Baby Proofing For Your Home
Posted on February 19, 2008
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The Child Proof Coach, he knows what you need…He knows how to install it…He knows where to find it!
The Child Proof Coach offers expert advice and installation for baby proofing your home and protecting your most valuable treasure, your child. Parents throughout Fairfield County, CT and our clients in Westport, CT and Weston, CT are looking to the child proofing experts to keep their homes safe for their children.
The 5 MOST OVERLOOKED child safety hazards of your home:
1. The MONITOR WIRE by the crib can be pulled in and entangle your child.
2. That treat in your SHOEBOXES is a poison silica gel pack. Get rid of them!
3. Your STOVES FRONT BURNERS should not exist. Use the back ones.
4. Your DISHWASHER holds knives, detergent remnants and a falling door. At least click it shut.
5. CLUTTER a tripping hazard that contains paper clips, loose change, and who knows what.
7 COST FREE child proofing safety measures:
1. FINGER PINCHING in doors. Throw a towel over it.
2. WIRES. Tape them along the baseboard.
3. HOT BEVERAGES. Babies make you jump. Hot tea or coffee with a baby is bad practice.
4. PLANTS. Choking on leaves, eating the soil and falling planters are trouble. Move up or out.
5. Move FURNITURE in front of electrical outlets where possible.
6. KNICK KNACKS. Figurines, potpourri, candy, crystal, photos, ashtrays, pens. Say good-by.
7. GFI OUTLETS on kitchen islands can be turned off with the press of a button.
For more information contact:
THE CHILD PROOF COACH
203-268-7800
888-751-1321
childproofcoach.com
Rate cuts spur a little refinance boom
Posted on February 4, 2008
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The Federal Reserve Board of Governors elected to lower the Federal Funds Rate another .5% on Tuesday, January 29th, on the heels of their surprise .75% rate cut just eight days earlier. While the surprise .75% rate cut resulted in an immediate downward adjustment in fixed mortgage rates, the second cut was expected and had virtually no affect on mortgage rates. The immediate benefactors of the rate cuts are people who have home equity lines of credit. These typically are based on the prime rate and move accordingly. With the recent rate cuts, the prime rate adjusted downward a total of 1.25% in eight days so holders of home equity lines of credit will see the rate on their loans decrease 1.25% also. All this talk of rate cuts in the news did spur a little refinance boom with applications jumping 22.1% nationwide. For more information call:
Matt Jenness, Personal Mortgage Consultant, Wm Pitt Mortgage LLC
ph:203-257-6022 fax: 866-734-4567
On The Move
Posted on January 30, 2008
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When navigating most things in life, it is always easier and more fun to have a supportive friend by your side. Moving is no exception. In fact, it can be challenging and emotional at best. That is where Susan Littman owner of Personal Spaces in Westport, Connecticut comes in. She can provide the resources you need to facilitate the process, but more importantly she is there to help you make the difficult decisions about what goes and what stays, to purge with a sense of humor, and to keep you organized and on tract. Susan is also available to assist in setting up a new home. Personal Spaces, organizing homes in Westport and Weston, CT and greater Fairfield County.
For more information regarding her services contact:
Susan Littman
Personal Spaces, located in Westport, CT
203-246-5816
provenc1@optonline.net
Congress voting on package to increase cap on Conforming mortgage loans.
Posted on January 28, 2008
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Congress is voting on an economic stimulus package that includes a provision to allow the lending limit on Conforming mortgage loans to increase from the current $417,000. The new cap could be as high as $725,000, depending on the region of the country, and is based on 125% of the median home price. The new cap would remain in effect for 1 year only.
If approved, this means substantial interest savings for those seeking Jumbo mortgages up to $725,000, since they will be able to lock in rates formerly reserved for loans less than $417,000. Those Jumbo mortgage borrowers purchasing or refinancing a home in Fairfield County in the coming year could realize an important financial advantage if the bill is passed.
Julie Goldstein
Mortgage Banker, 203-451-2124
Westport CT Median Price Hits All-Time High
Posted on January 17, 2008
Filed Under Housing Market, Westport Connecticut | Leave a Comment
Westport’s median price for residential real estate hits all time high.
The latest real estate market statistics for Westport and Weston, Connecticut. Updated monthly. Information collected from statistics provided by the CMLS - Consolidated Multiple Listings Service.
Why Weston?
Posted on January 11, 2008
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Residents choose Weston for its understatement. They like returning to the pastoral security of home after a day spent in the rush of trains, highways and commercial centers. They like to keep close to the land and its rhythms; they like the close sense of community. They like Weston because it is truly the epitome of country New England.
Weston is a rustic town of sweeping fields, ponds, riverside vistas, wooded forests and century old stone fences. Located just north of Westport in Fairfield County Weston is in close proximity to urban areas. Weston is committed to maintaining its country charm and rural atmosphere with two acre zoning, boasts one of the finest school systems and school facilities in the nation and provides its residents with excellent recreational offerings. Careful town planning a generation ago secured approximately one third of Weston’s twenty square miles for nature conservancies and restricted wetlands. The Town Center provides residents with all of the basics - a grocery store, coffee shop, drug store, hardware store, bank, post office and gas station.
Why Westport?
Posted on January 11, 2008
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Residents choose Westport for its lifestyle. A sophisticated and cosmopolitan town Westport still maintains the small town ambiance that has been attracting artists since the 1920’s. A country house, a beach house, a mini estate, excellent shopping, restaurants, a wealth of cultural and recreational opportunities - Westport has it all.
