PROPERTY PROFILE Rustic Roots, Modern Magic: A Country Classic Reimagined

This issue of Monadnock Table features a conversation with Michael Breshears, a real estate agent with the Masiello Group Better Homes & Gardens Peterborough, New Hampshire office. One of Michael's listings is this rustic, antique, country-living home and property located in Winchester, New Hampshire. Q. What can you tell us about this listing in Winchester that makes it so desirable and unique? A. This is a really interesting house and property. It's an 1850-vintage post-and-beam farmhouse on 11-plus rolling pasture acres that's been completely remodeled and — I would say — "reimagined" over the past seven years. As part of that remodel, the owners stripped the entire envelope of the house to its beams — both exterior and interior — fully insulated it, and then reclad the entire exterior with white-cedar log siding. Q. So it's been converted into a log home of sorts? A. That's right. The look and feel are extremely rustic, with a knotty-pine tongue-and-groove interior, but the house has all the contemporary comforts that a family could ever want or need. For instance, it's been outfitted with a standing-seam metal roof that will last forever. And what's really special is a freestanding, nine-kilowatt solar array that supplies 90 percent of the home's power needs. There's baseboard heat, but it's rarely needed, because a pellet stove in the great room does a terrific job on its own. Q. What about the square footage? Is it a big house? A. Sizeable, for sure. It has 2,200 square feet, including four bedrooms, three baths, a beautiful new kitchen with quartz countertops and stainless-steel Whirlpool appliances, and, as I mentioned, a great room. Another notable feature is that there's a first-floor ensuite primary bedroom, something a lot of families seek out. And hardwood floors throughout. Oh! And another really cool feature of this house … what is being used as the mudroom is actually an old "cheese room" that's been kept intact. At one time, former residents of this house must have made cheese for sale, so that really unique room has been preserved. There are still remnants of the cheese-making operation — a metal grate in the floor, for example, that must have been used for draining the moisture squeezed from the cheese. Q. Is there a garage with the house? A. That's another really special feature. This house has an attached, oversized, drive-through, two-bay garage with four doors, and two rooms above the garage that could become offices or extra bedrooms. But another unique feature is that the garage has a fully functional winch-based auto lift, which a mechanically inclined owner could use for any number of tasks — pulling a car or truck engine out, for example. Q. And there's a basement as well? A. Yes! The basement is impeccable, with a hybrid hot-water heater. Q. How about the town itself? What's Winchester like as a community? A. Winchester is a real up-and-coming community for development and residential living. Particularly for out-of-staters, this little town is being looked at closely. Right now, I think there's fewer than 2,000 residents, which makes this a relatively quiet town to live in. And it's pretty ideally located, just 20 minutes south of Keene. So it's convenient to larger towns and cities. Q. Anything else that really stands out in your mind about this house and property? A. Well, the house and property are neatly situated in town. Forest Lake Road wraps around the lake, and, from the house, it's just a short bicycle ride to the water. One important thing for sure is that the current owners subdivided two additional five-plus-acre lots adjoining the 11 offered in the sale. So a prospective buyer would have the first right of refusal to purchase one or both of those other land parcels, which, by the way, have frontage on Forest Lake Road and driveway permits.