[caption id="attachment_4666" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] 150 West Main Street, Littleton, NH 03561[/caption] From the sellers of Maple Leaf Motel at 150 West Main Street in Littleton: Twenty years ago we lived in Lake Placid, NY . We liked it a lot, but had grown weary of working for others. Circumstances offered us the opportunity to make a drastic lifestyle move and become our own bosses. The big question was, of course, what to do. We rather quickly decided to explore the lodging or marina sectors of hospitality. Our criteria was relatively simple:

• We wanted something that we could operate with little or no additional staff.
• It had to offer good living accommodations for our family of five.
• It was important that it provided a living income.
• And it had to be located somewhere nice.

Our search was widespread and eventually we came upon the Maple Leaf Motel in Littleton, NH. Having lived and worked in the White Mountains of New Hampshire for many years, we knew that the lifestyle could be very exciting and rewarding. The motel was a nice size, requiring no additional staffing and yet provide a decent income. The real kicker was the very nice house, something that could stand on its own as a family residence, unlike most of what we saw at other lodging businesses. We opened in the spring of 1999 and set to work. Fortunately, Nancy and I had been in and around the hospitality business all our working lives and were familiar with the pressures (and pleasures) of working with transient tourists and folks in general. The property itself was in very good condition. By introducing a more welcoming face and some marketing we immediately saw a significant increase in occupancy and revenue. The size, thirteen units, seemed to be ideal. Also, having a variety of unit layouts proved to be a great asset. The living accommodations were ideal allowing us both privacy and easy access to guests. We found the seasonality of the business to be welcomed. Summer and fall are very busy with plenty of attractions, both manmade and natural throughout the White Mountains. Winter is not as busy as expected as skiers rarely get past all the places in Lincoln. However, there is enough activity to make being open well worthwhile and, of course, our kids were in school. It also allowed me to teach skiing at Cannon, Loon and Bretton Woods for most of the last twenty years. The two shoulder seasons gave us the option of staying open with enough revenue or taking time off especially after both boys graduated from high school and went to college. The town of Littleton is a great asset, even more than we initially realized. It's easily the most livable, well-rounded and attractive town north of Lake Winnipesaukee. Why sell? I am 70, Nancy is 60. It's time for us to enjoy the fruits of many years of labor. We have committed to spending a lot of time with Nancy's dad both in Florida & New Hampshire. After almost twenty years of playing host to travelers and visitors we want to enjoy the summer and fall, too. To learn more about our business and how you can become its new steward, please click here to learn more!