"Home is where the heart is"
If Garrett Fesler was having a bad day at work, he’d just think about being home, in his backyard sunroom. “It extends out into our yard, so that you’re looking out at green — like being in the middle of the woods — and it’s a great place to relax,” he says. “I love to open up all the windows and just sit and catch a breeze.”
That all-season sunroom, with a vaulted ceiling and floor-to-ceiling glass doors on three sides, was one of the main reasons Garrett and his wife, Corine, bought their 2,300 square-foot rambler in 2007. The couple, who had ties to the College of William & Mary, wanted a home with a large yard and mature trees in an established neighborhood that was close to the college. Their Canterbury Hills home on a heavily-treed, 2/3 acre lot, located within an easy walk or bike ride to W & M, offers all of that.
The home also provides one-story living, another feature the couple sought. It includes a master bedroom with a full, en suite bathroom, two additional bedrooms, and a second full bath. It has a den, plus the flexibility of formal living and dining rooms, in addition to an informal great room that opens to a large kitchen. “We love this layout, with common living quarters that are separate from the bedrooms,” Corine says.
The couple and their school-age daughter spent most of their time in the great room, which features a fireplace and overlooks the back yard and several bird feeders. “We have a big feeder right off the great room window,” Garrett says. “I’ve spent a lot of hours watching birds there with my daughter. We even bought her a bird book.”
Much of the rambler has honey-colored, wood floors that were initially hidden by carpeting. “Before we moved in, we pulled up all the carpets and exposed the wood floors,” Garrett says. “Then we [refinished] them.”
Dog and kid friendly. The large yard, which includes a side patio and a deck off the sunroom, backs up to a wooded easement. It is partially fenced to offer a safe, backyard play area for dogs and young children. “It’s a big space with multiple gates for easy access,” Corine notes. “It has been wonderful for us, with plenty of space for a kid and a beagle to run around.”
The fenced area extends along the length of the house, but there is open backyard space, too. Corine has planted several garden beds for vegetables and flowers. “We have good light in the yard if you like gardening; there’s both sun and shade,” she notes. “We also have several dozen oaks, and azaleas like crazy. It’s amazing when they bloom.”
The couple’s home, especially the back yard, became a neighborhood gathering place. “”Because of our back yard, we were kind of the drop-off family for neighborhood kids,” says Corine. “We’d have all these giggling little girls running around outside.” Kids tramping into the house after outside play were no problem, with a mudroom off a side entrance that to both the sunroom and the kitchen/great room.
Workshop ready. At the back of the yard is a large shed that Garrett says could be the perfect woodshop. “It has a concrete floor, multiple electric outlets, and work benches on three sides. If I were actually handy, I would have been back there creating awesome things, but I don’t have that gift,” he says, laughing. “So, we use it mostly for storage.”
Neighborhood conveniences. In addition to being so close to William & Mary, the neighborhood offers the convenience of being able to walk to a small shopping center to pick up groceries and even a pizza. It is also near a swimming pool in an adjacent neighborhood. “The pool is easy to get to from our place, and our daughter was on the swim team there,” Garrett notes.
“One of the great things about our street is that it’s a cul-de-sac,” he adds. “There’s little traffic, so we felt comfortable having our daughter be out there.” With its wide streets, it is also a great walking neighborhood, and the place where the couple’s daughter learned how to ride her bike.
Time to move. “When we bought our home, we loved it and thought we would be there long-term,” says Garrett. “We wouldn’t even be selling it now if we hadn’t taken jobs out of town.”
When the couple decided to sell, they remembered that John “Mr. Williamsburg” Womeldorf had helped an elderly neighbor sell her home across the street. “We thought we would give John a shot, and we found him to be a real straight-shooter,” said Garrett. “And that is something we liked.”
Why the stories? Because these aren’t just houses, they’re homes.
Mr. Williamsburg knows that when you’re looking for a new place, you’re searching for more than just four walls plus amenities; you’re looking for that welcoming refuge we call home. That’s why we go beyond the standard “4 bedrooms, 3 baths on large lot” statistics, to share how others have lived in this house, to reveal the home’s unique personality, to help you decide whether this is a place where your family could thrive.
Likewise, we realize that you’re seeking not simply a development within a particular zip code, but also an opportunity to become part of a community. That’s why we share our sellers’ experiences as members of that neighborhood.
We trust these stories will assist you in finding your way home.
Want to tell your home’s story?
Contact John “Mr. Williamsburg” Womeldorf at (757) 254-8136 or John@MrWilliamsburg.com and we’ll get you started.
This home is offered for sale at $260k and is located at 123 Ferncliff Dr Williamsburg VA 23188 click here for directions
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Mr Williamsburg, Revolutionary ideas on real estate!Hampton Roads Virginia 