Friday Front Porch Feature: An Energy-Efficient New Build

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Are you looking for a sophisticated home with low utility bills?

Our Friday Front Porch is a weekly feature spotlighting attractive homes for sale in Berkshire County. This week, we are showcasing 15 Orchard Lane.

This three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath, contemporary farmhouse was built in 2025 and is 1,704 square feet on less than an acre. The house features an attached and insulated two-car garage. 

The interior boasts hardwood floors, electric fireplace and a kitchen with stainless steel appliances. The primary bedroom and en suite are located on the first floor, and two bedrooms, a full bath and bonus space on the second floor. 

The home is electric and energy efficient with heating and cooling technology from the latest Energy Star-rated heat pump technology.

Down in the waterproofed full basement, there is a dehumidifier and a battery-backed sump pump. It has a generously sized covered side porch. 

It is on the market for $829,500.

We spoke with Paul Harsch III with Harsch Associates, which has the listing.

What do you think makes this property stand out in the current market? 

This home stands out from anything else on the market now or that has been available in recent memory because it is brand new. Save for a portion of the foundation and some first-floor framing, it is completely new and much expanded from the original house. Unless one is building from scratch, to find a brand-new home is virtually impossible as there is no spec building and hasn't been any for many years. 

What was your first impression when you walked into the home?

Crisp, clean, all new, bright, and spacious with the cathedral ceiling in the living room space yet compact and efficient. 

Do you know any unique stories about the home or its history? 

The sellers had designed this as their forever retirement home but family matters dictated they remain in Texas thus they are reluctantly giving up their dream home here.

What kind of buyer would this home be ideal for? 

The buyer for this home wants a quiet location yet very convenient to the center of things. They want ground-floor living with spare bedrooms on the second floor for guests or office space. They want a modest-sized yard not requiring a lot of expense or care to maintain but providing a pleasant hot-weather retreat in the shade of mature trees. This buyer wants an efficient low-maintenance home not requiring any attention or work on the exterior other than perhaps the occasional power washing of the siding to show the crisp white lifetime siding. They want a totally dry basement with a warranty to back that up, and they want a spacious two-car garage to protect themselves and their vehicles from the weather or summer heat.

Are there any recent renovations or standout design features? 

Imagine moving into this home and enjoying brand-new, never used stainless steel appliances, a brand-new state of the art heat pump hot air and AC ventilation system, insulation and windows to the newest code standards, never before used floors, bathroom fixtures, sparkling fresh paint on all surfaces, and gleaming hardwood floors. 

What would you say to a buyer trying to imagine their life in this space? 

For those who like to have a safe place to walk, from their doorway, whether just around the inner circle of this pleasant neighborhood or to venture a little farther to access the town walking trails, this would be ideal. For those who like the comfort of having close neighbors but who also enjoy their privacy, this town and neighborhood will appeal. Inside will feel so comfortable all year around with its high efficiency heating and AC system in a home built for excellent energy efficiency with one utility bill for all household needs. For those wanting to live in a clean all electric home with none of the odors or toxins related to fossil fuel heating or cooking and enjoying the ambiance of the electric fireplace.

This home would be ideal for a single person as it would never feel too large but a couple would fit happily here as well. Children and houseguests would fit comfortably on the second floor or use the additional bedrooms for home offices. So many options. 

How would you describe the atmosphere or feel of this home? 

Fresh, efficient, convenient with no wasted square footage. Friendly, comfortable, not pretentious or ostentatious yet individual as well, with its own design and finishes that stand apart from the traditional cape and other colonial designs in the neighborhood and town as a whole.

You can find out more about this home on its listing here.

*Front Porch Feature brings you an exclusive to some of the houses listed on our real estate page every week. Here we take a bit of a deeper dive into a certain house for sale and ask questions so you don't have to.

Williams College Lone Suitor for Development of Water Street Lot

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
11:15AM / Thursday, April 16, 2026

Williams College hopes to replace the current Facilities Services building on Latham Street and use that space for a new  athletics complex. 

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — If the town accepts an offer from Williams College, a 1.27-acre lot that long has been eyed as a possible venue for housing and economic development instead will find a use similar to its history.

 

The college was the lone respondent to the town's request for proposals to purchase and develop 59 Water St., a dirt lot known around town as the "old town garage site." This was first reported Wednesday by Greylock News. 

 

If successful, the college plans to use the former town garage property for the school's Facilities Services building. Or it could be turned back into a parking lot.

 

Williams' offer includes a $500,000 upfront payment and a 10-year agreement to make $50,000 annual donations to the Mount Greylock Regional School District according to the proposal unsealed on Wednesday afternoon.

 

If it closes the deal, the college said it will explore development of a three- to four-story Facilities Services building with "a structured parking facility providing approximately 170 spaces."

 

"[I]f site constraints impact our ability to develop both structured parking and the Facilities Services building, our backup proposal is to develop the parking structure with approximately 170 spaces, also with capacity to support institutional and public needs," the college's proposal reads.

 

The college's current Facilities property at 60 Latham St. has an assessed value — for the .42-acre lot only — of $113,000 and an annual property tax bill of $1,606, according to the town's website.