Holiday Gift Guide Part 2

Still working on your gift list? We’ve found properties even your pickiest loved one will fall in love with. Follow along with LandVest’s Holiday Gift Guide blog in this four-part series to find the perfect home for you, your family, and your friends!

Do you have a bookworm in your life? Or keeping up with the latest style or gadget? Or maybe they’re on top of investment tactics? Well, this blog has the perfect gifts for them: a special property!

For the Trendsetter

Clockwise from top left: Taylor Farm | Peacham, VT; 118 Larch Row | Wenham, MA; Rockport Harbor Views | Rockport, ME; Wolcott Woods | Milton, MA; 798 Strawberry Hill Road | Concord, MA; Sophie’s Way | Tremont, ME

2020’s biggest trend was likely the reemergence of the country retreat. People wanted space, but the trendiest want something unique, too. Taylor Farm isn’t just for the trendsetter (although its rustic interior design does appeal to that crowd); there’s something for everyone at this 150-acre turnkey destination retreat. In the case of 118 Larch Row, the combination of traditional and contemporary styles creates a custom residence with a unique flair. Rockport Harbor Views was transformed from a historic Methodist church into a modern residence by an iconic trendsetter, Nancy Talbot, the founder of the eponymous clothing stores.

798 Strawberry Hill Road was truly ahead of the curve: this cedar shingle-style house already had space dedicated for living, working, and playing before we started spending so much time at home. Not only does Sophie’s Way showcase contemporary design and bright, airy spaces, it also features state-of-the-art technologies and clean energy utilities. You could even get in on the ground floor of an exciting new neighborhood. Wolcott Woods, a former private estate, is a new 55+ community nestled on 47 hillside acres neighboring the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Massachusetts.

For the ESG Investor

Clockwise from top left: Boone Parklands | Northeastern KY; Tug Hill | Lewis County, NY; Black Brook Woods | Moxie Gore, ME; Mad River Timberlands | Moretown, VT

One of the biggest trends over the past decade hasn’t had to do with design or architecture. Instead, it’s in how people are investing their money. Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance. Investing has taken off, and there’s a well-established industry that’s perfect for these investors: timberland. Find out more about ESG Investing here.

In Kentucky, Boone Parklands is a 34,151±-acre Appalachian timberland investment with a potential carbon offset project.

Tug Hill Forest sits between Lake Ontario and the Adirondacks, and its 30,171± acres offer additive recreational and conservation values.

Over 3,000 acres make up Black Brook Woods, a private working forest protected for future generations with a conservation easement.

Become the next steward of Mad River Timberlands, a 652±-acre hardwood forest between the Winooski River and Mad River in Vermont.

For the Artist

Clockwise from top left: Noah’s Hill | Essex, MA; Bold Horizons | Trescott Township, ME; 931 Red Rock Road | Colchester, VT; Ridgeview | Waitsfield, VT

One of the pros to owning a home with a gorgeous view is that it serves as a perfect setting for artistic inspiration to strike. The unparalleled privacy and seclusion at Noah’s Hill, a compound on the Essex River, means that this 43-acre hilltop privacy is teeming with wildlife waiting to be captured on canvas, in a photo, or as a sculpture. Lose yourself in the art studio in the guest barn at Bold Horizons along Maine’s rugged coast. At 931 Red Rock Road on Lake Champlain, you’ll find an artist studio tucked away in the main house. Create art of the musical variety at Ridgeview, which houses a professional music studio designed by famed architect and acoustician John Storyk.

For the Reader

Clockwise from top left: Aspinwall | Bremen Long Island, ME; Ocean Point | Boothbay, ME; The Treehouse | Richmond, MA; Hope Farm | Danbury, NH

What do you need to truly immerse yourself in a book? For some people it’s a quiet spot, like the sunroom at Aspinwall that looks out over Muscongus Bay. Or maybe you need to feel a connection to the book. If you’re reading Rachel Carson’s The Edge of the Sea, that connection is easy to find at Ocean Point, where Carson found and wrote about the solitude along the property’s shoreline. Settling into a cozy space at The Treehouse is a great way to sink into the world of a novel. It could be that you like to be surrounded by your favorite books, in which case Hope Farm’s library is the perfect solution.

For the Historian

Clockwise from top left: Redwood | Bar Harbor, ME; The Ledges | Wenham, MA; One Sears Road | Southborough, MA; White Fox Farm | West Windsor, VT; Judge Wilder Home | Weston, VT

Redwood, built in 1879 and designed by William Ralph Emerson, was one of the few mansions to escape Bar Harbor’s devastating fire of 1947 that destroyed so many of the mansions belonging to the town’s original rusticators.
In the 1920s, Harrie T. Lindeberg became known as the architect for high society’s country homes, and The Ledges is a beautiful example of his style.

One of Boston’s wealthiest men commissioned One Sears Road as a summer retreat for his family at the turn of the century. Joshua Montgomery Sears’ wife, Sarah Choate Sears, was a well-known patron of the arts with connections like Isabella Stewart Gardner and John Singer Sargent, whose painting of her daughter hangs in Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.

Dating back to the 1790s, White Fox Farm’s farmhouse includes an intriguing secret: a hidden room believed to be part of the Underground Railway. Dive into more of the history here.

Finally, the Judge Wilder House in Weston, VT, an example of transitional Federal-Greek Revival architecture in brick, was built in 1827 for John Wilder, who had recently moved from Massachusetts and quickly became a key player in local politics.


Stay tuned as we showcase properties for everyone on your list! Missed Part 1? Check it out here.