There are SO many things, not in any particular order – this is what I’ve left in the home for potential buyers that are considering the area and our house to live.
Cheshire School District
- Connecticut ranks #3 in the country for the best public schools overall, and #2 in quality (Forbes).
- Cheshire Public Schools are in the top 10% of the state at #17 of 170 per the 2020 Niche report.
- For college prep, Cheshire High School is ranked 1284 in U.S., making it at the Top 7.45% of schools in the country according to the 2019 U.S. News and World Report.
- Other reports may show slightly higher or lower numbers, but the school has consistently been in this range.
LOCATION, Location, location
Around the corner .2 miles from the front door on Dundee Drive is one of Cheshire’s Land Trust nature trails. It is a great place to walk either solo, with a partner, or with your four-legged walkable companion. In the winter it’s a great place to Cross Country ski.
Just 1.2 miles away is the Farmington Canal Trail. The trail itself is 84 miles long and extends from New Haven, CT to Northampton, MA. We’ve often jogged or walked to the trail, but there is parking at this entrance (as well as every few miles along the trail itself).
The portion of this trail that extends from Simsbury to New Haven (Cheshire is part of that if you are not from the area) is part of the East Coast Greenway that extends from Maineto Florida. This trail will likely be the most missed feature of living right here.
In addition we loved that we were:
- minutes from Waterbury, Prospect, Southington and Plantsville
- 8 minutes to the center of town
- 5 minutes to the I-84 corridor
- 10-15 minutes to I-91
- 20 minutes to I-95
- 20-25 minutes to New Haven and Hartford
- 2 hours from Boston and NY City
Electric fence
If you have a dog or dog(s) or plan to get one, there is an electric fence installed underground.
Outdoor hanging out areas
- Front porch
- Back deck
- Under the deck… perfect area for when it’s raining and you want to spend time outside.
Yard
The yard/slope was professionally landscaped when we moved in almost 8 years. We’ve only added to it since.
The fenced in portion was used for gardening. Half of it is a self-sustaining perennial wildflower patch. The flowers we continuously cut and put in mason jars or vases around the house are from our yard. We like to keep the outdoors in nearly year-round (yes, we’ve found a way to even cut greenery in the winter! I can let anyone interested know what is alive & thriving at that time).
We loved and used our yard more than anyone we know just the way it is. Honestly, the minuteit was warm enough each year we switched to eating on the deck outside the kitchen and spent evenings reading or playing cards and lighting the firepit as much as we could. However… we realize that some folks might be looking for additional useable outdoor space, which is why we recently lowered the price – so the next homeowners can make it into something that is suitable for them.
One could use the back and/or the 50’x50’ grassy area on the side to let your imagination create something fun/crazy/classy… whatever your thing is. The property extends to where you might notice a difference in the mowing lines. Some ideas for the space would be to:
- Level the back.
- Level the side and fence it in for privacy (property ends where the grass cut line differs).
- Level both!
- Add to the deck and have it terraced off to the large open side yard.
- Add an above ground pool to a terraced deck and it will automatically be underground sans the price or permit.
- An addition to the deck off to the side toward the open area and slight leveling could create 2 layers of space- above and below. We loved the space as it was, but if I were to do anything with the yard, that’s what I’d do!
Privacy
We felt the home was as private as you can get in a development (or in lots of place really!).
The woods directly behind the house help the space to feel private while being very in touch with all four seasons we have here in New England. The natural sounds of the birds, frogs, crickets, mourning doves, owls, cicadas, etc add an awesome backdrop of sound whether you are sitting out back or just have the windows open. In June & July it’s like a firefly show each evening. The full moon rises above the tree line to the right of the deck. We enjoyed many evenings watching the moon and eclipses from the back porch.
The development itself is modern and walkable/bikeable with sidewalks and street lights, the woods and homes.
Solar Panels
We installed solar panels back in 2013 and they are fully paid for. We’d take them with us if we could! When we considered installing them we were told it would reduce our electric bill by half. We intended to install them regardless (we are green that way), but were slightly skeptical about the bill being cut in half. Behold… it was true at the minimum! Sometimes it was less than half depending on how sunny it was that month. You can even install a free app to see how much electricity the panels are making each day.
There is so much more, but these were the highlights.
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