Frog Hollow Estate includes a renovated home that was built in 1820 and has a new garage and garden shed. There are 210.65 acres of mature forest land with an open woods road through the middle of the parcel. Good views are seen from the house and grounds, and there are two small brooks on the property, along with 20 acres of open fields. This land is conserved through the Vermont Land Trust and comes with a conservation easement that has 5 acres of excluded land around the house.
Frog Hollow Estate is located in Hubbardton, Vermont, less than 3 miles from Vermont Route 30, which makes getting to the property from points north and south easy. Boston, Massachusetts, is 3.5 hours east, New York City is 4.5 hours south, and Montreal, Quebec, is 3 hours north of the property. Lake Bomoseen is 3 miles away, Killington Resort is less than an hour drive, the town of Castleton, Vermont, is 15-minute drive south, and Rutland, Vermont, the closest large town, with a selection of restaurants, retail shops and other amenities is 30 minutes southeast. The area has many outdoor activities, and the property's central location makes it the perfect place to enjoy all Vermont offers.
The house is located at 1082 Frog Hollow Road in Hubbardton, Vermont. It is on a maintained Class III dirt road. You can reach the property from either Route 30 north/south or Route 4 east/west in the south-central part of Vermont. The locus map on this site and at the end of the property report shows the property’s location.
The property offers many natural resources which have been influenced by its location within the local landscape and the decision by the previous owners to allow the forest resource to develop without any human disturbances.
The land falls on both sides of a 2.8-mile-long ridge that starts just to the north on Sargent Mtn. (1,340’ in elevation) and runs in a southwest direction to the junctions of Frog Hollow Road and Route 30. The majority of the property has a southerly aspect as it rises to the ridgetop, the land’s highest elevation at 1,200’. It’s here, plus on some of the southern slopes, an occurrence of a Dry Oak-Hickory-Hophornbeam Forest stand type is found, an uncommon natural community in Vermont. The oaks include both red and white, and the hickory is both shagbark and pignut.
At the highest elevation (just south of the land’s ridgeline peak) sits a vernal pool created by trapped seasonal water that provides high-quality amphibian breeding habitat. The land’s other water feature originates on the north side of the ridge at two seeps on the property, creating the headwaters of a stream that runs southwesterly the length of the land into Sucker Brook near the homestead.
The overall forest resource has a special attribute of not having been disturbed for nearly 4 decades, offering “park-like” aesthetics given the tight canopy and minimal understory growth. Trees of all age classes can be found, including stone wall-lined trees well over 135 years, plus a dominant forest cohort over 80 years old. Species are primarily northern hardwoods with inclusions of oaks and cherry. The softwood component is largely white pine.
Built in 1820 but recently renovated, this house is a welcoming and bright home and retains many of its original features. While the renovations include all new windows, new insulation, improved external drainage systems, new clapboarding, a new metal roof, and updated electrical wiring, it has retained its old house style throughout. Inside are wide pine floors, combined with oak flooring in the living room and old barnboard walls mixed with new sheetrock. The exposed beams on walls and ceilings bring back the house’s original building design. The kitchen has been redone with new appliances, as have both bathrooms. Three heat pumps are installed with mini splits in every room, with baseboard electric back-up, plus two open fireplaces, making this house oil and gas free for heating and cooling.
The interior room layout has taken a nod from the old house look but has been re-designed as more open-plan living. A central staircase leads upstairs to three bedrooms and one large bathroom. The living room area is open plan, and the kitchen is open to the rest of the ground floor. There is a bathroom and an office to the right of the stairs. There is also a new sunroom enclosed with glass and sliding doors that lead out to a small stone patio with good local views across the fields and closer mountains. There is a brand-new garage with upstairs storage and another new outbuilding with an overhead garage door perfect for a garden shed or workshop.
It is believed that the old Hubbardton Military Road crosses the property at some point. On July 6, 1777, most of the Continental Army's Northern Department was stationed on either side of Lake Champlain at Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. The Continental Army retreated on this Military Road and were pursued by British and German troops, culminating in a rear guard action, the Battle of Hubbardton, on the morning of July 7. After the war, this supply road was abandoned by the military and became farmland and forest. The Battle of Hubbardton was the only battle in the Revolutionary War fought on what is now Vermont land.
The conservation easement on the property will be held by the Vermont Land Trust (VLT), one of the most respected conservation organizations in the nation. A working forest “partnership” with VLT offers the new owner predictability and cooperation, given the long history and respected reputation this land trust has established.
A principal objective of the easement is to maintain and promote healthy and abundant forest resources. The easement terms prevent subdivision and future development; however, forestry and sugarbush operations, and the construction of associated support infrastructure, are permitted. This property has a five-acre excluded zone and a renovated 1820 house, a new garage, and one outbuilding.
Easement highlights include:
Copies of the easement are available upon request.
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