We're both semi-retired, husband is a union stage hand, wife is a family lawyer. We live with a friendly dog and two cats, and spent two years building this beautiful two-family project six years ago. We live in one unit, full time, and rent the other. We built it to provide privacy to both units while being available to our guests as they may need. We're restoring the native plants that were cleared when building started.

Julia W. Kay-Grace and Robb M. Grace purchased this house in 2010

Becket is an old, rural community that also has a 50 year old forest development, Sherwood Forest, where we live and rent. This is not 'old growth' forest, so the forest floor is vital with ferns and wildflowers. We have three swales and creeks that flow around and across our place. They feed wetland plants and tiny frogs. We're developing meditation spots that seem to be naturally for the purpose.

The eclectic community ranging from 70's-era A-frames, and older cabins to carefully tended year-round homes is fairly described as, 'funky.' We had no interest in a big condo complex, and this isn't just our vacation home, we live here, too.

We built with goals to be, 'green' and as light on the land as year-round living can practically permit. The drinking water is filtered, but not chemically treated. After city life for decades, the cleanliness of Becket's air is a treasure.

A mile from us in the development is Sherwood Shoppe, a convenience store and cafe that features fresh-baked muffins daily and excellent hot breakfasts. The country store a couple miles up the road makes hot breakfasts and specials, and lunches; 4 nights a week they make fine pizza, and deliver in the Not-Summer seasons .

There are creeks flowing under many of Sherwood Forest's roads, feeding the five lakes. The dirt roads are lightly traveled, making a great place to walk on the level or up and down hills. The beaches in walking distance are sandy, graveled or grassy. Take a chair and a book and relax and enjoy!

We take our dog along the roads of the Forest, (dog walkers all scoop poop), and enjoy the changing views of the lakes and streams.

The house is oriented so the rising sun shines on our balconies and setting sun shines on the rental unit's balconies.

As soon as the cool weather begins, the sun shines brightly on the south-facing window wall providing passive solar heat. It supplements the in-floor radiant heat that we don't need to turn on until late in the fall.

The breeze is almost constant, and the air is perceptibly cleaner than the city air we were accustomed to breathing before we came here to live.