Live the Good Life... Nestled among 58.27 acres of meadows and woodlands, this beautiful home boasts Vermont's most sought-after zip code: Charlotte-on-Lake Champlain. The High Peaks of New York's Adirondack Mountains to the west are just a brief & breathtaking ferry ride away via the Essex-Charlotte route, operated continuously since 1792. The Green Mountains and Camel's Hump to the east complete a profound landscape vista surround. This aesthetic axis, across the mid-point of 120-mile long Lake Champlain, compels the awe of visitors who are drawn to our town from around the globe. Burlington and the University of Vermont,with its leading medical center, lie just 12 miles north near the airport. Famous Shelburne Farms, Shelburne Museum, and Shelburne Craft School are 10 minutes away. Similarly, a few miles south is Vermont's oldest city: Historic Vergennes, with the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Basin Harbor Club, and Middlebury College just beyond.

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Charlotte is home to Mt. Philo, elev. 968, Vermont's first state park: with a motor road and spectacular views of the Champlain Valley. From sunrise to sunset, you will relish the beauty, simplicity and variety of Vermont. Hiking, bicycling, and boating bring you close to its natural wonders. Head to the Morgan Horse Farm, the Wildflower Farm, an apple orchard, dairy or berry farm. Discover roadside shops & stands that offer a plethora of local wares: food, antiques, crafts. Browse shops on Burlington's Church Street Marketplace or stroll along the city's waterfront. In every direction, inspired restaurants and nightspots have been established to satisfy every taste. Calendars are full of cultural offerings, day and night. Take to the water for a sunset dinner cruise from the Three Oaks dock, or sail around the islands and coves of Lake Champlain's shores. Skiers delight at renowned downhill ski resorts, just an hour away: Stowe, Sugarbush, Mad River Glen, Bolton Valley, and Smuggler's Notch.

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The Residence... 7092 sf..
Three Oaks is a four-level new Greek Revival house, modeled after the nearby Shelburne Museum's Dorset House in its architectural proportions and detail. This 18 room house, now under construction, includes 4 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. It displays extensive fine millwork on its exterior and throughout its interior, including protruding one-inch windowsills with bull nosing, mitered trim, and six pocket doors. The house has hardwood floors throughout, extensive recessed lighting, and three Rumford fireplaces. A lovely Adirondack Limestone stone wall provides terracing for the front lawn. Three magnificent 300-year-old bur oaks are centered in the rear yard at the far edge of a spacious grass lawn leading from the house.

Exterior Features... The roofline of the house echoes Dorset House, with tapered reverse jets topping off the building corners. The emphasis is on the recessed main entry with divided sidelights. The house has 90 divided-light windows, mostly 12-over-12's.

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Highly polished black cherry steps lead from the foyer into a sun-splashed grand living room. Guests and family will luxuriate in front of the fireplace crafted with tumbled-brick. This room begins a celebration of Vermont black cherry, which covers the floors throughout the remaining first level of the house. The room features a generous area for dining.

Adjacent to the grand living room is a bright, tall-ceiling kitchen which provides a likely place for casual gathering. Appliances include a Dacor 48" range and double ovens, and a 48'' Viking stainless refrigerator. The kitchen island features a wine refrigerator and separate vegetable sink. The countertops are a striking green/black Vermont granite. Black cherry Shaker style cabinets wrap the kitchen walls. French doors open to the south deck overlooking the grove of oaks at the edge of the back lawn

"Those of us in Charlotte have
made a deliberate and
thoughtful commitment to
preserving our open
landscape; and it shows."

Dana H. Farley, Board of Directors,
Vermont Land Trust

West of the kitchen, a family living room provides a place to gather. The room features a Rumford fireplace, crafted with drylaid Panton Limestone. Shiplap paneling surrounds the fireplace and covers the interior walls. The view to the outside provides visual access to the south deck and back yard.

West of the front entry, past the kitchen and family living room, a New England mudroom offers everyone respite through the seasons upon entering the house. The mudroom hall includes a 3/4 bath and access to the gameroom, garage, and lower-level study. To the north, the mudroom opens on to a mahogany-planked front porch. This first floor porch offers a comfortable place to enjoy a lovely panoramic view of the front yard and meadow.

