Buyers who love old brick houses often end up choosing between these two. I have sold in both for years. Here is how I describe the difference.
Where they sit
The Fan spreads west of downtown toward the Boulevard, between Monument Avenue and Main Street, close to VCU. Church Hill sits on the hill east of downtown, above Shockoe Bottom and the James, around St. John's Church.
The houses
The Fan is mostly early 1900s rowhouses and attached townhouses, many with front porches, on a tight, regular grid. Church Hill has some of the oldest houses in the city, plus Victorian rowhouses, small frame houses, and a good deal of newer infill. The mix of ages is wider on the Hill, so two houses on the same block can be very different.
Day to day
The Fan is dense and busy, with restaurants and corner shops on almost every main street and a lot of student life close to VCU. Church Hill is quieter on most blocks, with a strong cluster of restaurants and shops along East Broad and around Patrick Henry Park, and Libby Hill and Chimborazo parks at the edges. The views from Libby Hill over the river are a big part of why people choose it.
Getting around
Both are walkable and bikeable. The Fan is a short ride to downtown, Carytown and the Museum District. Church Hill is close to downtown, Shockoe Bottom and the Capital Trail along the river.
Parking
Neither has many driveways. Both rely on street parking, with residential permits on some blocks. Some houses in each have rear parking off an alley.
Price and condition
Prices in both vary block by block and with condition. Ask me for current figures for the blocks you are considering, and I will show you what recently sold nearby.
How to decide
Spend a Saturday in each. Have coffee, walk the side streets, come back on a weeknight. Most people know by the end of the day.