The Live Oak Property

It never occurred to me as I sat in the little “gas station” office of North Country Real Estate from the fall of 2010 until the fall of 2016, as I watched Tim Mullins purchase and renovate the Live Oak Building starting in 2013, as the building was rented and businesses started to open, that one day I would own that building and the property it sits upon. On Friday afternoon, April 5th, 2019, that is what happened.

I watched a lot of the renovation, from the outside at least, from my perch there in the old gas station office. It was amazing and wonderful. Mr. Mullins and his contractor, Kirt Morse, did a truly beautiful job. I walked the property while in escrow with Mr. Morse and it was interesting to find out that the only items in the main building that is still original are the beams. In fact, I have no memory of being in the building or on the property in the past other than when “Sewing Suzanne” was living in the house and I needed some hemming done by her.

I didn’t think too much about the property when it first came on the market. I had been thinking that it would be nice for my husband to have somewhere closer than Windsor to store his wine, but that was about it. Then at some point I looked at the property again, from an investment standpoint, and I realized that the numbers could work. Unfortunately for me by that time the property was in escrow with another party.

At the very end of 2018 the property fell out of escrow and, after consulting some trusted advisors and friends, I decided to make an offer. It was literally two days before the end of the year. We went back and forth a bit but I was able to get an offer accepted and we opened escrow. I had hoped it would be done in a couple of months; my lender had other ideas. I must thank Mr. Mullins and Ms. Mullins for their patience throughout.

The more I visited the property, the more I loved it. I could see quite a bit of potential - and a lot of work. The main building and the home had been renovated, but the remainder of the property was still in disrepair. I want to move my office there eventually, but there needs to be a bit of clean up and refurbishment before that can happen. I’m going to start small, with a little building that can be quickly brought up to par, then work on the larger building. The rear of the property is beautiful but a bit overgrown and in need of some landscape organization. I have tenants for the spaces lined up and that helps a lot.

I’ll keep you posted as progress is made and when North Country Real Estate moves from the iconic caboose to the Live Oak property. Some time later this year we’ll have an official open house. In the meantime, Bee Hunter Wines is in there and is happy to have you in to try their wines.