After picture of work at 12 Hale Street in Norwich. Resident Megan McLaughlin made the home improvements and won first place in the 2023 Home Beautification Contest. (Submitted photo), After picture of work at 16 Sheldon Street in Norwich. Resident Beth Jensen made the improvements and won first place for multi-family homes in the 2023 Home Beautification Contest. (Submitted photo)

NORWICH -The Norwich Building Tomorrow Foundation have announced the winners for the 2023 Home Beautification Contest.

For the fifth year running, the Home Beautification Contest has served to identify, encourage, and reward property owners in the City of Norwich for making improvements to their homes.

The contest is divided into two categories: owner-occupied single-family homes, and multi-family properties.

Winners for the 2023 Home Beautification Contest are as follows:

Single-Family

First Place: Megan McLaughlin, 12 Hale Street, $5,000 prize

Second Place: Mary Hannan, 7 Plymouth Street, $3,000 prize

Third Place: Phoebe Wagner, 20 Columbia Street, $100 and a Lowe's gift card

Multi-Family

First Place: Beth Jensen, 16 Sheldon Street, $5,000 prize

Honorable Mention: Tyler Foulds, 4 Ross Avenue, $1,000 prize

Single-family first place winner Megan McLaughlin said she repainted the exterior of her house, redid the landscaping, added a front porch with a privacy screen, and installed a new front storm door.

"It started out as one little project, we were just going to redo landscaping, and then that tumbled into everything else," she said.

The renovation kicked off in the spring and was wrapped up by the fall, according to McLaughlin. She was able to do some of the work herself, while other projects were hired out.

McLaughlin said she was fortunate to find a painter who could do the job that year.

"It all definitely happened faster than I thought. I didn’t even think we’d get a painter at least until next spring, but the person that we hired was able to do it sooner, which was great," McLaughlin said.

Now that those projects are completed, McLaughlin said their next step is to redo the backyard for their golden retriever.

First place winner of the multi-family category Beth Jensen said her home renovation included complete exterior repainting, a new roof, repainted railings, and brand new outdoor carpeting on the steps.

"I just thought that it needed to be done because it was getting really ratty looking, and I didn’t want that impression as a landlord. I wanted it to look nice, for the tenants and for the City of Norwich," she said. "Then the contest just happened to fall right around the same time period, so that was a nice bonus to it."

She said the work was done by contractors, and only took around a week to complete. The finished result is a refreshed home that Jensen said her tenants love.

"They loved that we did it. They loved it," she said. "The tenants that are there, they take good care of it, so it actually looks really nice."

Second place single-family home winner Mary Hannan replaced her front porch, third place winner Phoebe Wagner repainted the exterior of her home, and Tyler Foulds, honorable mention winner for the multi-family category, completed both exterior and interior home repairs.