With Spring in full swing here in New England, days beginning earlier with birdsong and ending with sweet springtime sunsets behind verdant, newly bushy trees, it's the perfect time to enjoy lakefront property. Whether you've always been attracted to waterfront housing or if you've been seriously considering relocating to a home on the lake, Litchfield County has a multitude of beautiful, relaxing options for you. The gorgeous home you see below is one such waterfront gem, located in Goshen, Connecticut's fantastic Woodridge Lake community. 

Built by 2007 HOBI Award Winning Builder, this home is a spacious, second-tier Woodridge Lake home, affording spectacular winter views of Woodridge Lake. The new design boasts 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a beautifully fitted cherrywood and granite kitchen and hardwood floors throughout. In the winter you'll also enjoy the dual, sweeping fireplaces, and the airiness afforded by nine foot ceilings. The first floor has a master bedroom suite and a spacious screened in cedar porch. The property's stone wall-lined driveway leads to a two car garage large enough to fit your vehicles as well as storage space. 

Woodridge Lake in Goshen, Connecticut Located less than 10 minutes from the Historic Town of Litchfield.  Litchfield is a popular weekend destination spot and hosts the Annual Litchfield Road Race held each year in June.   Goshen is home to the Internationally known Litchfield Jazz Festival, held each year in August and the Goshen Agricultural Fair held over Labor Day weekend.  Located just a few miles away is the family friendly Mohawk Ski Mountain, the Housatonic River (known for world class fly fishing) and hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

Enjoy Country Club living at its best with four sandy beaches; marina; boating and fishing; 8 tennis courts; (two Har-Tru courts)  a 12,500 square foot clubhouse with Wi-Fi internet access, meeting rooms, library, fitness center, locker rooms; heated Jr. Olympic pool; playground; organized activities and much more. The community is strategically located to be within an approximate five minute drive of one private and one public golf course. Theater, music, and entertainment are all a short drive away.

For more information on this beautiful property, to explore more options in Litchfield County, or to speak to a realtor, please visit Portfolio Properties Group's website.  

When I think of culinary gems of New England, the first savory delight that comes to my mind is the perfect, creamy New England Clam Chowder.  Hard on its heels, though, comes a less recognized food that enriches a delicious stack of pancakes as well as crisp squares of country French Toast. This food brings out the best in any baked apple and turns oatmeal from an ordinary breakfast repast into a delightful morning treat. It can be rendered into candy or poured over popcorn, enjoyed in tea or spooned over vanilla ice cream. In case you didn't know, I'm referring to the delicious spoils of the spring and fall sap runs: the unparalleled maple syrup.

If, like me, you are a fan of the flavor of genuine maple syrup, then Sweet Wind Farm is the perfect place to take your family or a group for a sweet and educational Litchfield County outing. At the farm you can view tapped trees during syrup season, take a guided tour of the sugarhouse facility and equipment, and watch the makers boil snap while you experience the unparalleledly rich scent of steaming New England maple syrup. There is also a narrated slide show of the sugaring process, a history of sugaring, and other educational topics related to maple syrup production. As a bonus, samples are distributed.

Fees are $5.00 per participant. For school groups an homeschool groups and scouts, a discount may be awarded. Hurry to take advantage of learning about this very New England industry as tours and educational sessions (not to mention supplies of maple sugar candy) end at the beginning of May!

For more information, you can call (860) 653-2038 or visit Sweet Winds Farm's website here.

With our economy in the dynamically tenuous state it has maintained for more than a year now, consumers are adopting a number of tactics to save cash. One of them is, according to a Kelly Blue Book Study, purchasing more fuel efficient cars. Another savers'-tactic is to cut down on non-essential leisure expenses. Most consumers have lowered or limited their expenditure on visual and audio media and entertainment. Interestingly enough, however, only 10% of consumers polled in the Kelley Blue Book study plan upon delaying or limiting the most important purchase of all: a new home.

This news bodes well for home builders and sellers, who have, across the nation, reported slow sales in the past few months. In March, sales were down 8.5 percent from February, and 36 percent below the same period  in 2007. If these savvy savers are planning on purchasing new homes, builders can look forward to better times ahead.

Realty Times also reports some good news for homebuyers. Home inventories have risen the most in 27 years, up to an 11-month supply. Though this good news does come on the heels of foreclosures, that home-sellers are pricing their homes more attractively works well to the advantage of new buyers. New homes are also at a more attractive price--more attractive, in fact, then they have been in more than 30 years. 

Though more attractive home prices don't translate into significant benefits for home sellers, I suspect that, with the worst of the credit crunch being rumored as over, prices won't stay so low for long. Home buyers should take advantage of the buyers' market soon, and home sellers? You all just hang in there. 

To read more about the Kelley Blue Book Study and the Realty Times article that discusses it, please click here.  

Quite happily, a recent Realty Times article reports that the NRA projects a rebound of home sales in the Northeast based on current numbers.

