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The Independent Television Festival, presented by the Television Academy, will be coming to Manchester, Vermont this October! For 4 days, October 10 - 14, ITVFest will host a myriad of screenings and panels. This event is open to the public and there are 11 ticket types to choose from ranging from $25 for a single day pass to $1250 for an exclusive VIP All Access Pass. You won’t want to miss this fantastic event!
The weather may not agree but it's officially Fall and all Vermonters know what that means — foliage! The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler, and the Green Mountains are starting to change. It's the perfect time to go for a scenic drive, take a hike, or enjoy one of the great festivals going on in Southern Vermont this season. Fall is the perfect time to visit the Green Mountain State, although we think it's great regardless of the season.
Here in Southern Vermont the landscape already has the Autumnal gold glow. We suggest taking a drive up Skyline Drive to the very top of Mount Equinox to enjoy a panoramic view of five different mountain ranges as they turn from green to fiery reds, warm golds, and deep purples.
Stratton is another great place to enjoy the foliage, as it is Vermont's highest peak. Don't miss Stratton's annual Columbus Day Weekend Celebration from October 7 - 9. Spend the day at Stratton Mountain Resort enjoying the chili cook-off, brewfest, pumpkin painting, hay rides, live music, and so much more!
We would also recommend getting out in the crisp Autumn air and taking one of the myriad of day hikes in the Manchester, Vermont area. Some of our favorite family-friendly day hikes include Antone Mountain in Rupert, Haystack Mountain in Pawlet, Little Rock Pond on the Long Trail, and Prospect Rock in Manchester.
Regardless of how you get out there to see the leaves change, you'll want to keep in mind that we typically only get about 2 weeks of prime foliage in October. This can vary by elevation and location so we recommend checking the Vermont Foliage Report for recent updates on where the best places to see the foliage are.
The Northern New England Chapter of the American Planning Association held its annual conference in Manchester the first week of September. The conference is held in Vermont every three years and draws in dozens of regional and town planners from across northern New England. Those that attended the conference focused on developing a Downtown Manchester Master Plan that Manchester's Planning Commission will then be able to use and draw from in the future.
The conference kicked off with a planning charrette that the public was encouraged to attend. A charrette is an intensive planning session where citizens and designers collaborate on a vision for development. The charrette provided a forum for ideas and offered immediate feedback to designers and allowed local residents the opportunity to give feedback on what they would like to see built, changed, and preserved in downtown Manchester.
Manchester is looking to bring in more mixed-use space and housing to downtown and reverse the recent trend they've seen of young people leaving the region. As more and more retail shops close down, Manchester needs the public's help to look to the future and figure out how to make downtown Manchester a vibrant downtown.
This comes on the heels of other planning initiatives in Manchester such as the 2020 Community Visit that resulted in the planning of a riverwalk development as well as working to make Manchester a bike-friendly city.
In the weeks and months following the conference, designers and planners will draft the official plan that will be presented to the Manchester Town Selectman Board sometime this Fall.
Kitchens have really become the main selling point of a home. They are the topic of countless home renovation shows, and more and more they have become the gathering room while entertaining. There are 5 core kitchen design styles, and they all say something different about you and your home, so what does your kitchen say about [...]
The goal of staging your home is to make it easier for a potential buyer to envision themselves living in the space. The majority of buyers during the Spring are millennials, who are known for their attention to details. Empty-nesters also tend to shop in the Spring. So what can you do to help these buyers fall in love with your [...]
The Lincoln Family Home
Visit Hildene estate, President Lincoln’s parent’s home, anytime throughout the month of December and see it decorated as it would've been for the holidays in 1912. On the weekend of December 3rd, enjoy a special shopping event in the museum store. Also enjoy a variety of [...]
This 6 bedroom, 5 bath colonial sits on 90.4 acres! The soaring stone fireplace is center-stage in the open living area with glorious cathedral ceilings and exposed beams. Above the garage is a private guest suite. The two story barn offers ample storage. This is a must-see property! [...]
We’re delighted to see that Dorset is listed on Buzzfeed’s list of 24 towns you absolutely, positively must visit in New England! We’re proud to be associated with such classics as Castine and Kennebunkport and Bar Harbor, ME, as well as Newport and Block Island, RI.
Number 1 on the list is our fellow Vermont town, Woodstock, and it’s not
[...]If you love snowy romantic walks, hot toddies by the fireplace, speeding down mountains on sticks or boards, snowshoeing the backwoods, or just watching the icicles while enjoying a delicious meal in one of our many fine restaurants— we have the place for
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In Vermont, we love our #coveredbridges. They are beautiful reminders of the richness of New England’s built history and each bridge is unique, built to fit a particular setting, a particular spot on a river. While there are numerous books on covered bridges (a couple of our favorites are Eric Sloan’s American Barns and Covered Bridges and New England Covered Bridges, A Comprehensive Guide by Benjamin Evans), we should not have been surprised to find a wonderful website called “Nature Notes” with fantastic section on covered bridges, sortable by state. You can see in an instant that Vermont has 103 of them. There are 5 in our home county (Bennington County) and 7 in our neighboring county to the north (Rutland County). There is a link to each bridge.
The website is a wonderful resource with great photos and a quick history on each one. We encourage all New England lovers (and bridge devotees of any kind) to spend some time perusing the site. Then go online to The Northshire Bookstore and buy one of the books so you have a complete Covered Bridge education (you’ll be the hit of your next cocktail party!).