Celebrating 5 Years in Business with the local connection

October 11, 2026

It’s been 5 years! It feels like I started this business a VERY long time ago. I had a different 9-5 job then, we were only one year into the COVID reality, my female cat, Sophie was still alive, and my nieces and nephew were only 2, 4, and 6. (They are 7, 9, and 11 in 2026!)

However, I can also remember in great detail the month between closing on the house and renovating before my first guests arrived on October 6, 2021:

  • My wood floors were refinished by October 3
  • My painters finished on October 5
  • I was putting furniture together the morning of their arrival, and
  • I was dusting with friends that afternoon before a 3:00 p.m. check-in. 

It was exhilirating!

Each year, I celebrate with a new post of reflections:

  1. In 2023, at the 2-year mark, I shared my top 10 best guest stories and 10 worst guest stories;
  2. In 2024, I described the top 6 benefits of owning a short-term rental; and
  3. In 2025, I outlined the major renovations and costs that transformed this property into two fully separate units. 

This year, I’ve decided to highlight guest stories that feature the local connection.

As I pitched to the Pittsfield Township Board in February when they were deciding upon new (restrictive) regulations for short-term rentals in our community, I felt it important to share the stories of a great many guests who have lived in my neighborhood, or are connected to someone who lives in this neighborhood, and choose to stay at my property. In its way, Hillside Manor has become Golfside Height’s very own short term rental to use. 

I’ll end this post with my favorite guest story of the year. Pete Sinelli, one of the granchildren of the Pete & Hazel Sinelli family (who owned the property from the early 1960s until the late 1990s) booked my home for a family reunion and shared countless photos of the property with me from those years. It was such a gift for all of us! But, first…

THE Local Guest CONNECTION

  1. My neighbors just across the street are in their 80s. Their daughter has booked my property several times for her family. Her family has some health challenges that make it difficult for them to stay in a hotel. Having a private home where they can control the envrionment AND being able to simply walk across the street is critical for them!

  2. A guest from Cary, North Carolina, has stayed with me 3 times now when her family comes to town. Her sister lives just a neighborhood over, so my location works great for their family gatherings. 

  3. I was coming back from an evening walk, when I saw an SUV pulling out of my driveway. In it, three women: a mother, sister, and aunt of a neighbor far down on Hillside greeted me! My neighbor was celebrating her 60th birthday. My home served as overflow for their family’s guests!

  4. Coming back this Chrismas is a boy (now man!) who grew up in Golfside Heights. He has a family of four. Their crew has outgrown his parent’s home, so they stay down the street in my home. Their twin boys were just 2 when I last saw them. They’ll be 6 now!

  5. Then, there are the three men in their late 60s who come to town a few times a year. They love staying here. It has three rooms for them and it is close in proximity to their fourth friend, who lives in a nearby retirement community. Their friend is suffering from severe memory loss. Their visits are life-affirming for them, and my home offers them the perfect respite. 

  6. One of my favorite stories is that of a mother, mother-in-law, and aunt of my neighbor who lives kitty-corner from me. This trio wanted to stay here so they could cook, package, and walk hot food over to my pregnant neighbor for her nesting party. My guests were in town to help her prepare for the new baby, and they needed three bedrooms, a full kitchen, and close proximity. Hillside Manor to the rescue!

I’m guessing you’ve gotten the idea that my neighbors are grateful to have a short-term rental close to them. They treat it as their own to use, and I love that. 

You can imagine my surprise, however, when I got a booking from Pete Sinelli. Responding to my initial greeting message, he let me know that he had passed by his grandparent’s house on Hillside and saw that it was a short-term rental. He found the property on Airbnb, and booked his grandparent’s old home for a family renuinion!

How many of us would love to stay in our old home, or the former home of our grandparents where we have so many wonderful memories from childhood? 

They were excited, and so was I! 

Pete Sinelli brought his parents to the house. His father spent some time here during college summers, and many of Pete’s cousins, aunts and uncles were grateful to revisit the house where they had so many memories. I was lucky enough to get a guided tour of what had changed in the house since their grandparents owned it.

Here are several things I learned from their visit: 

  1. Although the Sinellis lived here for about 30 years, they weren’t the original owners as I had heard from other neighbors. They bought the house from the original owners in the early 1960s.
  2. The strange cement block built into the back of my house is covering an old well, dating back to the original construction of the house in 1958. 
  3. What is currently my bedroom downstairs was a game room, complete with a pool table. There was also a door leading from this room to the front of the house. That door no longer exists; a window is in its place. 
  4. There was no side door on the driveway side as there is now.
  5. The kitchen and bathrooms were renovated after the Sinelli family sold, so sometime between 2000 and 2020.
  6. The many stories I heard about Hazel Sinelli and her green thumb were true. She grew roses and peonies (some remants still remain), planted many of the beautiful trees in the yard, and she took great pride in her yard. I’m very proud to carry on her legacy!
  7. Pete, her grandson, used to sled down the hill, just like I sled down the driveway!
  8. The house was painted a dark brown. It was not originally this dark blue color.
  9. Grandpa Pete was a huge collector of rocks, which is why I still have many beautiful rocks throughout my yard.
  10. As I suspected, the forest that surrounds my house that is filled with invasive species like buckthorn, honeysuckle, English ivy, and mulberry trees grew after the Sinellis left. From the nearly 100 photos I’ve seen from the Sinelli family, the yard had non-invasive trees, shrubs, and perennials. 

I hope you enjoy the gallery below as much as I enjoyed matching photographs!

68 Years of Living at 3302 Hillside Drive in golfside Heights

This is a very early photo of the house from the early 60s. Brown and with two entrances in front and no trees.
The dark blue came sometime in the 2000s. There is now a window where that door on the right was.
The entrance had an iron railing and banister overlooking this room.
It’s now a wooden railing and a half wall between the dining and living rooms.
You can see the iron banister over the living room in this photo. This is the Sinelli crew enjoying family time.
It’s still a living room where guests spend a lot of time. This large window is original to the house!
The original kitchen, complete with a dining room table.
The same view. The kitchen renovation was done before I moved in.
Hazel was a passionate gardner. Roses, peonies, Japanese Maples, and more!
The area was filled with overgrowth when I moved in. but I found remnants of Hazel’s flowers!
Hazel’s beautiful white peonies.
There were 2 peony plants left when I moved in. I built a sungarden around them!
More of Hazel’s work after they’d been in the home for a few years.
We have many similarities in our approach. I’m happy to carry on Hazel’s love of landscaping!