Sanders' 'summer camp' in Vermont becomes fodder in debate

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Can a socialist own a summer house?

That's the question unabashed capitalist billionaire Mike Bloomberg — who himself owns about a dozen homes — posed as he tried to brand Sen. Bernie Sanders a hypocrite in Wednesday night's fiery Democratic presidential primary debate.

“The best known socialist in the country happens to be a millionaire with three houses," Bloomberg said of Sanders, the independent Vermont senator who is running for president as a Democrat and calls himself a democratic socialist. That charge prompted an irritated Sanders to start ticking through his real estate holdings onstage.

Yes, he has a home in Washington, where he works; one in Burlington, Vermont, where he lives; and “like thousands of other Vermonters, I do have a summer camp,” Sanders shot back. “Forgive me for that."

The use of the word camp is a Vermont colloquialism. In other parts of the country, Sanders' vacation home would be called a cabin or just a summer home. Its purchase price — $575,000 when he and his wife bought it in 2016 — suggests it's not exactly a rough and rustic shack in the wilderness.

The waterfront homesits on the island of North Hero in 120-mile-long (190 kilometers) Lake Champlain, between Vermont and New York. The population of 1,000 at least doubles in the summer, with visitors from around New England, Quebec and New York. Properties range from camps for $150,000 to some higher-end homes on the lake, according to Franz Rosenberger, co-owner of Coldwell Banker IslandsRealty.

Sanders' place is a “modest seasonal house" on an acre with a decent amount of lake frontage, Rosenberger said.

“It's not a fancy house at all. There are no granite countertops, stainless appliances or anything like that,” he said. He believes...