Located 50 miles from New York City on Connecticut’s Gold Coast on Long Island Sound, the breath-taking waterfront scenery and charming country landscape, attractive amenities and comfortable commute to metropolitan centers attract families, executives and people from the creative arts.
Known widely as a place where celebrities reside, the town is comprised of old Yankee families, artists and writers, corporate executives, professionals of every kind and high-profile residents.
The diversity of cultural and recreational pursuits including the Westport Country Playhouse a longtime regional theatre, the unique Levitt Pavilion providing free concerts, a strong arts council, the Nature Center for Environmental Activities, an expansive library, museums, several sandy beaches, public and private clubs and an array of outdoor activities and seasonal events are some of the images that defines Westport’s lifestyle. A vibrant downtown provides residents with elegant boutiques, specialty shops, national retail chains, superb restaurants, art galleries, health clubs, a senior center and much more. In addition, Westport has an excellent public school system.
Westport is a place where its residents maintain a small town attitude in the midst of big town personalities. The spirit and care with which people tend to this town is what gives it its very heart and soul. It all adds up to a wonderful place to live.
Westport History
Posted on January 11, 2008
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Like many other towns in New England, Westport’s roots stem back to the Native Americans. During the Revolutionary War on April 25, 1777, British soldiers landed on Compo Beach and marched up Compo Road burning homesteads and barns. After a battle at Ridgefield, the British returned and fought the local militia in a battle at Compo Hill. The Minuteman statue commemorates this event. After the Revolutionary War, with the economy growing due to coastal shipping and onion farming, a charter was granted in 1835 to incorporate Westport as a town.
When the era of mills and farms was ending, Westport began its second renaissance. Famous writers, artists and theater people set the pace. Seeking a retreat from the noise of New York City, they found another world just “up the mainline” into Connecticut. Here by the seacoast and the green woods was escape. Inevitably though, they brought change with them.
Beginning in the 1920’s, the growing stream of glittering newcomers was making Westport’s legend. Through the next decades, the town began to figure in the plays, novels, artwork and movies generated by this talented coterie. From F. Scott Fitzgerald to Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Michael Bolton, from the Man in the Gray Flannel Suit to I Love Lucy, from the Westport Famous Writers’ Photographers’ and Artists’ Schools to Stevan Dohanos’ famous covers for the Saturday Evening Post, Westport’s sparks were flying.
The images of the town defined a lifestyle, invented a new vocabulary and forever fixed Westport in the American imagination. Commuters and bedroom communities came to stay. Westport still retains its cultural vibrancy. The population has grown and executives and professionals from the arenas of advertising, communications, national and international businesses have created a new diversity.
Westport Events
Posted on January 9, 2008
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Westport/Weston First Night is an alcohol-free, community-wide celebration of New Year’s Eve.
The traditional Memorial Day Parade draws large crowds up and down Main Street.
The Great Race, held every summer on the Saugatuck River, fields a splashy array of seaworthy crafts as well as designer’s specials, the “Funtastical” tubs.
Fourth of July fireworks are an extravaganza on Compo Beach.
Westport Culture and the Arts
Posted on January 9, 2008
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Most Westporters are well educated, charged with creativity and actively involved in the pursuit and support of all those elements that make the good life. Energy and opportunities are in the air; the town has a strong pulse and lots of heart.
Devotion to the arts is strong and broadly popular. Since its inception in 1930, The Westport Country Playhouse has been a showcase for national theatre. A star-studded line-up of America’s performing greats have walked upon the stage: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Christopher Plummer, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr,, Geraldine Page, Gene Kelly, Lillian Gish, Jane Fonda, Helen Hayes, Liza Minelli and the list goes on and on. And so do the singing, dancing, musicals and plays. Totally renovated in 2005 the Westport Country Playhouse continues to enlighten, enrich and engage a diverse community of theatre lovers, artists and students by presenting excellent professional theatre and by offering a welcoming experience that perpetuates the long tradition of the Westport Country Playhouse “red barn”. In addition, the Playhouse hosts an equally professional and heavily attended Children’s series.
The Westport/Weston Community Theatre is at home in the Westport Town Hall. There is fresh new work by debuting playwrights, drama, comedy, musicals and experimental theatre. A great community builder and resource, anyone who wants to be in, around or attend theater can start here.
The Levitt Pavilion on the banks of the Saugatuck River with a great view across the river and back toward town is another of Westport’s summer performance hallmarks. Throughout the season over 50 nights of FREE outdoor entertainment from reggae to rock, musicals to blue grass, big band, choral singing, barbershop and dance, all tastes and all ages find something to love. Its amphitheater shell, the river walk and grassy knoll make just the right setting for a summer night.
The Westport/Weston Arts Center is a performing and visual arts organization dedicated to providing meaningful experiences for area residents of all ages. The programs include the visual arts, performing arts, film, lectures, education and special events. The galleries of the Arts Center provide ongoing exhibitions open to the public. Through its comprehensive artistic and educational programming the Arts Center has achieved the highest standard of professionalism within a fifty mile radius of New York.
The Nature Center for Environmental Activities is devoted to public environmental education, preservation and conservation. Located in the woodsy interior of Westport, Earthplace is a 62 acre preserve with trails, natural science museum, and aquarium.
Wheeler House,c.1795, houses the Westport Historical Society. The museum features changing exhibits dedicated to preserving, presenting and celebrating the history of Westport. www.westporthistory.org
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