NEW LISTING: 2552 Highgate Road, Swanton, Vermont

At the end of a long driveway, this house has the convenience of being close to everything but feels like country. Two acre lot has huge fenced in back yard overlooking field. Lots of space for gardens. So much has been updated! New carpet in October, laminate floors just put into lower level, almost all new windows, 7 year old standing seam metal roof, newer garage doors, slider, patio and pellet stove that heats the whole house! 30 minutes to Costco, 5 minutes to St. Albans!

List Price:	$219,000
MLS Number:	4208518

Property Type:	Residential
Bedrooms:	3
Full Bathrooms:	1
Half Bathrooms:	1

Welcome to 2552 Highgate Road, Swanton, Vermont 05488

For additional information about this wonderful Swanton, Vermont home, please click here.

NEW LISTING: 7 Donaldson Drive, Swanton, VT

This 2008 Home Builder's and Remodelers Award Winning Home can be yours! Open floor plan with huge eat-in kitchen with cherry floors, cherry Shaker-style cabinets and center island. Flexible floor plan with Master suite and utility room on the first floor and two bedrooms, family room/sitting area and full bath on the second floor - second floor is perfect for guests, teens, or office space. Two porches to gaze over fields & the Adirondacks (screened porch) or the Green Mountains from the front porch. Or watch the sunset from your pergola draped with grapes! 11 foot ceiling in the living room with oversized windows bring light and air to this huge space. Stay warm and save on heat bills with the direct vent pellet stove. Andersen windows. Hi Efficiency Baxi furnace. This home is perfect for entertaining or for the relaxation and serenity of country living. 30 minutes to Costco, easy access to I89 and local shopping.

List Price:	$350,000
MLS Number:	4210875

Property Type:	Residential
Bedrooms:	3
Full Bathrooms:	2
Half Bathrooms:	1

Welcome to 7 Donaldson Drive, Swanton, Vermont 05488

To see more information, including tax amount, total acres, square footage and more, click here!

A Day at The Echo Center with a Two-Year-Old

     So, it's the middle of winter and it's cold and I have our two-year-old granddaughter for the day. She's tired of walking the streets around our neighborhood; the playground on School Street is covered with snow. So, we decided to try The Echo Center.
     There's a new exhibit there on Race that I'll catch later, but for a two-year-old, there's lots to do on a cold day. At two, everything is a new adventure and it's fun to see the Center through her eyes.  All she wanted to see were fish and frogs. That was fine with me!
     There is an aquarium on the first level that has enormous catfish in it - huge, ugly guys with whiskers - and some adjacent aquariums with smaller fish. At 10 am we were able to watch the smaller fish eat red worms. That scared her a little but she watched from afar.
     Upstairs are more fish and the frogs. She loved trying to find the frogs which were camouflaged well in their environment. She said one looked like a cookie!






This one looked like a cookie to Lilly

A bonus was finding lots of turtles swimming or warming themselves on logs.
     Upstairs there was also a great play space for little ones with a boat to sit in, fishing poles with magnets on the ends to catch magnetic fish, a chalk board wall and sponge brushed and bucket for "painting," a store for play, and a tent. This is a perfect place for kids her age and under.
     There is also a little "waterway" for floating boats to see how boats travel. The waterfall is fun to play in. The Echo Center even includes plastic smocks

    












We also saw hermit crabs up close. By the time story hour came, she was tired. But we had a great time exploring The Echo Center. What a perfect way to spend a cold day in Burlington. A bonus is looking out the windows to see the lake. I think Lake Champlain is beautiful in every season!
     On the way out you can't miss the gift shop. We bought a little magnetic turtle to remember the day. Check this link for times the Center is open and for details about exhibits. http://www.echovermont.org/index.html
I have been told that local libraries have passes for families so they can go for free. Children two and under are free.

Showing Your Home During the Holidays

Less is more... and that is true especially at this time of the year if you have your home listed. I have shown property where every shelf is covered with some kind of holiday paraphenalia. You name it: trains around the tree, mantles with snow globes, wreath in every window, villages lit up, snow sprayed on window panes, Santa collections... the list goes on. I have tripped over the holiday decorations.

Instead, have a couple of tasteful decorations. Start outside. If you celebrate Christmas, put a wreath on the door and buy a spotlight to shine on the wreath. If you have window boxes, stick some greenery in the boxes. (If the dirt is frozen, you might have to drill in openings to insert sprigs.) For outside, I suggest you limit your decorations to wreath, spot light and greens unless you want to put white lights on a tree. That would be fine also.

Inside, bring the aroma of the holidays with spruce spray available at gift shops. Don't over do it. Or, just before a showing, heat some cider and put in a cinnamon stick. Add vanilla to aluminum foil and heat it in the oven to activate the smell. This technique sure takes less time (and calories consumed) than making cookies!

If you have a tree, make it a size appropriate to your home. If you have tall cathedral ceilings, this is a great way to show how soaring the spaces are. If you have a small house, get a small tree. Our house in Burlington is small and even our small tree overwhelms the space. Don't let your house look small with a big tree.

If you have several collections that you love, just pick one. You are selling a home, not a gift shop! The mantle, a side table or a coffee table is a good place for the collection.

Set your dining room table with a nice colored table cloth, and put place settings around as if you are about to entertain. It lets people feel it is their home and they will identify with the spirit by picturing themselves entertaining in your (their future) home.

Keep the mantra, less is more, and your house will look perfect for holiday showings.