Jonathan Hall

Located on the shores of Lake Kenosia, the community of Lake Place is one of the few condominum communites in Fairfield County that has direct frontage on a natural lake. Set with a rustic exterior charm, the lifestyle includes features such as attached one or two car garages, central air, european country kitchen, whirlpool tub and seperate steam shower, superior energy efficent construction,one level living or a spacious townhouse with a vaulted skylit ceilings. The community is composed of 195 homes. Lake Place came alive on the site of the former Kenmere Hotel, which burned down in 1926 and the steamer that ran across the lake eventually sank and rumor has it the hull still remains.

The community amenties include a lakeside swimming pool, swim & raquet club, tennis and platform tennis and it's own private beach, dock and gazebo on scenic Lake Kenosia, where there are no motor boats permitted.The prime west side location makes commuting a breeze to any of the nearby office complexs or commuting to Westchester or Lower Fairfield County. It is also a stones throw away from the Danbury Fair Mall, the west side campus of Western Connecticut State University, Richter Golf Course, and I-84 & Route 7.

Lake Place is made of up tweleve different models, ranging from simple 2 bedroom ranch style to 3 bedroom tri level townhouse with a 2 car attached garages. Common charges for the 2008-2009 year range from $301 to $421 a month depending on the style of unit. The budget has only 6% compared to the 2007-2008 year. The community is managed by Imagineers.

There are currently 5 units for sale (including 1 Eastham unit that is under deposit offered at $510,000). The average list price (incluiding the unit under deposit) is $407,120 with the median of $359,900 Average market time of 57 days.In addition, there is 1 unit pending offered at $335,000 (A Bantam Model). Please call or email for more information about homes for sale in Lake Place or for recent sales information.

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Sales information per Greater Fairfield County Multiple Listing Service 8/14/08. Information accurate but not guarenteed.

A few days ago, after I got most of my real estate appointments set up for a couple of days, I thought it would be a great idea to spend an afternoon taking a hike in Danbury's Tarrywile Park. It's a great spot to enjoy nature in all of it's glory with over 700 acres and over 21 miles to trails.

With my camera in hand and sunglasses on, I took a short drive over to the Southern Boulevard entrance, a short trip from anywhere in Danbury. The city of Danbury purchased the land about 25 years ago from a developer that was hoping to create a community similar to Heritage Village in Southbury and has continued to acquire land over the years, making it today larger than Central Park in New York City.

With a terrain varying from large open meadows to dense forested hills as well as a couple of ponds, you can enjoy Tarrywille Park for years on end and still discover new parts and see different types of foilage and fauna. The park helps create that semi rural feel of the Long Ridge and Brushy Hill neighborhood with those two roads running just on the outside parts of the park borders.

The Ives Trail is currently under construction and once completed in a couple of years, it will be possible connect from the Rogers Park through Tarrywile all the way over to Ridgefield (across Route 7) and into the parks over there, Wooster Mountain, Bennett's Pond State Park, Hemlock Hills and Pine Mountain for a whole day's hike through the wilderness of Northern Fairfield County. There are typically guided hiked through Tarrywile on Saturday mornings around this time of the time. In the fall, the park plays hosts to several high school cross country meets, since it is the home course for the Danbury High School and Immaculate High School teams. Tarrywile also has an abandoned castle, the Hearthstone castle, located at Brushy Hill side of the part and the city and various community organizations are working on a plan to restore and repurpose the castle in a way that will fit the neighborhood and the park.

A short walk from the main entrance gets you go Parks Pond. I usually see a wide mix of people reading books, picinicing, walking their dogs or fishing in the pond, but Tarrywile was surprising quiet that day. The pond is pretty low because it has not not rained in a few days. For a nice stroll, bear right here and take a quick left over a little uphill onto the white trail. The hiking trail, about one mile in length, gives a complete view on Parks Pond without steep hills to worry about.

For a more rustic experience or if you are looking for a longer hike, explore the area beyond the water tank up the hillside of the south and southwestern region of the park In that area, you can proceed up to the Mootry Peak Lookout which offers great views of Danbury. You can see Danbury City Hall, the Danbury Hospital, the Riverview Office Complex, the Danbury Fair Mall, Westville Commons, Kensington Woods as well as other area landmarks and the surrounding hillside. On clear days, I have even seen Lake Kenosia and Candlewood Lake. At many times, I felt like I was in Vermont opposed to just minutes south of downtown Danbury and close to many large cities.

Please take a moment to look at the visual tours I have prepared on Tarrywile Park:

For more information on Tarrywile Park, please visit their website.

If you are looking for a nice affordable luxury townhome community in Danbury, Sterling Woods is your place. It is one of the largest communities in Danbury, but also sits of one of the largest parcels of land in Danbury and the buildings in the community have been designed in a way to make Sterling Woods feel more like a resort, rather than just another townhome community. It has several amenities, including a pool, clubhouse, exercise room, playground and walking trails. Homeowner associations dues start around $220 a month for the smaller units (subject to change) and include city water & sewer plus refuge service.

The original section of Sterling Woods, about 80 units,opened in 1986, and then the considerably larger section (354 units) was started about 10 years later and took several years to build out.

