SHORT SALE OPPORTUNITY IN NEW CANAAN

Listed at $550,000, this Forest Ridge townhouse is offered far less that the last purchase price. Take advantage of this opportunity for this 3 bedroom townhouse with first floor master suite and attached 2 car garage.

ARE DISTRESSED HOMES WORTH IT?

Click on the title to read The Wall St Journals article about distressed homes. It is very well explained.

Brand New Modern Home Hits The New Canaan Market

New Canaan was abuzz on Sunday for the Grand Opening at 173 Park St, the very modern house built by Dave Prutting of Prutting and Company Builders and is listed by William Pitt. I think the attendance definately set a record for open house traffic. There was a non stop stream of people lining up in the rain to tour the latest example of trendy architecture in town. The stark lines, glass walls, dramatic baths and very cool rooftop garden with outdoor kitchen, fp, garden and pool site add to the dramatic flair. You can walk to the town and train from this 4 story home complete with an elevator and for the environmentally conscious, there is a photovotaic system. LEED certification is pending. Priced at 4,950,000, it is one of New Canaan's priciest homes, however, it is also one of a kind. Dave Prutting did an incredible job.

Index shows home prices rose for 3rd month in July - Boston.com

Index shows home prices rose for 3rd month in July - Boston.com

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NEW CANAAN'S NEWEST AND EXCITING 'GREEN ' NEW CONSTRUCTION

Priced at $3,795,000 this home is just finished and fresh on the market.It certainly sets a new standard for environmental conscious new construction in keeping with New Canaan's traditional market appeal. More details to come including dates for Grand Opening Sunday Open House.
MAGNIFICENT ECO FRIENDLY HOME HILLTOP HOME IN NEW CANAAN BOASTS PHENOMENAL GREEN FEATURES WITH STATE OF THE ART GEO THERMAL HEATING/COOLING, HIGH PERFORMANCE ICYNENE INSULATION, ENGERY STAR PELLA WINDOWS/DOORS, 100 YEAR ARCHITECTURAL SLATE SYTLE ROOF WITH COPPER GUTTERS. MAINTENANCE FREE HARDIPLANK SIDING AND ARCHITECTURAL AZEK EXTERIOR MOLDING AND TRIM. GRAND TWO STORY ENTRANCE WITH MAHAGONY CURVED STAIRCASE, 4 STONE FIREPLACES, KITCHEN, BUTLERS PANTRY AND BATHS ALL DESIGNED BY "KITCHENS BY DEANE", COVERED OUTDOOR ROOM WITH FIREPLACE, 3 FINISHED FLOORS, HOME FRAMED FOR FUTURE ELEVATOR. POOL SITE AVAILABLE. FULL WALK OUT BASEMENT READY FOR FINISHING WITH COMLETE BATH. SETTING A NEW STANDARD IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUS NEW CONSTRUCTION.

The French Quarter in New Orleans Now

I had the opportunity to visit New Orleans for a few days and was pleasantly surprised to see an interesting place. In fact, it is called "America's Most Interesting City". Click on the title to read the feature story in The Times Picayune regarding the comeback of home values in the French Quarter. The homes I have photographed are located along the street car line on St Charles Avenue near Tulane and Loyola Universities.

Big Price Cut to $999,000

This tudor style house is a charmer. 4 bedrooms, cul de sac location and 2 acres of flat land on Lantern Ridge Rd

Tracking the Continuing Progress of New Canaan's Sustainable Home

This is the second article in a series that I am writing for The New Canaan Advertiser Online published this week which features the construction of a fascinating "green home" in New Canaan using geothermal heat. The home is nearing completion and is going to receive a very high LEED platnium rating. Click on the title above to see more pictures.


