A celebration of all things small—from towns and tiny houses to micro apartments and modular furniture.

Our latest Curbed Comparisons tackles two sometimes mutually exclusive goals in this region of ours: a decent spread and an affordable price. Namely, it looks at what non-astronomical tags command in terms of houses.

Turns out they can command quite a bit. You just have to look a little beyond Boston proper.

For starters, perhaps look in Bedford, just northwest of Lexington and about 20 miles from downtown Boston. In Bedford, the 864-square-foot Cape at 355 Brooklawn Avenue is asking $235,000 for its four bedrooms (!), one bathroom, and fenced-in yard, plus two parking spaces.

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Down the Cape in Sandwich, 1 Jones Street is asking $269,000. It’s an 832-square-foot 2-BR, 1-BA with a shed out back and a full basement.

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Now to Dedham, just southwest of Boston (and just about the home of the Massachusetts Governor's Mansion). There, the 906-square-foot 132 Paul Street is asking $419,000 for its two bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms. There’s also a large deck overlooking a sizable backyard.

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Finally, up on the North Shore, the 875-square-foot 12.5 Cross Street in Gloucester is asking $275,000 for its two bedrooms and one bathroom. There’s also a 14-by-9-foot back deck. Which is probably one-fourth the size of your current Boston 1-BR.

[h/t OpenHouse for the data]