2003 - Best Luxury Home Cost $500,000 to $1,000,000 - Silver Award
Having three teenage daughters, the Homeowners wanted a new home with lots of space! With a few minor changes, they found a plan prepared by architect Frank Betz that fit their needs perfectly. This wonderfully updated five bedroom, five and a half bathroom farmhouse, has 3,400 square feet of living space, plus a full walkout basement, and has an exterior style that complements the existing barn that came with the twenty-acre lot they purchased in this rural part of Essex Town.
A spacious covered entry porch that wraps around the front corner of the house welcomes your approach to this beautiful home. The two-story entrance hall adorned with columns, archways, plant shelves, cherry wood floors and a wonderful chandelier immediately conveys the open and bright feeling that this plan affords. Graceful arched openings lead from the foyer to a formal dining room on one side and a private study on the other. Passing under a second floor bridge, a side hallway leads to a coat closet and a charming powder room, and straight ahead, a hint of the views beyond draws you into a soaring two-story great room. This room has a large wood-burning fireplace to provide warmth on those cool Vermont nights and three levels of glass doors and windows on the back wall offer commanding views of the meadow in the foreground and Vermont’s tallest mountain, Mount Mansfield, in the distance. Off the back of the great room is a spacious deck that offers great outdoor living with privacy and spectacular views. Open to the great room is a breakfast nook with a wonderful bay window and a bright and spacious kitchen with raised panel cherry cabinets and beautiful granite countertops. The kitchen also has two pantry closets for plenty of storage and a direct entrance into the formal dining room. In the other direction, you pass through a mudroom with built-in cubbies for each family member, benches and plenty of coat hooks, into a spacious three-car garage. The last room on the first floor is used as a media room, but is equipped with a full bathroom, so it could easily be converted to a fifth bedroom.
Beautiful hardwood stairs lead from the entry foyer to an open hall on the second floor. In one direction you cross a bridge overlooking the foyer on one side and the great room on the other, to a private bedroom suite with a full bathroom. In the other direction is a laundry room that is conveniently located near all of the second floor bedrooms. The hall continues on to two more bedroom suites for the children, each with their own full bath and spacious closet. Also off the center hall, double doors lead into the master suite, which has large windows offering breathtaking views of the meadow and the Green Mountain range. A romantic fireplace adds charm to the private sitting area and double doors lead into a spectacular master bathroom that features vaulted ceilings, a roman tub, a corner shower, wrap around tiled vanities, a private toilet room and a large walk-in closet. A large window with a round-top transom makes this bathroom very bright and pleasant.
The outside of the house has wonderful trim details that were made with Miratec composite boards, and the white vinyl siding and black vinyl shutters offer a traditional look with minimal maintenance. Standing on the lawn in the front yard, a tall white flag pole proudly displays the American Flag and the flag of Homeowner’s squadron, the Green Mountain Boys!
Office Location: 600 Blair Park Road, Suite 235, Williston, VT 05495 