Maybe moving East with my horse? (Boston, Westborough: renting, house, living in)

[RRedstone]

I have been living in Northern California for the past 30 years and loved it, but because my husband and I recently divorced, and there’s not much to hold me here in CA, I am thinking of relocating back to the East Coast, where I grew up and where my folks still live – in PA.

I’m leaning toward somewhere in New England. I sooooo miss the seasons changing. The only thing is, I’d love to find someplace where the humidity isn’t totally out of control. I’m not real happy in hot weather, but add humidity and I get really grouchy!

I might eventually be looking for a small horse property (maybe 20 acres or less) that could be found in an area where there are good horse farms.

Any suggestions re: best places for horse-back riding and best locations to keep the humidity to a minimum?

Thank you for any and all input!

[scarletfire]

Hi RRedstone, I'm sorry to hear about your divorce. I've been there...

Where do you live in N. Cal? We lived in Santa Cruz, then Campbell over near Los Gatos. My sister lives in the Oakland Hills.

[scarletfire]

BTW, There are quite a few horse farms, but I'm sorry to say that here in Mass I can't think of many places that don't have summer humidity unless you're right on the coast and even then it can get pretty stifling for a few weeks in the summer. A few things I loved about N. California - drier summers and being able to leave your screen open on the porch without getting inundated with bugs!

[RRedstone]

Hi Scarletfire-
I've lived in Marin County and Sonoma County - the two counties directly north of San Francisco. The climate is close to perfect in parts of these counties, and I love the drier heat. Actually I don't like heat, but dry is better than humid. And I do miss having real seasons.
I lived in Sebastopol on a small horse property with my husband, and currently I've got my horse boarded and am renting a house with some roommates in Santa Rosa. But I feel a major change coming, so I'm looking at being back within a day's drive of my parents who are in their mid-80's.
Thank you for your input. Divorce sucks big time- but I still have faith that there are good things out there waiting in my future!

[scarletfire]

Hi RRedstone, I love that area! My brother-in-law and his wife live in Mill Valley. It always makes me think of BJ Hunnecutt on M*A*S*H. Such a pretty area. I think they are finding it a bit of an adjustment though having lived in NYC and Tokyo beforehand and not needing a car! Do you folks live in MA? There are certainly some nice horse properties out this way, I just didn't want to mislead you about the humidity. It's one thing I certainly wasn't looking forward to when we moved back here! Although I am loving this time of year!

Be well,
S

[RRedstone]

Hi-
I lived in Mill Valley for 3-4 years way back when. Yes, you need a car to go anywhere. But I loved it there. When it got real hot where I worked in San Anselmo, it might be foggy and 20 degrees cooler when I got home to Mill Valley. Sweet!
My folks live in Northeastern PA. I'd like to be closer, but not too close. A day's drive away would work if anything were to happen with either of them.
What is Western Mass like in terms of weather and cost of property?

[scarletfire]

Hi, I don't know that the weather differs much in western Mass from where I live in the metrowest. Here it's lovely and light jacket weather in the fall, 20s-40s in the winter with a few days that are worse, 80s in the summer and a few weeks in the 90s that are pretty nasty. Perhaps someone else here can comment on Western Mass weather? Oh what is that lovely James Taylor song talking about the Berkshires: "The first of December was covered with snow. And so was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston..." :-)

I don't really know the housing market in western MA but did a quick search for Berkshire county and it looks like you can get a house on several acres starting a little less than $200K! Of course I don't know if these particular ones are appropriate horse properties but that gives you a rough idea of a starting point. Way less expensive than out towards Boston! :-) If you end up heading out this way please feel free to drop me a line. A friend of ours lives in Becket and can probably give you a few recommendations of good areas to check out.

[Noodle]

A 20 acre spread here with a horse barn and a house will set you back anywhere from 300 to 800 thousand depending on location and type and size of the house. An approx. 20 acre flat piece of horse property for building on will bring from 150 to 450 thousand, again, dependiong on location. Of course, you can find them higher or lower, but that's the average spresd I see, and I look all the time to kind of get an estimate of what my place is worth due to I'm selling out in three years. Anyway, as was said, you can get some pretty humid days here, but nothing really sustained. And lately, the weather has just been perfect.
The towns I'd look at if I was in the market are Granville, Huntington, Russell, Montgomery,Worthington, Chesterfield, Westhampton, Southampton, Hatfield, Whately for the west side of the river, and on the east, you might want to check out Belchertown, Granby, Ware, Monson or Hampden. Those are the areas I'm familiar with, but north of those are also some good towns, but I don't know that much about them.
I don't have horses myself (just cows) but I know there's lots of riding in these town I mentioned and lots of horse shows. Something going on every weekend. Good luck with your move. It must be a long ride for a horse.

[NY'er lost in MA]

I would also suggest western MA. Anything east of 495 is going to be pricey. I have seen some horse farms around the Westborough area, but not many.

It does get humid here- no way out of that. I can remember 1-2 weeks during most summers that are 95+ and 85+ humidity- not fun!

Just as a suggestion- there are some areas in NY: Montgomery and Monticello which have tons of farms and stables at a much lower price point. And, you would be several hours closer to your parents, but still not right on top of them.

[ann13820]

I'd definitely go to Vermont. It's much more progressive and probably less shocking to the intellectual system than Western MA, more like CA in terms of social responsibility, etc. Also, I'm pretty sure it's a LOT less expensive than MA in many ways, but not certain. I live in NY, but work in central MA and many of the people I work with live in New Hampshire because of the cost of living. Vermont is just a little too far away from our office, or many people would be there.