Tracking the continuing progress of New Canaan’s sustainable homeWritten by Denise Gannalo
August 31, 2009



It has been several months since I last visited this celebrated home currently under construction in New Canaan. Nate and Etta Kantor are continuing to make remarkable progress on their home and plan to move in this fall, hopefully by the end of October. As you approach the property on Trinity Pass Rd in the pastoral north area of New Canaan, you see a remarkably well sized and proportioned residence on 4.6 acres with much available space surrounding it. The home is approximately 3500 sq ft with an additional 1500 square feet of living space in the walk out lower level. The exterior design is Adirondack style with a Mission/Arts and Craft influence. It has natural siding consisting of cedar shingles which are classified FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and the trim color is forest green. There are many overhangs over the windows which shade the home from the summer sun. The exterior front door is extremely handsome and is an antique door utilizing reclaimed wood that was found at United Housewreckers. The interior floors are now installed using antique oak. The walls are amazing. The first floor walls are American Clay. The other walls are painted in natural colors using Benjamin Moore Aura line of paints which is environmentally friendly and less toxic than conventional paints. All the windows are energy rated triple pane. The sensible size still lends itself to a striking great room consisting of kitchen/dining room/living room and fireplace, a first floor master suite, 3 bedrooms on the second floor plus 2 offices and a lower level with an exercise/ playroom, family room, fireplace, pool bath with steam shower and storage rooms. The flooring in the lower level is carpeted with floor tiles made from recycled natural materials. All the countertops in the kitchen (except the center island) and bathrooms are made of Ice Stone which is recycled glass and cement and is made locally in Brooklyn, NY. The center island of the kitchen will have an antique oak counter.

Being sensitive to the environment, The Kantors designed the house to be heated by solar power. There is a large tank in the basement which holds the water to heat the house and pool. The temperature of the water is 100 degrees. The concept of the design is that the home is self sufficient with little impact on the environment. The house is part of the power grid which means it can use electric power when needed because of cold or overcast weather conditions but it will sell back to the grid when there is excess and the electric meter will run in reverse. The goal here is to net zero. The water supply to the house for bathing, drinking water, laundry and cooking is from the well but a gray water system is used for toilets except for the master bathroom which will have a compost toilet. Underground cisterns will collect rainwater for irrigation of gardens and landscaping. In the rear of the property is a very generous garden about 30x130 feet to be used for organic gardening.

This home is expected to earn more than sufficient points to qualify for platinum LEED certification. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is a rating system from the US Green Building Council dedicated to the expansion of green building. It has emerged as the most important force in the accelerating market for green building by federal agencies.

I will continue to update the progress of this project as it gets closer to completion.

Denise Gannalo is a sales vice president at William Raveis Real Estate, located at 4 Elm Street. She has more than 26 years experience in the New Canaan real estate market. For more information, call Denise at 966-3555 or visit denisegannalo.raveis.com.

Bernie Madoff's Beach House in Long Island

Unbelievable but there are multiple bids on this house. It is a nice house but unfortunately it was at the expense of so many people. Greed does not pay off.
Click on the title to read the article and see a slide show of the house.

Newly Listed. Elegant Brick Colonial on Frogtown Rd

This spacious traditional Colonial has it all. Over 5,000 sq ft of living space on 2 private acres near town. Gorgeous landscaped property with private in ground pool.
Priced at $2,395,000

New Canaan Residential Activity August 2009

Although, it did seem very quiet around town in August, the real estate activity did certainly pick up from earlier this year. We see that trend in August as transactions hit the closing table.

This August, with 279 homes actively for sale on the market, we had 20 new listings but notably important was the 30 closings that took place in August. The average price of those August closings was $1,603,300 with a median price of $1,435,000. The average time it took to close was 155 days and the list to sale ratio was 91.09%

BRAND NEW LISTING IN LOST DISTRICT

Spacious 6 bedroom Colonial on 4+ acres with swimming pool and pond. Enjoy all that nature has to offer in this quiet setting where you can fish, swim, canoe, ice skate or birdwatch. Lovely private cul de sac location. $1,649,000