Country Living

Although I grew up in a house,  most of my adult life I’ll been a Manhattanite and an apartment dweller.  (See 2026 McGraw and Cooking with Gas)

However over the years we did spend many wonderful summers in houses at the beach.  (See The Great Hampton Babysitter Heist,  Menemsha Sunset,  and Skinny Dipping)

They were all rentals and our stays there hassle-free,  and at the end of our lease we’d empty the fridge,  pack up our stuff,  and drop off the keys.

But about a dozen years ago we decided we wanted a place of our own,  not just for summers,  but for weekend escapes and getaways year round.

So as much as we loved being at the beach,  we decided the Berkshire foothills in New England was the place for us with its natural beauty and so much in the area to enjoy in all four seasons.

Friends had a house in Lakeridge,  a lovely community in NW Connecticut,  two hours  north of the city and 45 minutes south of Tanglewood.  Built on 235 acres carved out of a lush state forest,  the developers had preserved as many trees and as much of the natural habitat as possible.  In addition to its beautiful setting,   Lakeridge boasts tennis and pickleball courts,  an indoor and outdoor pool,  a pond,  canoes and kayaks,  a small ice skating rink,  a ski slope and chairlift,  gardening plots,  and even a stable of horses!  The time we visited our friends we were sold,  and we bought a house there too.

The house was in great shape with no obvious need for renovation,  but the kitchen sink was very shallow,  not even deep enough to wash a big spaghetti pot.  So we got a new sink,  and since I had long wanted a stove with a cooktop,  we got a new stove,  and while we were at it a new microwave too.

Then one weekend a house guest was taking a shower while I was running the dishwasher and doing the laundry.  Suddenly his shower turned icy cold.   So we got a bigger water heater,  and also replaced the leaky downstairs toilet,  and also the old washing machine which sometimes leaked down  through the kitchen ceiling.

And then we decided to tile the upstairs bathrooms.   (Coming up one Friday night we found a poor dead squirrel floating in the toilet – but we couldn’t do much about that.)

We’ve loved our years in our forest retreat,  and have enjoyed making friends with the deer and the occasional bear family.   But we’ve also learned that when you own a house there are always improvements you can make,  even to a perfect cabin in the woods!

(By the way,  our neighbors just finished their attic to add another bedroom and bath and it looks great.  Tomorrow their contractor is coming over to give us an estimate.)

– Dana Susan Lehrman