And so it begins…
In our defense, the property listing said “land value only.” At closing, any talk of using or refurbishing the little house was met with scoffs and knowing glances, from everyone (locals) but us (from away). We didn’t see the interior of the house until after closing.
Listed by John Bassette of Bassette Real Estate Group
Listing Sold by Williamson Group Sothebys Intl. Realty
2865 BRIDGEWATER HILL ROAD DESCRIPTION
Private 20 acre parcel on town maintained road. Open meadow and mature woodlands. Attractive local hillside views. Less than 10 minutes to skiing or 25 minutes to all the amenities of a small, Vermont town. Rustic cabin is present on the property (age unknown). The building is not finance-able as is. With major renovations and the addition of septic and heat, it would make a quaint hunting cabin, small home, or vacation get away. Plenty of potential and possibilities with this lovely piece of rural property in the hills.
What this isn’t & is…
This isn’t another Money Pit story. We aren’t building our dream house; we just want something basic that will work for us in summers. It’s also not like HGTV (which we love and find inspirational) where everything is new and fantastic within 30 or 60 minutes. This place is remote and our budget is limited, so we plan to do as much as we can by ourselves.
This is a story about taking a leap of faith, of hopes and dreams, littered with fascinating construction lore. It’s about us, an almost-retired couple from Texas who imagined what spending time on a little mountain in Vermont could be like. But it’s mostly about the place — the weather, land, planned improvements, and people.
The people — friends, family, neighbors, and tourists — are the secret sauce here. They’re at times questioning, supportive, curious, helpful, confused, and critical. We know a few of the neighbors because we’ve been visiting family in the area for more than 10 years. During our visits in the summer, we have relied on these people for advice on weather, boots, which local market has the freshest corn. We will soon be asking for advice of a different nature: best well-diggers, tree trimmers and how to plant garlic. And how do we fix a leaky roof?!
The house
sink and cupboards 
stairway
The front door needed an encouraging nudge to open. There are four rooms downstairs: a kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms. It totals about 620 square feet per floor, but it looks like the upstairs hasn’t had much use. The green shutters are all closed, as are the windows. We’re disappointed to discover there’s nothing of significant value. Absolutely nothing! Most everything of interest has been taken, or maybe there was never anything of significance — no hand-hewn wooden beams, vintage brick hearth, or antiques. Holes in ceilings and marks on floors reveal the prior owners must have struggled to stay warm. At one time the downstairs had three wood stoves, about one for every 200 square feet.
Oh the adventure of it all
If you’ve made it this far, why not join us for this real-world journey? We don’t have sponsors or ‘patreons‘ but we do have healthy doses of imagination, persistence, and joy.
So we’re off to a good start, but it’s too cold to get anything meaningful accomplished and there’s a lot of snow. Maybe after we open the windows that funky smell will go away?
