Dream Spot (to rent, house, employment)

[niko_11]

I am NOT looking to purchase a house or land; once I have a general idea of location with your help, I would simply want to rent a room in a cottage or cabin surrounded by lush greenery (1) beside a lake backdropped by mountains (B) approximately 30 minutes driving distance to a town/city (C) 1-1.5 hour drive to a ski area (D) not particular about weather, so long as the place gets a healthy amount of sunshine (this is why I no longer am considering Portland or Seattle). This place can be absolutely anywhere in the US.

To narrow down which city I'd like to be close to... I always find myself in awe with the architecture of European cities, not drawn to modern buildings/skyscrapers (have lived in San Francisco & Honolulu & visited NYC). The only big city I could think of fitting that description is Boston, however, apparently a lake or mountain isn't anywhere near an hour's driving distance. I really don't want to have to choose nature vs. inspiring architecture. So I was wondering if maybe someone knows of a place that would fit my above lake/mountain/lush greenery description, only instead of being 30 minutes from a CITY, it could be a decent-sized TOWN with a historical feel to it? As long as it has some cafes, bookstores, museums... I'd be good to go.

I'd really like to emphasize I am NOT seeking to live in a residential area on a lakeshore with tons of neighbors and a handful of trees with a shopping center around the corner. I really want to feel that I'm living in nature, yet have the ability to drive in to the city/town for employment and socializing.

Thanks in advance for reading and all your suggestions are very much appreciated.

[ogre]

Depending on how big a mountain you want to view from your lakeside, there is a mountain with lakes in its vicinity that is just a bit over an hour's drive from Boston. Mt. Wachusett, in central MA, might work, though I have no idea what is available in the way of lakefront properties.

These links lead to pages with a couple of pictures of the area:

Mount Wachusett - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://wawa.wachusett.com/images/pdfs/Winter%202004/EnvirArt/kiosk02_vista_trail_tbgd.pdf (broken link)

If you want to check mapquest to get an idea of the number of lakes in the area, the town to enter is Princeton.

I might also suggest the area near Keene, NH, which is a couple of hours from Boston, and has Mt. Monadnock in the vicinity. Another area that might offer some possibilities would be the lakes region of central New Hampshire. Depending on your location, you're probably looking at somewhat over a two-hour drive to Boston. This area is immediately south of the White Mountains foothills, with views of some smaller mountains from many of the lakes. I don't know what your budget is, but one word of caution about that area is that lakeside property will be expensive. This is a popular vacation region as well, so I'm not sure how many isolated lakeshore sites are available. It's an area that's at least worth checking more closely.

An area you might really want to check very closely would be the lakes country in south-central Maine, which is basically the eastern part of the same group of lakes as the NH lakes region. There are lots of little towns around there, but look up Windham and Bridgton, two of the area's hub towns, to zero in on the general area I'm referring to. This area could present the same issues as the NH lakes region with cost and questions about whether you can find an isolated property. If those issues could work out, the advantage of this area is that you're only about 45 minutes or less from Portland, ME, a nice little city with some cool old architecture, which is often seen as kind of a small version of Boston.

I'm not so familiar with the area, but if there are any areas with lakes and mountain views in central CA, fairly close to the Bay Area, you might look into that area as well, since San Francisco is another city that has some of that old-style appearance, somewhat similar to the appearance of Boston, and the Bay Area does not have so much rain and gray weather as the Northwest.

[Mr. Answers]

What about Boise or Salt Lake? I think those two towns are experiencing so much growth because they are the sunny, low-tax alternatives to Seattle and Portland.

Though, the most obvious choice would be Portland....if you can put up with the crappy winters the fall and summer are amazing.

[creeksitter]

I think your best shot is a caretaker position at a rich person's estate. That way you can get the privacy combined with proximity to a city. I believe there are magazines/websites devoted to these kind of living arrangements.