We like the comfort, openness and easiness of this house. It's hidden enough to feel like a weekend retreat. Yet it provides central access to all that we love in the area.
We come up with the kids to hike, bike, swim, fish, cook and relax and bbq with friends. The area offers so much of natures best that it's often hard to believe it's just 2 hours from NYC. Our giant tulip trees are home to orioles, finches and woodpeckers and owls. Our land also offers habitat to deer, woodchucks, frogs, a red fox--and one time even a black bear, to say nothing of our neighbors' free-ranging chickens! The house sits on several acres (as do others in the area), and the quiet is a nice antidote to the bustle of city life. Biking from the cliffs in the preserve back to our house, is a family favorite, there are carriage trails and gravel roads for all but about 1/4 mile. The hike to Bonticou is another must do.
We pick apples and pumpkins in the fall and let the kids get lost in the corn mazes and hay mazes at markets like the Wallkill, Jenkins and Calder Family Farm. Golfers will find a 9-hole course at Mohonk and 18 holes down the street at the Stone Dock Golf Course. Tennis players can play on a spectacular clay court with a view at Mohonk. There's also ample antiquing and even a vineyard.
We love to ski at Plattekill in winter. It's 15 minutes further than Hunter or Belleayre but we cherish the down home, old-school vibe. (It's hassle free and there's a great bar to boot!). My boys also love to ice skate up at Mohonk.
We take out-of-town guests to the DIA in Beacon, the FDR house and Vanderbilt mansions. We've also done cruises down the Hudson and trips to Red Hook and Hudson for antiques and enjoy the Hudson Valley culinary scene.