Charming Log Home in Salem Hits the Market
By Gretchen A. Peck
Realtor Nancy Mesham, who leads the Nancy Mesham Team at Coldwell Banker Realty, is the listing agent for 266 West Road in Salem. This is an authentic log cabin-style home, with an idyllic, 3.26-acre country setting. Mesham describes it as “tranquil but not isolated and just perfect.” The asking price is $545,000.
Welcome Home spoke with Mesham’s clients, Corvin and Sallie Connolly, about the property they’ve owned since 2017. They’d relocated to Salem from Colorado Springs for a professional opportunity. When they found this home, the privacy and idyllic setting stood out and felt more “at home” to them after years of living in the Rocky Mountains.
When they moved in, they immediately invested thousands of dollars in having downed trees—and some that were threatening the house and barns—removed by a local arborist. They also enlisted the help of a professional landscaper to add plantings and care for the cleared grounds around the house.
Built in 1985, the house has four bedrooms, two baths, just over 2,000 square feet of living space and a lower-level attached two-car garage.
The front porch is rocking chair-ready. It’s a shady setting overlooking grassy lawn and an embrace of woodlands. The main-level rooms enjoy an open plan, with seamless transitions between the living room, family room, dining area and eat-in kitchen.
The owners have made a number of improvements—little finishing touches, like updating the light fixtures and switches. They refinished the floors, installed a new microwave and waste disposal, and had the interiors painted.
They replaced windows, exterior doors and had the exterior and deck painted in 2022.
It’s important to note that despite the rustic nature of the architecture, this home has all the creature comforts, including an updated kitchen and central air conditioning.
For outdoor dining and entertaining, there’s a large deck off the back of the house, which looks out to adjacent Salem Land Trust conservation land and steps down to a grassy lawn and pathways leading to the outbuildings.
Two barns on the property render it well suited for equestrian buyers.
The larger barn is a post-and-beam design, complete with 220-amp electrical service, a wood stove, a loft space and a dog run. Corvin used it as a workshop.
The second barn has one stall, storage space. It opens to a fenced paddock.
“It would be perfect if someone wanted to have a pony, a horse or two, goats or rabbits,” Sallie suggested. Part of the property is fenced, which may be of particular interest to buyers with dogs. Their three rescue dogs enjoyed the freedom to run and play.
Previous owners tended a garden on the fertile ground here. Salem is well known for its farm legacy, so a buyer may wish to carry that forward with vegetable and herb gardens of their own.
The Connollys spoke about how it’s bittersweet to leave the home they’ve loved, but the next chapter of life is taking them back to Colorado.
“It’s so hard to leave Salem, because we grew really attached to the community,” Corvin said.
“We grew especially attached to Mitchell Farms in Salem, an equine retirement facility in a magical setting. We’re donating all of our ground and lawn equipment to Mitchell Farms when we sell the house. They have concerts and dances,” he added.
“Colchester is really close. It’s where I worked as a nurse and where we’d do our grocery shopping,” Sallie said. “It’s a community of super nice people, who are friendly and always willing to help each other out.”
Though definitively in the country, the property is just minutes away from everyday conveniences. It’s an 11-minute drive to Colchester’s center, and about 30 minutes to New London, Groton and Waterford. Hartford is about a half-hour away, as well.
“Salem is such a charming and safe place to live. It’s an agrarian, woodsy paradise—a really special area,” Corvin Connolly concluded.
Property: 266 West Rd., Salem
Bedrooms: 4
Baths: 2
Square Footage: 2,016
Acreage: 3.26
Asking Price: $545,000
Listing Agent: Nancy Mesham, Nancy Mesham Team, Coldwell Banker Realty, Old Lyme brokerage; Mobile: (860) 227-9071; nancy.mesham@coldwellbankermoves.com
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