A few miles south of Tahoe City down the west shore, you'll find the tiny communities of Tahoe Park and Homewood.

Both neighborhoods offer easy access to the lake, with public beaches and a popular bike path running from Tahoe City all the way through to Sugar Pine Point State Park south of Tahoma.

Tahoe Park is strictly residential, with an array of custom mountain homes located blocks from the shores of Lake Tahoe.

Homewood offers a gourmet market and deli, a couple of good restaurants, boat storage and Homewood Ski Resort. Conveniently located right on the highway, you'll find stunning lake views and an easygoing, old-school ski experience.

Most of the properties in this area are used as vacation homes, and housing options vary from extraordinary lakefront estates to classic wood cabins.

Prices start at around $400,000 for a small fixer cabin and run to well over $10 million for lakefront property. Inventory tends to be tight in these small neighborhoods.