As a kid my family always vacationed on Lake Winnipesaukee. That’s something that I wanted my children to experience and enjoy as they grew up.

In 1998, my husband Shawn and I bought a boat slip at Glendale Yacht Club in Gilford, NH. At the time, we had 2 kids (4 and 2 years old.) We had a boat and it was like a camping adventure every weekend. We would leave for the lake on Friday afternoon and return home on Sunday night. The days were spent enjoying the lake and the boat. The evenings were for social time at the club. We found sleeping on the boat was some of the best sleep the kids got!

In May of 2000 we had a 3rd child and we did spend the summer of 2000 and 2001 on the boat. But we quickly realized that we were outgrowing that. In spring of 2002 we bought a seasonal cottage in a community called Towering Pines that had lake access. The house was not insulated and was only about 700 square feet. We spent the next several summers there. We would move up to the lake for the summer, Shawn would commute to work, and the kids and I spend our days at the beach or hiking or just generally enjoying all that the Lakes Region has to offer. The weekends were still spent out on the boat on the water. The kids learned to water ski and they all enjoyed tubing.

In 2005 the home across the street went up for sale, and it was a year-round home on its own land. We bought that and sold our seasonal cottage. We still moved up to the lake for the summer, but we were now able to enjoy the Lakes Region in the winter as well as the summer. We did lot of downhill skiing and ice skating. Gunstock Ski Resort is right in the town of Gilford, less than 5 minutes from us.

I have always watched the real estate market and knew that one day if I was patient, I would find us a home right on Lake Winnipesaukee. In March of 2013 the house hit the market. We drove to the lake in the dead of winter to see the property. We made an offer that afternoon, and after just a bit of negotiating we settled on a price and we now owned a house directly on the lake.

Shawn and I always knew that we would move to the lake full time after our youngest child graduated high school. So, in the fall of 2017 we tore down the house that we had and built on that lot to build the house of our dreams. We moved to Gilford full time in the winter of 2019.

The house we built on Lake Winnipesaukee, and where we live 8 months out of the year.

In 2015 we bought a 2 bedroom condo in Aruba that we still own and use a a vacation rental property.

In 2018 we bought a 3 bedroom condo in Aruba and we currently enjoy 8 months of the year on Lake Winnipesaukee and the other 4 months in Aruba.