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Second Floor... 1756 sf.. The removed master bedroom at the west end of the main house provides a quiet, crow's nest view of the rear lawn with a 10' ceiling. French doors open onto a reading balcony. Gigantic walk-in closet! (fit-up allowance provided) The master bath features an over-sized corner tiled shower with multiple shower heads.

Recessed behind doors off the second floor hall, a laundry area serves the residence.

At the east end of the second floor hall, two corner bedrooms with 8' ceilings have windows on both exposures as well as their own full baths and generous closets.

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Third Floor... 420 sf.. With an exclusive stairwell, this sleeping, dressing, and bath suite is a distinct domain with 9' ceilings at the top of the main house.

Gameroom... 720 sf.. To the far west, above the garage, the soaring 20' high gameroom suggests a treehouse. Sunlight pours through the central cupola creating a tree-top experience. A Noah's Ark style loft provides a special hide-away & look-out.

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Lower Level... 626 sf.. A few steps down from the back entrance, a quiet, windowed office with 8'3" ceiling is finished with a large brick fireplace well away from the living areas of the house. This same level offers 1492 sf of substantial storage and utility area.

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Garage... 752 sf.. The finished garage provides ample parking for two vehicles and additional storage space. Long divided transom lights crown each of the overhead doors. The communicating stair/hall takes you to the lower level office & fireplace, Gameroom, 3/4 bath, mudroom & main house.

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"Our picturesque roads, fields,
and old covered bridges are the
best around for
equestrians, athletes, & sportsmen."

Mary A. Mead, Charlotte Town Clerk
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Township... Of Vermont's 255 towns, many people insist that Charlotte is the state's most agreeable situation. The Township rolls gently 6.5 miles north/south and 7 miles east/west, shaped in a square, and bounded on the north by Shelburne, on the east by Hinesburgh, on the south by Ferrisburgh, and on the west by Lake Champlain. A milder climate by the shore of the lake means gentler winter conditions than just a few miles further inland. A year-round population of 3600 is augmented by a few hundred summer visitors with camps near the lake. Nine dairy farms of various sizes are operated by local families.

Municipal business is administered by a small staff of both full and part time employees under the direction of a five-member Selectboard, elected as volunteers by Charlotte's registered voters.

The Old Brick Store is close to home.

"Sophisticated Charlotte retains its
agricultural heritage
and strong community."

H. Nicholas Muller III,
Board of Trustees,
Vermont Historical Society.

Charlotte's shoreline on Lake Champlain includes various public accesses and an improved Town Beach with a dock, swimming floats, playing fields, and tennis courts. Recently constructed, the Charlotte Senior Center and Charlotte Library offer rich, ongoing programs of cultural activity. The Charlotte Historical Society meets in an early brick Town Hall, which houses its collection of artifacts. Charlotte residents use stores and business services in surrounding towns. The handful of retail businesses located here include a service station, two general stores, a bookshop, stables, two berry farms, an apple orchard, an artisan pizza & bread shop and a large marina. Many entrepreneurs and professionals work from home-based offices

Last Update 12-08-04

Gracious Vermont Living... In March of 1994, as he and his family prepared to leave exile in Vermont and return to Russia, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn spoke to his neighbors at the annual Town Meeting. "Our children grew-up and went to school here," he told his friends, "alongside your children. For them, Vermont is home. Indeed, our whole family has come to feel at home among you. Exile is always difficult, and yet I could not imagine a better place to live." The Soviet exile and writer observed; "…in the surrounding Towns, the sensible and sure process of grassroots democracy where the local population decides most of its problems on its own." A state with fewer folks than Memphis, Tennessee; Baltimore, Maryland or Columbus, Ohio, Vermont remains an open and healthy environment where men and women and their children enjoy community and the sense of small town life without sacrificing many of the cosmopolitan benefits of intellectual and cultural life, medical care, and easy access to the rest of the country and beyond. Solzhenitsyn's experience remains the Vermont residents know today.

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