When I tell people I bought a fixer-upper in Vermont with my siblings, the reaction is almost always the same: part envy, part amusement, part horror.
“That’s so exciting, but you must really like your siblings. I could never do that with mine. It would end in disaster,” they say.
Did I mention the house — tucked deep in the woods — is nearly impossible to find, three stories tall, and has no interior staircases or electricity?
We decided to purchase a property together in 2022, but it took 3 years to find one
Bridget Shirvell
My brother, sister, and I grew up with a second home that served as a vacation house (and a source of rental income for our parents).
So, I liked the idea of buying a property and continuing this tradition with my siblings. My brother was immediately on board, and not to be left out, our sister quickly agreed to the venture as well.
Together, we decided on a few rules for purchasing a property: At least one of us would need to see it in person, and at least two of us would have to agree to make the purchase.
We also didn’t want to buy a place too far from any of our current homes, so we looked for properties in New England.
After three years of searching, we settled on a fixer-upper home in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom that was within our budget.
We’ve been hard at work with renovations, and still have a lot left to do
Bridget Shirvell
Our house needs a lot of work, but the process has been somewhat slow because all three of us have full-time jobs and the property is between four and seven hours from our respective homes.
My brother has been there the most often to check in, meet contractors, and mow a path through the often-overgrown grass to the front door.
However, the few weekends where we’ve all worked on the house together feel like an episode of a low-budget renovation show, except more bickering and no production crew.
As the eldest daughter, I tend to slip into project-manager mode, whether I mean to or not. I create long to-do lists and ask many questions about the plan that my brother attempts to answer — and my sister mediates when we get frustrated with each other.
We’ve argued about everything from which of the previous owner’s possessions to discard to where the key lock box should go and how to start a generator.
Somehow, we’ve still managed to get some things done: We created signs to mark the hidden road and driveway, cleared out the house, installed insulation, and started taking quotes for solar panels.
I hope this will be a place for our future
Bridget Shirvell
For now, this process has been 100% worth it, not just because of the future I’m able to imagine here, but for the journey we’re taking to achieve it.
On challenging days, I often wonder what exactly we’ve gotten ourselves into, but my siblings are smart and kind, and I’m glad I still really like them.
My brother was originally hoping the home would be mostly livable by the end of the year. However, we still need to install staircases and fix the electricity — among many other things, so I’m not so sure.
My hope, though, is that within two years we won’t be embarrassed to invite people to stay for a weekend, and that one day, this place will be a shared refuge.
I picture it as the backdrop for long summer weekends, big dinners with family and friends, and quiet mornings; a place where we take long walks with our dogs, where our kids run barefoot in the grass, and where we can all catch our breath when the world feels like too much.