Though existing home sales dropped last month in the South and the Midwest, home sales rose on our Nation's coasts. Home sales rose 2.2 percent in the Northeast and, according to many Northeast agents, the market has been doing just fine.  

With spring in full swing (let's not mention the pollen count!), new listings are coming on the market every day and being snapped up almost as quickly. Given Connecticut's proximity to New York and International Airports--a highly advantageous geographical location, especially for Litchfield County homesellers--properties are still in high demand. As long as New York City is still the heartbeat of the Nation, the demand for Connecticut homes will remain impressively high.

While home sales in the Northeast remain high, Realty Times suggests that they are, quite literally, conditional. The homes that sell the quickest are those that necessitate the least rehabilitation--think new paint, intact flooring and wall spaces, safe porches and recently refinished bathrooms, and kitchens with the most modern of modern conveniences. So, if you are hoping to join in this positive NOrtheast housing trend and put your house on the market, make certain that your home is in the best condition possible; doing so will not only save you market time, but probably earn you considerable dollars in the final sale.

To read Realty Times' Northeast report, please visit their website. 

I can´t think of a better way to start the morning than to grab a cup of coffee, wrap myself up in a cozy bathrobe and step out onto a porch to take in the morning air and gorgeous lakeviews. If you like this idea as much as I do and are looking to relocate, this gorgeous home in Goshen is for you.

Built by 2007 HOBI Award Winning Builder and the 2008 Northwestern Connecticut Homebuilder of the Year, this Woodrige Lake home has serene winter water views. Cape Style, its shingled visage stands out with crisp green trim and dormer windows that add a boatoad of character. The home boasts a brand new kitchen with granite counter tops, maple cabinets, and stainless steel appliances--ideal for all of your culinary feats. The first floor master bedroom and master bathroom has a luxurious, glassed-in shower and a whirlpool, complemented by marble vanity tops. 

The terraced property is landscaped with trees and shrubs and has an additional lovely addition of a stone wall lining the entryway to the home. A capacious garage offers enough room for all of your tools and vehicles, with plenty of space left over for storage.

As a member of the Woodrige Lake community, you´ll also enjoy plenty of country club amenities. Four sandy beaches; marina, boating and fishing, 8 tennis courts, a 12,500 square foot clubhouse with Wi-Fi internet access, meeting rooms, library, fitness center, locker rooms and a heated Jr. Olympic pool are only some of these benefits! The community is strategically located to be within an approximate five minute drive of two private golf courses and one public golf course.

To schedule a showing, explore more properties on Woodrige Lake or in Litchfield County, or to speak to a realtor today, please visit Portfolio Properties Group´s website.

Chocolate has been known to invite a response in the body similar to the feeling of falling in love, which might attribute to its status as reigning confection on Valentine´s Day, to say nothing of explaning why so many erring lovers present gifts of flowers and cocoa sweets after their own falls from grace! Chocolate, especially the dark variety, is also rich in healthy antioxidants which benefit the skin and the heart. Perhaps most importantly, chocolate just tastes good. If you are a chocolate fancier for any of the above reasons (or one of your own), then get down to Fall´s Village this Saturday, February 23rd, when The Friends of D.M. Hunt Library will be holding a stupendously sweet fundraising event, Chocolate in the Village. 

Waiters will circulate the library´s fundraiser with scrumptious, chocolate-based treats before moving on to the main event: an auction of more than twelve different desserts, all hand-wrought by local bakers. Among the delicacies will be Cookie Kubarek's Chocolate Intemperance which supposedly takes eleven bowls and pans to create; Karen Lindquist's Chocolate Biscotti; Mrs. Fedorjaczenko's Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding with Crème Fraiche Topping; Barbara Lemmen's Chocolate Chiffon Pie; Ruth Giumarro's Truffles and Greg and Anne Bidou of Toymakers Café will craft their 50 Layer Chocolate Raspberry Crepe Cake.

Also on hand will be a chocolate and truffle bar where event-goers can sample a variety of different chocolates, along with a bar serving red wine, port, dessert liqueurs, hot chocolate, coffee and tea. A trivia-driven treasure hunt for prize-bearing Golden Tickets has been hidden around the library to add to the fun.

The event is Feb. 23 from 6 until 8 p.m. at the library,, on Main Street. Tickets are $20 in advance at the library or $25 at the door, but hurry because more than half of the tickets have already been sold. Call 860-824-7424 for information.

Those of us who make our homes on the waterfront often choose to do so because the distance from concrete jungles and proximity to trees, lakes and woody vegetation makes us feel more connected to the natural world. As such, the inhabitants of our country´s beautiful lakefronts, river communities, pondsides and oceansides have more to tackle than the responsibilities of homeowners: they must also be careful environmental stewards. As spring draws near and thoughts of home improvement, yard work, and time spent out of doors begin to shimmer in the not so distant future, you may be wondering: how can I preserve my waterfront property? Here are some ideas.

