This past spring, the Quechee Lakes Real Estate Center changed hands, and became the Brick & Barn Real Estate Group. Herb Hart and Scott Rome now own the business, which offers professional real estate services for buyers and sellers. Former owner Charlie Bacon, who ran the Quechee Lakes Real Estate center since 1995, is staying on with Brick & Barn during the transition period, as is longtime agent, Carol Dewey Davidson whose Quechee roots span generations (Dewey’s Mills) and whose former husband was the original visionary/developer of Quechee Lakes, L. John Davidson.

New owner Herb Hart has spent 14 years working in the Quechee area real estate market, most recently with Quechee Lakes Rentals. Hart continues his involvement with that company, while helping run Brick & Barn. Hart says he and Rome were exploring other potential real estate ventures in the area, when Bacon approached them about buying the business. Saying they were “very interested” in the offer, Hart and Rome carefully looked at the possibility, and decided to go forward with the purchase. The pair bought the business, and the building on Murphy Road that houses the real estate business.

Co-owner Scott Rome says the reason they changed the name was to reflect the fact that the new business represents buyers and sellers beyond the immediate Quechee area. Brick & Barn works with buyers and sellers in other Upper Valley towns, including Norwich, Lebanon and Woodstock. It also has a presence in New Hampshire’s seacoast region; Rome has a home in Portsmouth, NH (as well as in Quechee), and is establishing an office and agents in that city. He adds that just in the past few months, his new company closed on four different properties in the Quechee area, sold to buyers from the Portsmouth vicinity.

Despite expanding the area served by their new business, Rome wants folks in Quechee to know this is still an important area for Brick & Barn. “Our commitment to servicing Quechee was never stronger,” says Rome, adding “I’m excited about what is happening in Quechee.”

Hart agrees Quechee remains an integral part of their real estate enterprise. “The market in Quechee is on the upswing,” says Hart.

Rome says his skills complement those of his partner quite well. Where Hart has plenty of experience in the local real estate market, Rome’s experience is in the areas of media and software technology. “I have a long career in sales and marketing,” he says. Rome hopes the new business offers a “fresh perspective” to the market.

Along with expanding the scope of their business, Hart and Rome made some needed changes to the building that houses the business on Murphy Road. That building, a farmhouse built around 1850, served as the original sales office for Quechee Lakes, says Rome. Since buying the business, and the building, the new owners renovated much of the structure, paying careful attention to retaining the historic nature of the building. Rome says the old farmhouse is now a “beautiful showpiece,” and he invites Quechee residents to stop in and visit the historic structure, long a part of the community.