Chelsea has a quaint, historic center with rural surroundings
As the seat of Orange County, Chelsea has a small, picturesque town center full of historic buildings, but its role does nothing to budge the slow, comfortable pace of life that’s persisted here for hundreds of years. Its cluster of homes and buildings quickly gives way to farmland, pastures and forest. “It’s very quaint, very cute,” says Ruby Klarich, a real estate agent at Central Vermont Real Estate who grew up nearby and has been selling homes in the area for over two years. “There’s farms, there’s definitely winding roads and a tight-knit community and trees, woods, cows.”
Hiking, swimming and hunting in Chelsea’s landscape
Chelsea Town Forest is full of hiking trails, and Klarich says that like the rest of Vermont, there are little swimming holes that get popular when the weather gets hot. In Chelsea, these swimming spots are usually on or branching off from the First Branch White River, though swimming or tubing in the river immediately after rain is discouraged because of pollution concerns from runoff. During the winter, residents enjoy snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. Klarich says hunting is also popular. “If that’s your hobby, you can meet neighbors and friends and go hunting on their land,” she says.
Historic houses, barn quilts and acreage
Whether they’re in Chelsea’s historic town center or tucked along a dirt road in the country, houses here are often colonials, Cape Cods and farmhouses. Houses are closer together in Chelsea’s town center and tend to be historic, usually dating to the first half of the 1800s. Many of them proudly display unique decorations: barn quilts. Despite the name, the artwork isn’t fabric, but geometric, quilt-like patterns painted on a square piece of wood. “There’s just this cohesiveness with the homes and it shows the community in the town,” Klarich says. “Because they’re these square paintings and they’re all a little bit different, but almost every house has one. … But each piece showed kind of a personality for the family living in the house.” The paintings are the result of The Chelsea Community Barn Quilt Project, which started in 2017 to celebrate the arts leading up to the town’s art festival. Today, the community has over 90 barn quilts displayed, all of them made by local artists or residents.
Beyond the center of town, houses usually have at least an acre of land, but they can easily have well over 10 or even 20 acres. Larger properties often have outbuildings like a barn or stable to go along with farmland, pastures or forest. The difference in the age and lot size of homes creates a wide range of prices, which typically fall between $100,000 and $875,000. The area’s median price is about $200,000.
Essentials, farm stands and a brewery
Chelsea’s town center is home to the Orange County Courthouse and a handful of services, including a gas station and library. A restaurant, The Brick House, is set to open in June 2025 and will serve breakfast and lunch. At the town’s edge, Brocklebank Craft Brewing is open on the weekends and offers craft beer alongside regular live music during the summer. Will’s Store offers a small selection of groceries. Free Verse Farm Shop sells fresh produce, groceries and teas. Farm stands are common throughout the area, too. “People will stop at local farms or even people’s houses if they have chickens,” Klarich says. “They’ll sell cartons of eggs on the side of the road. ... There’s a lot of honor systems, too, where they’ll have an area or a shed or something with meat, eggs, what have you, and you leave cash or a check.” The Chelsea Farmers Market is also held every Saturday and Wednesday from May through October. Other shops, groceries or restaurants are in nearby towns, such as South Royalton, 14 miles away, and Randolph, 17 miles away.
School choice for high schools around Chelsea
Children attend Tunbridge Central School, which Niche gives a C-plus, from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade and First Branch Middle School, which has a C, through eighth grade. Vermont’s school choice program means parents and teenagers can choose a high school, including attending a nearby private school for free. With a B and a student-to-teacher ratio of 8-to-1, Thetford Academy is a popular private choice, though it is about 20 miles from Chelsea. The closest school is White River Valley High School, a public school with a B-minus and a student-to-teacher ratio of 9-to-1.
Driving to I-89, medical care in Chelsea
State Routes 110 and 113 are the main roads that run through Chelsea. Many of the roads that branch off from them have dirt or gravel surfaces. Interstate 89 is about 14 miles away, so it takes a little over 20 minutes to reach it. Chelsea Health Center provides care like annual physicals, lab work and general sick visits. The nearest hospital is Gifford Medical Center, which is about 18 miles away. Central Vermont Medical Center is about 20 miles away.
Potential flooding along the river, navigating mud season
Vermont experiences heavy rainfall in the spring and summer, bringing a severe risk of flooding, including a risk of flash floods. The greatest risk is along the First Branch White River. Chelsea also experiences a mud season that starts when spring rains mix with thawing ground, creating deep mud on the area’s dirt and gravel roads. Four-wheel drives are usually the best way to navigate affected roads, and some hiking trails may be closed temporarily.
Chelsea’s annual art festival, nearby Tunbridge World’s Fair
Chelsea’s Arts on the Green Market & Festival in August celebrates local artists. During the festival, artists set up booths at the center of town to sell pottery, textiles and jewelry, metalwork and sculptures. There’s also often live music. Just 8 miles away, the Tunbridge World’s Fair is a major event, drawing between 30,000 and 50,000 people, including many Chelsea residents.
Written By
Christina Norwood
