Two 1830 Sheffield Village Homes, One Acre, One Old Country Store — $129,000

Two buildings from 1830 on one acre in a Vermont village, $129,000. That number will either stop you or it will make you read the fine print. You should read the fine print.

The property is two antique homes totaling 2,473 square feet, and somewhere in that footprint there is an old country store with what the listing calls commercial conversion potential. That part is genuinely interesting. A 19th century village store on a corner lot, or whatever configuration this is, has a shape and a history that a new building cannot replicate. Whether you can do anything with it depends entirely on your situation, your permits, and your budget.

Both homes have original hardwood floors and original windows. The metal roofs are already on, and vinyl siding was added in recent years. That accounts for a meaningful portion of what typically goes first on a property this old. The floors and the bones of the structure give you something to start with. The walls are a different story. The listing specifically mentions plaster work, which means the interiors are rough.

Here is the part that matters most: neither home currently has water. The well serving the front house is bad. The second house is on town water but needs plumbing work before anything flows. That is the condition of the property. Two houses, no running water, as-is sale.

The listing agent wrote something direct and a little unusual in the description. They said many people have tried to revive this property and none have succeeded. That line could be theater, but it could also be experience talking. It deserves weight.

If you have a plan, real trades connections, and money set aside for utilities and plumbing before you even touch aesthetics, this is a lot of square footage in a Vermont village for $129,000 with two 1830 structures that have kept their floors and their roofs. If you are pricing this from a distance and thinking the number is low enough to absorb whatever comes, the agent's warning is worth sitting with.