One of the attractions to Sterling Woods is the close proximity to almost everything minutes away from the community, the shopping options and dining options Costco,Stew Leonards, Circuit City, Home Depot, Panera Bread and Applebees. The Berkshire corporate center is close by, with businesses including GE Capital and Duracell located there. Super 7 and I-84 are also just 3 minutes away for easy access to local attractions and businesses in all directions.

There are very few units to choose from currently in Sterling Woods. There is only 1 unit for sale in the original Sterling Woods, offered at $343,000 , and 3 in the new part of Sterling Woods (2 Beechnut Models (2 bedroom 2.5 baths), offered at $350,000 and $359,000 respectfully, and 1 Chestnut model (2 bedroom 3.5 baths) offered $369,900) of the 354 units. Other styles of homes in Sterling Woods range from 2 bedroom 1.5 bath townhomes to detached homes with 3 bedrooms. This information per Greater Fairfield County Multiple Listing Service (CMLS) 6/02/08. Call or email for more current homes for sale in Sterling Woods or for recent sales information.

If you've been looking for a newer affordable luxury townhome on Danbury, contact me to set up an appointment to see what's waiting for you in this resort like community, in a convenient location in Northern Fairfield County.

Find your home in Sterling Woods with listingbook.

Following up to the blog I wrote about 2 months ago, the condo and townhouse market in Danbury has changed a little bit since then.There are currently 301 units active in Danbury (per CMLS 5/16/08). This is how they break down:

$200,000 and under: 75 units (including 10 under deposit). Average market time is 88 days.In addition, there are 8 units which are pending.

$200,000-$250,000: 70 units (including 3 under deposit). Average market time is 81 days. In addition, there are 5 units which are pending.

$250,000-$300,000: 46 units (including 3 under deposit). Average market time is 57 days. In addition, there are 7 units which are pending.

$300,000-$350,000: 36 units (including 5 under deposit). Average market time is 104 days. In addition, there are 10 units that are pending.

$350,000-$400,000: 23 units (including 3 under deposit). Average market time is 82 days. In addition, there are 7 units that are pending.

$400,000-$450,000: 11 units (including 0 under deposit). Average market time is 82 days. There are currently 1 units that are pending.

$450,000-$500,000: 14 units (including 0 under deposit). Average market time is 122 days. In addition, there are 2 units that are pending.

$500,000-$550,000: 14 units (including 0 under deposit). Average market time is 96 days. There are currently no units that are pending.

$550,000 and higher: 17 units (including 0 under deposit). Average market time is 121 days. There are currently 1 units that are pending.

Search the Greater Fairfield County MLS for condos and townhomes for sale in Danbury with Listing Book.

Aunt Hack, Danbury CT

Located on the western side of Danbury, the Aunt Hack neighborhood is centered on the around the Richter Golf Course. Richter Park, which opened in 1972, has a layout to accomodate golfers of all skills but also has some fairways and rolling greens with bunkers that can be a challenge at every turn. The matured landscaping plus the large tall trees lead to really special fall views againist the natural landscaping.

There are several different styles of homes. On the eastern side of the neighborhood, around the intersection of Cedar Crest Drive and Elmcrest Drive, there are mostly mid 1950s ranches and 1960s raised ranches on about 1 acre lots. As you proceed south from there are a couple different cul de sacs, some with only 1970s colonials and more modern colonials.

A couple of the streets do even have a mix of all of these styles. When you are in toward the center of the neighborhood, along Aunt Hack Road and Lindencrest, the primary homes are large mid century colonials and large mid century ranches, with a few newer homes built in the few remaining lots. Once you go around the curving roads toward the western side (roughly where Maple Crest intersects with Aunt Hack Road), there becomes more of an overall variety of homes. Styles and eras range from 1980s contemporaries to modern traditional colonials and some large cape and ranches.

One of the major attractions to the Aunt Hack neighborhood is the superb location for commuting and shopping. The neighborhood has been easy access to exit 2 of I-84 and is only 7 minutes away from I-84. The location is also ideal for those working in the large office buildings on the west side and southern end of Danbury, such as Boehringer Ingelheim, Belimo, GE Captial, Cartus and Raytheon among others. Many new restaurants and stores has opened down the road on Mill Plain Road .Another feature that makes this neighborhood special in Danbury is the potential to become a member in the Aunt Hack Swim Club, a private association.

There are currently 10 homes for sale in the Aunt Hack neighborhood (per CMLS 5/14/08). Prices range from $385,000 for a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath ranch built in 1968 on 1.2 acres with some water views up to $995,000 for a 5 bedroom 4 full bath colonial with 3950 square feet sited on just under a 1 acre lot built in 1993.With an average list price of $594,289, the average list price is 25% higher than the city of Danbury as a whole, but the current market time is 33% less.

In 2007, 17 of homes were sold in the Aunt Hack neighborhood (per CMLS) with the average list to sale price of 96.5% Real estate sales ranged from $336,000 for the small price to x$ for the big house. The average sales price in the community in 2007 was $555,555. There has been not been any sales in the neighborhood so far this year, however 3 sales are pending with the average asking price of $599,767.

If you are or know of anyone that is thinking about selling their home in Aunt Hack or would like a personal tour or for me to send the homes currently only the market in the Aunt Hack neighborhood in Danbury, please call me at 203-796-7700x305, 203-417-0523, or send me an email.

Search for real estate for sale in Aunt Hack and on the west side of Danbury with Listing Book.

Please a take a moment to look at the virtual tour: