1. Dagny’S Real Estate Llc
City: Wilton, CT
Category: Relocation
Telephone: (203) 858-4853
Address: 20 Windy Ridge
Description: If you’re looking for space, beauty, and a more rural landscape, seek out the Litchfield Hills. With the greatest area and least population density of all the counties (206 people per square mile), Litchfield feels spread out but also close-knit, as community support and development thrive. Many are discovering the area, as the population increased 4.9 percent from 2000 to 2010 and is now about 190,000. Diversity may be less and cost of living more than the national average, but people of all types find themselves at home in hills of Litchfield County. The Torrington region, which includes much of the northwest corner, is tagged a micropolitan area since its core city (Torrington) has a population of 35,000, but the surrounding vicinity has a population greater than 180,000.Nearly 80 percent of residents own homes, with the median value of a home being $287,200. The median income is close to the state’s average at $67,688. Median property taxes paid on a home are $4,100, and taxes in Litchfield County amount to about 5 percent of income. The average commute time is 26 minutes, but about 54 percent commute in under 20 minutes to their place of work. Industries where employment is highest include sales and office work, retail trade, health care and social assistance, educational services, accommodation and food service, and manufacturing. Future job growth is predicted to be strong over the next 10 years, making Litchfield County a good bet for relocation.
2. Cannondale Village
City: Wilton, CT
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (203) 762-8617
Address: 30 Cannon Rd.
Description: All right, this isn’t exactly a mall, other than the fact that it features several different stores. But Cannondale Village is otherwise unclassifiable, a unique treat for anyone passing through Wilton. Set in a historic group of charming buildings by the old Cannondale station on the Danbury line, as you pull into the parking lot, you’ll see old Mobil gas pumps and then the stores of Bella and Company (jewelry), Penny Ha’Penny (gifts), and Annabel Green (flowers and finery). The Schoolhouse restaurant ($$$) is in an 1872 chapel-like one-room schoolhouse with a “class schedule” posted out front. A waterfall on the Norwalk River splashes behind the patio. The Schoolhouse serves mostly dinner, with delights like parsnip soup and Berkshire pork belly, but their Sunday brunches are legendary. Why isn’t this in the restaurant section? Because Cannondale Village is a total experience, not just a place to eat.
3. Weir Farm
City: Wilton, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (203) 834-1896
Address: 735 Nod Hill Rd.
Description: Though Connecticut is full of National Historic Landmarks, Weir Farm is the only one run by the National Park Service. The farm is on a narrow road in the hamlet of Branchville, and is a monument to J. Alden Weir’s home, a center for American Impressionism for 40 years. In the visitor center, one of Weir’s landscapes will draw your attention before you step into a room with changing displays of today’s Weir Farm artists. Take a walk to the pond and try to see it through Impressionist eyes. The park service actually provides sketch paper and colored pencils for you to try to capture the yellow finches, the shagbark hickories, and the sunken garden. The historic site connects to Weir Preserve, run by the Nature Conservancy, where grassy trails lead into forests, a great opportunity to see the trees growing around old farm walls and glacial boulders. If you want to see inside the Weir studio and home, though, you’ll need a guided tour. Call ahead to schedule one.