About Christine Bates

Christine S. Bates is a contributing writer for the magazine. Her focus is in the business, finance and real estate related fields, not to say that she won’t cover some of the fun and quirky, too!

Curb Appeal

A gradual movement away from fertilized, mown green lawn with a band of spirea hiding foundations towards an intentional, sophisticated approach to residential landscaping is happening all around us. At the same time that sellers are “upgrading” bathrooms and kitchens to increase the value of their home and enjoy the improvements themselves, they are paying […]

By |2024-05-01T17:33:26-04:00May 1st, 2024|Real Estate|

Mystery Business – Dutchess Millwork

Inspired by the popularity of our series on “mystery houses,” Main Street decided to extend the category to mystery businesses whose products, customers, and purposes elude our attention. Dutchess Millwork, in existence for almost 50 years, is our first mystery business and, as with so many mystery houses, change is coming. 

What’s in that building […]

By |2024-05-04T10:24:48-04:00May 1st, 2024|Monthly Entrepreneur|

The Greenest Town in Connecticut

The hilly, rocky rural Town of Cornwall and its five Cornwallian hamlets – Cornwall Bridge, Cornwall, West Cornwall, East Cornwall and Cornwall Hollow – are described as quirky, different, bohemian, artistic, intellectual, remote, private, and outdoorsy.  East of Kent and Sharon in Litchfield County, Cornwall is lightly populated with only 1,379* residents spread out […]

By |2024-04-03T11:44:57-04:00March 27th, 2024|Real Estate|

JEWELRY HISTORIAN

Erica Weiner’s website clearly states “the weirder the better” when describing its antique jewelry from the twelfth through the twentieth century. Weird? Maybe. Beautiful? Most certainly! We were able to catch up with Erica to learn about her company’s origin story and the development of its jewelry designs and business. 

How did you and your […]

By |2024-03-04T13:01:46-05:00March 4th, 2024|Monthly Entrepreneur|

TRANSFORMATIONS

January is the month for starting fresh. Like people, houses can have new beginnings, with a creative vision of their potential. For this issue, we interviewed designer Carol Neiley, co-owner of Maison Collab, who transformed a vacant caretaker’s cottage at Great Elm in Sharon, into an elegant and functional Federal-style sanctuary.

Were you looking for a […]

By |2024-01-02T21:49:27-05:00January 2nd, 2024|Real Estate|

THE THREE O’S

For this month’s health issue, Main Street has its eyes on vision care and those “O” professionals who provide a wide range of eye-care services. In our region there is a choice between medical doctors, independent optometrists, corporate-owned retailers staffed by optometrists, and independent and retail chain opticians.  

Which kind of O do you […]

By |2024-01-02T21:44:52-05:00January 2nd, 2024|Monthly Entrepreneur|
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