruption cases, although most such affairs came to light after his death and apparently involved crooked cronies rather than the president himself.

Harding Township, originally part of a neighboring area now known as Long Hill Township, took its name in 1922 while Harding was still in office. Today, the 3,800-person town is one of America's richest communities, with a $179,000 median household income and a $2.7 million median home price as of Dec. 31.

Zillow (Z) estimates that the area's home prices technically rose 35.3% during 2012, but says one or two property sales in small communities such as Harding Township can skew net changes.

If you've got the money to live there, Zillow lists some 65 properties for sale in the Harding/New Vernon area. Asking prices start around $500,000 and run as high as $5.5 million, though.

Harrison, Tenn.
Median home price: $136,100

Once known as Vann's Ferry, this community changed its name to Harrison in the 1800s to honor ninth President William Henry Harrison -- best known as our nation's shortest-serving president.

Harrison caught a cold either during or a few weeks after his March 4, 1841, inauguration and died a month later (he gave a nearly two-hour inaugural address in the cold, wet outdoors).

Today, 7,800-population Harrison is a middle-class suburb about 10 miles northeast of Chattanooga.

"Harrison has more of a quaint-township feel than you get in Chattanooga, but it's still close enough that you can enjoy all of the amenities of the city," says David Hawke, a Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce official who lived in the town in recent years and still works nearby.

A median-priced Harrison home goes for $136,100, with prices rising 0.7% during 2012. Zillow lists some 175 properties for sale in and around the community.

Madison, Wis.
Median home price: $179,800

Madison honors fourth President James Madison, who died right around the time of the city's founding as Wisconsin's capital in 1836.

Although less well known today than his predecessors George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, Madison is generally remembered as the father of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights (he pressed for both in the 1780s).

Madison's 1809-17 presidency, though, was marred by the War of 1812, which was so unpopular at one point that New England states -- whose ports suffered under a British naval blockade -- considered secession. Ultimately, a U.S. military victory restored Madison's public standing.

Today, the Wisconsin city that bears his name remains the Badger State's capital and hosts the 30,300-undergraduate-student University of Madison-Wisconsin.

Additionally, companies from appliance maker Sub-Zero/Wolf to Spectrum Brands (SPB) -- parent of the Rayovac and Remington consumer lines -- call the 569,000-population metro area home.

Zillow estimates Madison's median home price at $179,800, up 0.8% in 2012. The site lists some 1,700 properties for sale there.

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