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Real Estate, Hopes and Dreams. Buying, Selling and Living in Fairfield, CT by Tony Derbyshire

A common question that I hear from people interested in buying in Fairfield is ‘what’s THIS neighborhood like?’  It’s a part of the job that I enjoy.  Fairfield has a variety of different neighborhoods.   Over the next few posts, I’m going to talk about each one and what they have to offer.

We live in Stratfield.  We’ve been here since 2005.  The house that we live in was built in 1938.   There’s a family room with dark wood walls and a fireplace where we spend alot of time.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is the kitchen is kind of small.  That’s the way they made them back them, or so it would seem.  Expansion is on the agenda, though.  Plenty of homes in the neighborhood have beautiful updated kitchens, too.  I’ve seen plenty of them.

  There is a wide variety of homes in Stratfield.  Sometimes, I think it represents a microcasm of Fairfield in general in that there are modest homes and grand ones.  There are condos and there are mansions. 

Stratfield is also a big neighborhood.  One could say that, depending on how you look at it, it’s really about three neighborhoods in one.  There’s the northern part of the neighborhood that sends their children to North Stratfield School and the rest sends their kids to Stratfield.  On the southern end of Stratfield is the Brooklawn neighborhood.  Brooklawn is a private association with beautiful homes, larger yards and some interesting history that’s right next to Brooklawn Country Club.  In Real Estate, we have what are called ‘market areas’ and Brooklawn is its own market area, but they send their children to Stratfield School so, for our purposes, I”m including Brooklawn in this post.   Between these two areas are a whole spectrum of different little hamlets.

If you like homes with classic lines, Stratfield could be a great option for you.  There are plenty of homes here that were built in the 20s and 30s that have some character, and it’s what brought us here,  but if you like homes that are little more modern, you’ll see some contemporaries sprinkled in as well. 

There’s a good sense of community in Stratfield.  A few years ago, the neighborhood banded together to keep Walgreens from occupying a building that was home to a local supermarket.   I take our daughter to the bus stop in the morning and catch up with the neighbors.  We tend to look out for each other.  When one of us can’t make it to the stop in the afternoon, a neighbor is usually there for us.  Our daughter has plenty of friends that live next door and around the corner.  They come and go and we have some fun games out in the street from time to time.

We live on about 1/3rd of an acre.  It’s a perfect sized yard for us.  In some parts of Stratfield, the yards are tiny, but what you lack in yard you make up for in neighborhood feel.  You get a pretty good bang for your buck in terms of what you can get for your money here in Stratfield, but you’re about as far away from the train station as you can be.  Plenty of people commute to the city, though, and with a new train station that will be coming to our side of town, the drive will be easier.

Even if you don’t end up settling in Stratfield, there’s one thing you need to do at least once.  Come to Stratfield at Halloween.  It’s nuts!  The people in our neighborhood take it very seriously and I can only describe it as spectacular.  Euclid Avenue, one of the long stide streets off of Stratfield Avenue, is so crowded it reminds me a bit of New Orleans during Mardi Gras.  Ok, I haven’t been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, but it still reminds me of it because it’s festive and a big party.  The Volunteer Fire Department has hot chocalate and treats for the kids and it’s usually a good place to bump into neighborhood friends.

If you’re looking for variety in a neighborhood, with a warm neighborhood feel, where you can find good value for your dollar, take a look at Stratfield.