Almost fully developed by 1940, Bronxville, a square-mile chunk of the town of Eastchester 15 miles from Midtown Manhattan, looks now much the way it did 75 years ago, with some of its still-grand residences dating to the late 1800s. Median prices here are among the 200 highest in the nation, according to Forbes.com’s “America’s Most Expensive ZIP Codes.” Census data from 2010 put the estimated median household income at $178,465, versus $80,725 for Westchester as a whole. White residents represented 87 percent of the population, versus 75 percent for the county.

But the country-club aura and high real estate prices did nothing to dampen Ms. Sher’s enthusiasm. An aesthetician who is the single mother of two daughters, she fled political unrest in Armenia during the early 1990s, before she had time to complete her university studies, eventually settling in Bronxville because, she said, “I wanted to live where ambitious people who are driven and smart can show my children what it means to work hard and get ahead.”

Ms. Sher pays $3,250 a month for a three-bedroom two-bath apartment, which elsewhere in the county would rent for substantially less. The average for that size apartment in Westchester as of 2011 was $1,928, according to Westchester Residential Opportunities, a nonprofit agency in White Plains. Her daughter Allison, 19, graduated from Bronxville High School and attends Hunter College; Ariana, 16, is in 10th grade.

Residents like Ms. Sher represent a social and demographic shift in the village, said Ed O’Toole, a Manhattan lawyer who grew up in Bronxville and moved back to raise his family. Remembering the Bronxville of his boyhood years, Mr. O’Toole said: “I think it is more diverse, even if it still has an overall appearance of affluent homogeneity. I think there are more single-parent families, more small families and more families that reflect a multiplicity of ethnic and religious backgrounds.”

“That said,” Mr. O’Toole added, “Bronxville still has a ways to go before its racial and economic diversity mirror that of other communities in and around the New York area.”

He and his wife, Kim, also a lawyer in Manhattan, have three daughters — Megan, 18, Grace, 16, and Brennan, 14. The couple first lived in a one-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side, then moved to a small three-bedroom house in a nearby section of Yonkers with a Bronxville post office address but outside the Bronxville school district.

They finally settled in the five-bedroom three-bath 1920s brick colonial that his late parents bought in 1966 for about $90,000. Today the house, which has been updated, would sell for about $1.85 million, said Susan Kelty Law, an agent for Houlihan Lawrence.

What You’ll Find

Bronxville’s western border is the Bronx River Parkway. Its main hub, the downtown shopping district, is bisected by the Metro-North Railroad station. The larger shopping area, east of the station, along and off of Pondfield Road, has about 80 stores; another 20 or so are tucked between the station and the parkway.

Except for a few chain stores, a Starbucks among them, most shops are independent. The mix includes a variety of restaurants, a bookshop (Womrath’s), a photo shop (Arista Camera and Imaging), and clothing boutiques.

Fanning out from there are streets reflecting two architectural influences. One of them, William Van Duzer Lawrence, a real estate and pharmaceutical mogul (whose name is also associated with Lawrence Hospital Center in Bronxville, Houlihan Lawrence Real Estate and Sarah Lawrence College in nearby Yonkers), worked with William Augustus Bates, an architect, to develop the almost 100 homes of Lawrence Park starting in the late 1800s.

The area, adjacent to the hospital, was designed as a retreat for writers, artists and musicians. Styles include Adirondack and Arts and Crafts; some roads retain their yellow-brick paving, which has caved in on the sides, leaving a high middle section best navigated in an S.U.V.

The other influential architect, Lewis Bowman, designed more than 50 houses, specializing in Georgian, Cotswold and other styles. Many have steep slate roofs, leaded-glass windows and clustered chimneys.

In all, Bronxville has 1,200 houses, along with 127 condominiums in 3 complexes, 800 co-ops in 25 complexes, and 264 rentals in 11 buildings, said Gerry Iagallo, a consultant for the assessor’s office.

What You’ll Pay

The median single-family sale price in 2012 was $1.6 million, down from $1.95 million in 2007, according to Houlihan Lawrence. The condo median was $655,000, up from $570,000 over the same period. For co-ops, the median rose to $445,000 from $375,000.

Among those for sale: a four-bedroom two-bath town house on 0.03 acres listed at $870,000, with annual taxes of $20,656; a five-bedroom three-and-a-half-bath 1925 Tudor on 0.15 acres, listed at $1.705 million; and a six-bedroom four-and-a-half-bath Victorian on a third of an acre for $4.1 million, with taxes of $70,665.

The most expensive home on the market is a six-bedroom four-and-a-half-bath Tudor on a 0.75-acre lot for $6.25 million, with taxes of $109,774; the least expensive, a three-bedroom one-and-a-half-bath colonial on 0.10 acres for $799,000, has taxes of $17,003.

The market is fueled by what brokers like Ms. Law call the “Bronxville shuffle”: the cycle of young families moving from Manhattan or starter homes (some in neighboring Yonkers) to larger ones in the Bronxville school district, and older homeowners downsizing to co-ops and condos.

What to Do

In addition to Eastchester’s recreational programs, which are open to Bronxville residents, the village offers many activities, including summer camp and tennis courts.

John Priesing, a retired executive, and his wife, Madryn, have been members of the Siwanoy Country Club since moving to Bronxville in 1972. (They bought their home for $95,000; today it would list for about $1.6 million, according to Ms. Law.) The couple enjoy dining there; favorites remain standbys like Sammy’s Downtown Bistro and Bar.

In recent years, as more restaurants have opened in the business district, the sidewalks aren’t rolled up when the stores close; the village draws evening customers from surrounding towns.

The Schools

There are 1,627 students enrolled in the Bronxville Union Free School District. All students in kindergarten through Grade 12 attend classes in the brick school building on Pondfield Road dating to 1922 and enlarged in 2004. SAT averages last year were 621 in reading, 625 in math and 646 in writing, versus 514, 497 and 489 statewide.

 For those outside the district, tuition is $23,628 a year for the middle and high schools and $18,553 for the primary school. There are nine tuition students, eight at the high school and one in fifth grade, said Dan Carlin, an assistant superintendent.

The Commute

The peak-hour trip on the Harlem line to Grand Central Terminal takes about 32 minutes. A round-trip ticket costs $18.50; a monthly runs $204. The annual cost of station-area parking for residents is $920. Nonresidents use long-term meters on nearby streets.

The drive to Midtown on Interstate 87 or the Saw Mill River Parkway takes about 20 minutes in light traffic.

The History

Before William Van Duzer Lawrence started on Lawrence Park, the area had only farms, orchards, a few scattered homes and factories, most near the Bronx River.