Five-Bedroom Villa in a Gated Compound, Zekeriyaköy, Sarıyer

A detached family villa inside one of the gated compounds at Zekeriyaköy, on the wooded plateau between the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. This is where a large share of Istanbul's international families with school-age children end up, and the reasons are practical: garden space, low density, clean air off the Belgrade Forest, and compound security. The house has five bedrooms over three floors, four bathrooms, an open-plan kitchen and family room facing the garden, and a separate formal sitting room. The lower ground floor is fitted out as a games room with a shower room and direct garden access. Outside there is a private garden of roughly four hundred square metres, a covered terrace and parking for two cars, with shared compound facilities including a pool and tennis courts. The honest caveat is transport. There is no metro or rail service in this part of Sarıyer, and the drive to Levent or Maslak depends heavily on the time of day. A household here needs at least one car, usually two.