The first thing you might notice is the quiet. As you approach, open fields give way to the Shawangunk Ridge on the horizon. Old stone walls. Gardens already established. Still -- no sound but birds.
Then the house. A European sensibility runs through it: a respect for what was built well a century ago, paired with quiet updates that make the space work for how people live now. Original doors, wide-plank floors with real patina, and a gourmet eat-in kitchen built for cooking, and for gathering around while someone does. The owners left many exquisite details that entice a slow look. The views are framed in nearly every window -- easy to miss at first, impossible to miss after.
The second-floor great room is the heart of the house. Part living room, part library, part place to sit with a fire going in the wood stove, equally right for a dinner party or a quiet evening alone. The picture windows show an old stone wall and expansive meadows beyond, with an easterly view of the Gunks.
The primary suite is its own world. Understated and calm, with a large soaking tub. A room built for rest -- the kind that takes a day or two to remember how to do.
Above it all, a third floor open to whatever it's needed for. Studio. Office. Yoga. Stargazing. Writing. I can imagine the Great American Novel being crafted here.
Let's step outside. The back patio is local bluestone -- more views, more birdsong. A garden shed for everything you'll want to grow. A wood shed, built by the current owner, stocked and ready, so the wood stove never runs short.
The practical details are as considered as the romantic ones. A new roof in 2018, 50-year shingles. New septic in 2015. Mini-splits handle heating and cooling year-round -- no drafty old-house compromises.
And solid cell service, which out here is its own kind of luxury.
Close to Arrowood Farms and Rough Cut Brewing, the Ashokan Reservoir, the Ashokan Rail Trail, and Woodstock.
What do you think? This could be yours.