Page 31 - Spruce Drive_14

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE HOMEOWNERS OF 14 SPRUCE DRIVE

WHAT MADE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH THIS HOME?
The curb appeal initially. From the style of the house down to its gorgeous
wood entry doors, we were enamored before we even walked in. And this
was before we built the stone wall/gates/fencing and planted the rose bushes
along the front of property. We looked at countless houses, but there was
something special about Spruce from the moment we walked in. The quality of
the workmanship was apparent even with an untrained eye, and the house just
seemed to have a good soul to it. From driving around we were already in love with
the area because of its mix of convenience (a quick trip to all area shopping, schools
and trains), plus a great neighborhood feel.

DESCRIBE THE RENOVATION OR HOME IMPROVEMENT PROCESS…
Spruce had a ton going for it, but we wanted to make our own improvements to
complete the house. We had the entire property outfitted with electric dog fence
first. The 225 foot hand built stone wall, vinyl fencing/ gates, and fencing of entire
property was added shortly after. To keep the lawn lush we installed a state of
the art sprinkler system for both front and rear, along with new driveway lighting.
After having no power for 8 days with Hurricane Irene, we solved that problem by
installing a built-in generator that could power the entire house easily. Hearing that
ice dams on the roof could pose a problem during particularly long, cold winters,
we had a roofing specialist come over and place roof heating wires in the area
that could be susceptible as a preventive measure. We felt the air could get dry
on the second floor, so installed a large humidifier that services the entire second
floor. For kitchen improvement we purchased a top of the line SubZero fridge and
installed custom separate refrigerator drawers. Multiple In-wall speakers were
placed in the family room and the finished basement. We had a mason build a
built in stone BBQ area on rear patio with direct propane feed to alleviate the
hassle of changing tanks. Noticing that the floor of the 1st floor bedroom/office
could get chilly on occasion, that problem was solved by having the attached
storage area directly underneath completely spray foam-insulated. The attic was
made energy efficient (spray foam insulated) and turned into a media room plus
office with the installation of the hi def projector/speakers/100 inch screen/and
top of line components. There was a definitive drop in our heating costs by also
spray foaming insulating the large unfinished attic storage area. There is also
custom painting throughout the house.

WHY ARE YOU MOVING?
It’s well known that the town of Wilton has some of the best schools in the entire
nation. It was a large part of why we moved here before we had children. We found
as he got older, or eldest son’s needs would be best served in a private school
environment. Our daily commute just got to be too much so we decided to move
closer to his school. If the school was closer, we would have unquestionably stayed put.

WILL YOU MISS THE NEIGHBORS?
Tremendously. If you move to 14 Spruce you’ll see why. Although we plan to be back for the
block party!