Portsmouth NH Real Estate Agent - Rebecca Skane, Realtor®, e-PRO®

I live on Woodbury Ave in Portsmouth, the portion which nearly ends with Islington, where our Keller Williams office is located, and where it looks more like 'The Road to Baghdad'. The city of Portsmouth has been working on this portion of Woodbury to extend the curbs inward and install sidewalks where there have been none. I knew about the project before it started and I was happy about it. We needed sidewalks. I would feel much safer strolling with my son on a sidewalk, rather than racing across a busy street to get to the smaller streets with a small child for our daily walk. So it was, and is, a good thing. And, of course, there is more to the project than just sidewalks.

There are also tickets. Lots of tickets and warnings. The police are directing traffic in this area and if you go one mph too fast, you WILL get a ticket. Check out the Portsmouth Woodbury Ave Improvements page on the city website. It lists how many tickets and how many warnings have already been cited!:

http://www.cityofportsmouth.com/projects/3.htm

Thankfully, I have not been one of the more unfortunate. The improvements page also lets us know that we may be nearing the end. Paving began today. And it does look like the Woodbury Improvement Project might be close to its finish. Then again, I never did get that degree in road construction. Joke.

Yesterday, while driving home, I pulled over in the middle of the construction to snap this sad picture:

This sign was on the corner of Woodbury and Rockingham. It is not much of a field, but a thin strip of land abutting the bridge. And I do not know the whole story behind the sign or the land or how the project is affecting this piece, but I do know it is a shame. Even if the improvements are for the best, it is difficult to watch any land be taken away from someone, regardless of compensation. Any thoughts?

Halloween has always been a holiday of special interest in my family.

First, I grew up in Danvers, Massachusetts which is on the north shore. For those of you who would like an interesting and SPOOKY piece of historic information, Danvers is the actual Old Salem Village of where the infamous Salem Witch Trials occurred. The actual trials took place in The Town of Salem, which still exists, and the witches were hung on Gallows Hill in Salem Village (Danvers), an area still unpopular with the local residents. The area brings in tens of thousands of tourists for each Hallow's Eve.

Second, my dear Uncle John is the East Coast man of Halloween you may already know. He is better known as Professor Nightmare. Seriously. Professor Nightmare owns SpookyWorld, which is actually going to be hosted this year at Canobie Lake Park in Salem, NH. Not only does he own Spookyworld, but he also owns almost all of the Haunted Houses in Salem, Massachusetts, including the Museum of Myths and Monsters. He even built a new haunted amusement park in Hong Kong, China.

You have probably heard many of the radio ads for either SpookyWorld or Witch's Woods. Yup, my Uncle has Witch's Woods too. Well, not only does he own them, he also works the ads. That is his creepy voice you hear all day on the radio!

Can you image the suffering and torment inflicted on children who had an Uncle who went by the name of Professor Nightmare? I still suffer from flashbacks. I can't even begin to describe what is was like for my sister, cousins and I to grow up with my Uncle John, Professor Nightmare. Halloween wasn't just one day of the year for us, it was a lifestyle. As children we were regularly terrorized! Uncle John would meticulously create elaborate plots in which he would scare the socks right off us nearly every single week. He had new ways to scare us every time he saw us. He made his own masks, too. The scariest masks you have ever seen, and they worked well. As All Hallow's Eve would get closer, he would construct extravagant haunted house mazes through the basement of my Grandmother's house. All the neighborhood kids would go. I guess that is where he got his start. Even his dog is named Spooky.

If you think your family is strange.....please.....I have you beat. My Uncle is Professor Nightmare, I mean, c'mon. It was practically 'The Adams Family'.

I am very excited that Spookyworld this year is being hosted at Canobie Lake Park in Salem, NH. YOU NEED TO GO! If you have not been to a Haunted House since you were a kid, visit my Uncle's. His haunts are much creepier than any haunted house you can remember as a kid. He is extremely talented. On the same token, they won't give you a heart attack....it IS, after all, meant for kids. Move over Salem, MASS! Salem, NH is the NEW home of Halloween!

September 16, 2008 - October 16, 2008

The last month in Portsmouth Sales

Residential:

Address List $ Close $ Close Date

208 Colonial Dr. Portsmouth NH $229,000 $224,000 09/26/2008

21 Harrison Avenue Portsmouth NH $274,900 $272,000 09/26/2008

60 Fairview Avenue Portsmouth NH $285,000 $280,000 09/16/2008

14 Central Ave. Portsmouth NH $294,900 $289,900 09/23/2008

2 Wentworth House Road Portsmouth NH $299,950 $250,000 09/26/2008

71 Kensington Road Portsmouth NH $314,900 $305,000 09/16/2008

623 Greenland Rd. Portsmouth NH $350,000 $325,000 09/29/2008

21 Madison St. Portsmouth NH $425,000 $405,000 10/10/2008

470 F W HARTFORD Portsmouth NH $559,500 $550,000 09/19/2008

Condos:

Address: List $ Close $ Close Date

737#1 ISLINGTON Portsmouth NH $154,000 $150,000 09/26/2008

136 Hill Street Portsmouth NH $167,500 $160,000 09/22/2008

28 Langdon St. Portsmouth NH $215,000 $200,000 09/24/2008

23 Spinnaker Way Portsmouth NH $224,900 $222,000 09/29/2008

159 Woodbury Portsmouth NH $299,900 $295,000 09/22/2008

44 Albacore Way Portsmouth NH $304,900 $304,900 09/25/2008

245 Islington Portsmouth NH $349,900 $343,500 10/08/2008

77 Hanover Street Portsmouth NH $399,900 $397,000 10/06/2008

121 Bow St Portsmouth NH $799,900 $760,000 10/14/2008

77 Hanover St. #20 Portsmouth NH $1,100,000 $900,000 10/03/2008

Manufactured Homes / Mobile:

211 Oriental Gardens Portsmouth NH $29,000 $23,500 09/29/2008

423 STRIPED BASS AVENUE Portsmouth NH $50,000 $32,000 10/03/2008

I am the founder and organizer of The Portsmouth Book Club which meets on the second Tuesday of every month at Molly Malones Irish Pub. We currently have about 70 members and about 15-20 attend the meetings each month.

As many of you Portsmouth Dwellers are aware of, Molly Malones is gone. We are terribly sad that not only will we be losing this wonderful venue, we will also be losing a wonderful Portsmouth landmark.

Why is Molly's gone? Andrew Corbin, the former owner, told me that he was made an offer he couldn't refuse and it closed in record time. It was a private sale. As many of you know, Andrew recently had a beautiful baby, and this will give him some time to spend at home with his family. Although we may have lost Molly's, we can't be too upset.

So now what? Our Portsmouth Book Club will now be meeting at The Coat of Arms on Fleet Street, same day, same time. And by the way, Andrew told me that we will all be very pleased with the new ownership of Molly's. He hasn't given me any hints yet. (They may even reopen under the same name!)

Our next book club meeting is this coming Tuesday at the Coat of Arms at 7pm. We will be discussing Memoirs of a Geisha. If you would like to join our book club, please feel free to sign up here:

The Portsmouth Book Club

This club is for people who LOVE to get lost in books and are open to exploring different genres not normally in their reading fare!

Make this Saturday an open house visitiation day! There are always plenty of open houses to attend in your area. Have your real estate agent search for you. And don't forget to stop by this open house in Exeter, New Hampshire! This beautiful home is on 6 acres of land, surrounded by tall pines and even includes a 4 stall barn on the property! Come take a look and print out the flyer below.