It Only Took 2 Minutes for This Couple to Decide They Wanted to Buy This Vermont Farmhouse
The present owners of this 20.4-acre farm for sale in Chester, Vermont had no intention of buying the home back in 1972, when they happened to be visiting family in the area. In fact, they only went to see the place-a c. 1790 center-chimney colonial in its original 18th century condition-out of sheer curiosity. At the time, they were actively searching for a home in Massachusetts, where they lived and worked. Moving out of state was the last thing on their minds.
"It hit us right when we walked into the living room, saw the fire burning in an ancient fireplace with a huge stone mantel above, and a dutch oven to right. I felt I was home," one of the owners recalls.
At the time, the home had been vacant for around 50 years and lacked basic necessities such as a furnace, modern plumbing, and electricity. But what it lacked in modern comforts, it certainly made up for in antique charm. As one of the town's first houses (Chester's original post office and general store used to be across the street), it was chock full of all sorts of vintage goodies, including original hardware and windows and a 200-year-old cast-iron stove.
"Only minutes into our tour, in the front hall, before we even got upstairs, I turned to my husband and said 'This is our house, isn't it?' He nodded. And the second question was 'How are we going to do it?'"
Indeed, the decision went against all of their better judgment. "We had to quit our jobs, borrow a down payment from my sister. So what? We just knew we had to do it. It was weird but so clearly right. There was no doubt for either of us."
In the years since, they have restored the home into the kind of place that seems made for intimate holidays with friends and family. As a young couple, finances were scarce-but, the owners say, "time and youth were on our side. We did everything ourselves." The home is decorated with antiques passed down from generations of family, or purchased at country auctions or yard sales over the years. Vintage quilts-many inherited by the owners' ancestors who made them-are displayed casually around the house, ensuring that the home feels as warm and cozy as it does authentically historic.
One of the home's most striking features is the extraordinary wide pine panelling on the walls, and the owners have located the original plane that was used for beading and lapping the boards. They've also discovered a number of antique blacksmith tools in the workshop (the home's first owner was a blacksmith; the second the official bell ringer for the church at the top of the nearby hill), in addition to a 200-year-old loom upstairs. Outside, one can see the original hitching post and iron water trough, not to mention the wrought-iron mud foot scrapers.
The country kitchen is one of the owners' favorite rooms in the house, not least of all because they designed and built it themselves using wood taken straight from the land. In the process, they uncovered numerous historical artifacts under the floor: old bottles, pistol, horseshoes, buttons-even a coin from 1802.
The centerpiece of the kitchen is a fully-functioning, vintage blue stove that they found falling apart and with a broken leg by the side of the road. "We traded our gas stove a gallon of syrup for it," they recall (oh, how very Vermont!), and completely restored it.
Since they recently inherited another historical family farm, the owners are now passing their beloved farmhouse on to a new set of stewards. "This has been an incredibly happy home for our family," they note, and hope that the next owners "feel moved by the beauty inherent in the home's centuries old handcrafted history."
Asking price: $349,000
For more information, contact Melissa Melissa Robinson, Four Seasons Sotheby's International Realty at 603-667-7761 or see the listing at CIRCA Old Houses.
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