In 1994 my family came to point of decision.  We had a CD of value equal to $50K.  (Which makes a nice sized real estate purchase down payment.) The real estate market in New England was 'for sale', especially in New Hampshire where dozens of Lake Front properties were for the taking and the interest rates were at an historical low point.  We had 2 children (at the time 9 and 3) and we contemplated a third.

In a 'half joking' manner I said to my wife.  "How about we NOT have a third child and we buy a vacation property in New Hampshire ?"

Thirteen years later we still have two children and this page is dedicated to that decision my wife and I ultimately made in 1994.

Hermit Lake (formerly Plummers Pond) is a small 10 acre lake exactly 107 miles from my front door in Wayland.  Off of interstate 93, exit 22 and officially in the town of Sanbornton NH.  (The RED box is the location of the property and you can see 93N on the left side of the picture.) A zoomed in Google Earth image of the property on the north shore of the lake (facing East) can be seen by clicking  here. 

The property is old and is built into the side of an embankment which slopes down to 175 feet of New Hampshire style, rocky and coarse, beach front.  From the roadside there is a horseshoe private drive and, because most of the property is 'below road grade', you can only see the top portion from that drive.  The picture below was taken during the month of April and I will be mentioning these time periods because things look alot different depending what time of year it is... this is true for all of New England.



Now standing on the 'Community Beach' (see the link above) and looking west (with a zoom lens), we can see the lake side of the house and that portion which is 'below road grade'.  Again this is an April picture.



Hermit Lake is pristine.  People fish year round and there is quite a Loon population which is attuned to humans providing them with a meal every now and then.  Crack corn is the best food to give them (as opposed to processed bread)... by feeding them the wrong stuff you can cause an issue with 'itching' after swimming in the water.. but I won't go any further on this one.  A scoop of crack corn on the beach and a family of Loons will quite frequently appear.

It gets pretty cold in New Hampshire in February.  Looking off the rear deck in an easterly direction and towards the water, we have a winter scene.



Directly across the lake exists a magnificent house which was recently sold and then upgraded.  When I look out the sliding glass doors I see that house and when they look out theirs, they see mine.  The deepest part of Hermit Lake lies between the two points and I once measured it with a sonar device on my pontoon boat to be about 60 feel.  The average depth of Hermit Lake is similar to Dudley Pond in Wayland, about 8 - 10 feet.  This is a November picture.



Still another November shot of the association beach, standing adjacent to that 'big house' ...  (notice that the lake as not completely frozen yet).



From (about) the same spot in April we can see the contrast of seasons...