A number of studies have shown that lakefront property that preserves its habitat´s natural character is valued highest, so before you rip out the shrubs that lead down to your property´s shore, consider the following:

• Those plants will give you a beautifully varied array of scenery to frame your lakeviews.
• Lakefront vegetation helps to muffle noise from the lake that might reach your house, and vice versa.
• A rich variety of wildlife may make its home in the shrubbery on your property--preserve it!
• Natural shoreline bushes are key in preventing waterfront erosion.

If you must change the face of your lakefront property with landscaping, here are some more guidelines.

• Always maintain a natural landscape of native wildflowers, grasses, trees and shrubs.
• Maintain a buffer zone of natural vegetation when you undertake your landscapring project.
• Plant native bulbs and perennial flowers to add color.
• Limit paving sidewalks and driveways as they tend to encourage erosion.
• Plant a raingarder, which will control runoff and promote rainwater infiltration.

If you´d like more ideas as to how to be a better environmental guardian of you rlakefront property, The Wisconsin Environmental Inititative has published an interesting set of guidelines. To see the guidelines, click here.

Before there was Hallmark, even before Hallmark's intrepid predecessor--Worcester Valentine Creator Esther Howland--there were dedicated young men and women armed with colored paper, ribbons, lace, and ardent passion in their bosoms.

Families and children are invited to the Litchfield Historical Society's annual Valentine Workshops where they'll find Victorian-era Valentines from the collection of the Society's Ingraham Memorial Library. They can use these lovely pieces for inspiration to create their own love notes for friends and family. Examples of handwritten poems, humorous missives and intricate patterns will be available for inspiration, or participants may choose from a variety of quilling and scherenschnitte patterns to create their own unique Valentine.

Participation is free for Litchfield Historical Society members and $3 per participant for non-members. Registration is required, so call (860) 567-4501 to sign up. Visit the Litchfield Historical Society's website here.

From time to time I like to post a really exceptional property to my blog. This gem in Goshen, Connecticut, is certainly such a one! Nestled in Goshen´s Woodridge Lake community, this home is the perfect place to enjoy country-club style living in your own comfortable home.

This new construction is the builders´ own custom colonial farmhouse design. Set romantically amidst trees and on a gentle slope, the home is surrounded by stone walls and iron fencing. Harwood floors add a definite richness throughout the home and to its three bedrooms, office, family and dining rooms. The floors are accented by custom oak cabinets and granite countertops in the kitchen, which is outfitted with modern-look stainless steel appliances. Crown molding in the living and dining rooms lends the home a refined-yet-comfortable air as do the custom built-in books shelves in the family room.  The home boasts a finished basement with kitchenette, a wood stove and walk out to the back yard where you´ll find a custom stone barbecue grill and a storage shed. In the front yard you can enjoy a natural water garden and look out onto your beautiful, green lawn.

For more information, visit our website here.

To take a virtual tour of this property, click here.

To schedule a showing of this property, see more homes in Goshen, explore properties in Litchfield County or to speak to a realtor, please visit Portfolio Properties Group´s website.

Every man wants to be ruler of his own kingdom and, oftentimes, that kingdom is his home. The king of the castle mentality coupled with the past years of economic comfort has led to the creation of mansion upon mansion and luxury chalet upon rambling deluxe ranch. For largefamilies, homeowners who entertain often, and those looking to invest in a family compound that can not only host the entire clan, but be passed on to many generations, these monolithic homes still make sense. However, with energy costs rising, land prices gradually increasing, and the prices of building materials going up, the building industry is seeing a new trend: builders are creating equally lovely but economical houses with the luxuriant pouch containing the 5 extra bathrooms, swimming pool, and multiple living rooms liposuctioned off.

Realty Times reports that some builders are scaling back homes from 2,200 square feet to 1,800. They are also building two-bedroom houses that only offer a little more than 1,000 square feet. The down-size allows for homes to be reduced to more feasible prices that render new homes an achievable reality more than a fond dream for homeowners.

But the scale-back oughtn´t be interpreted as an entirely bad thing. Joseph Narkiewicz of the Tampa Bay Builder´s Association says that there will still be super-sized homes available for those whose lifestyles demand and support it. He also holds that we´re set to see an improvement in the economy as the year 2008 progresses. The increase in more economically sized and prices homes is a natural downsizing that, eventually, had to occur.

"Some things may have gone to the extreme and I think buyers are now going through a reality check and [finding] they don't really need those huge bathrooms like [developers] were building. They don't really need all the extra space that [developers] were building and, to try to mitigate the higher pricing, they're bringing [the square footage] down," Narkiewicz reasons.

Interestingly enough, Narkiewicz thinks that te smaller-home trend is not a trend, but a reality that´s here to stay—at least for a little while. ¨I think that homes will be down-sized somewhat and that will probably remain there until people decide they want more space. But this is probably going to become a more permanent thing.¨