This Berkshire County Area Has the 3rd Oldest Homes in the U.S.

Author: Jesse Stewart

Being a life-long resident of the Berkshires, I have lived in each section of the county (North, Central, and South). When my now wife, Amber, and I graduated from college, we were looking to rent an apartment with a short commute to our jobs. Amber worked at Kripalu and I was (still am) traveling to Great Barrington. We settled on a very inexpensive place in Lee. We were on the third floor, in a small apartment which was known as the maid's quarter. Though it was small, we had plenty of fun times including my proposal to Amber.

About a year and a half after we were married, it was time for us to purchase our first home. So we set out on some treks with our agent Paul Curro from Pittsfield, who by the way is superb. Paul will bend over backward for you. I can't say enough great things about Paul. Amber and I looked throughout central and southern Berkshire county and it was either the 29th or 30th house that we fell in love with which is the home we currently live in located in Pittsfield. We have loved living in Pittsfield, especially in our neighborhood which is excellent for raising a family and for taking walks.

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One thing I recently learned is that out of all small U.S. metros, the City of Pittsfield had the third oldest homes. According to a new report from the Inspection Support Network, in the Pittsfield area, 6.8% of existing housing units were built since the year 2000, compared to 37.9% built prior to 1940. The overall median age of Pittsfield homes is 66 years. Our home isn't quite that old as it was built in 1968. You can view the complete report and methodology by going here. Just another fun fact about Pittsfield. There are plenty of homes on the market, you could certainly find something good in Pittsfield.

While were talking about living in the Berkshires, do you live in any of the county's smallest towns?

The 10 Smallest Towns in Berkshire County (by population)

While we're talking about towns, let's view the richest town in each state.

LOOK: Here is the richest town in each state

Just saying the names of these towns immediately conjures up images of grand mansions, luxury cars, and ritzy restaurants. Read on to see which town in your home state took the title of the richest location and which place had the highest median income in the country. Who knows—your hometown might even be on this list.

And how about some beach towns? Sign me up.

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.