Cairo Farmhouse for $115,000, with studio and paddocks

This 1890 Cairo farmhouse, in the hamlet of Purling, has a tempting price tag for the amount of space and interior detail. It’s not quite big enough to be called “rambling”—a quality I love in an Upstate farmhouse—but with three bedrooms, two baths, a separate studio, and a horse paddocks, it’s certainly roomy from a city dweller’s point of view. The house is in “town,” but set far back from the road, and Purling has a decidedly country feel.

The house has some nice original detail—wavy glass windows, original moldings, plank floors—plus a deep front porch and an antique wood stove. The condition is listed as “average,” though we’re not sure what sort of work would be needed here, other than updates.

The biggest drawback seems to be the off-the-beaten-path yet not-quite-rolling-countryside location. If anyone takes a look, let us know.  Stats, additional pics, and map after the jump.

Kerhonkson Contemporary, $129,000

A bounty of affordable country houses in these parts! I happen to like the look a little more on the outside than on the inside, but ripping out that blue carpet in the TV room will go a long way. 46 Dymond Road in Kerhonkson was built in 1960, but you can see some upgrades since then, particularly the subway tile in the bathroom. Looks like it could use a bit of modernizing (change the cabinets in the bathroom, perhaps the kitchen, too), but with a price like that, you could probably afford to upgrade. This one, too, has a condition of “good,” so if you go see it, bring a skeptical eye and a really good engineer.

The stats:
46 Dymond Road, Kerhonkson (Freestyle Realty) GMAP
Asking Price: $129,000
Beds: 3
Baths: 2
Square Feet: 1,712
Land: 1.83 acres
Year Built: 1960
Taxes: $5,608
Features: mountain views

Kerhonkson Waterfall House, $649,900

Can you imagine snuggling into your bed at night after a long day at the office, being lulled to sleep by the sound of a waterfall in your backyard?  I had to get five aquariums AND download a waterfall sounds app for my iPod just to get that effect in my apartment.  Having a swimming hole in your back yard in which to languish on sultry summer days would be pretty great also.

Oh, and we like the house, too.  It’s pretty, but the first thing I would do if I bought this home would be to pull up the carpets.  I always assume that under every hideous carpet lies a beautiful hardwood floor.  I have no basis for this assumption, except that one time, I lived in a house that had nice hardwood floors hidden by barf-green shag carpeting.  Long story short:  It doesn’t hurt to pull up the corner of the carpet, just to see what’s under there.

The house is set back from Boice Mill Road, secluded, and surrounded by farm land all around.  And if this was our yard, we’re not sure we’d ever be able to leave the property ever again.  Looks like the perfect place to go for a bit of an afternoon ramble, don’t you think?

205 Boice Mill Road, Kerhonkson (Murphy Realty Group) GMAP
Asking Price: $649,900
Beds: 4
Baths: 2
Square Feet: 2500
Land: 3.9 acres
Year Built: 1900
Features: Cathedral ceilings, waterfront

Car-Free Country House in Beacon $274,500

 

It doesn’t get much better than this (and believe me, I looked HARD): This home is a brisk ten-minute bike ride to the Beacon Metro-North station, yet set back just a wee bit out of town and right on the edge of a more rural landscape.  The lovely Madam Brett Mill Park is a breath away, and the Dia Art Foundation and the waterfront are nearby, too.

There’s a glut of lovely real estate in Beacon, ripe for the picking.  Frankly, a lot of it is fancier and therefore pricier than this home.  But I’m spoiled.  I want it all.   I want sufficient space inside the house (look at the size of that bedroom in the picture to the left there), but I need to have some outside, as well.  In the summer, I treat my yard like another room, and I want to be able to walk or ride my bike to at least 50% of any given place I want or need to be during the week.  That’s why I like this place.

Oh, and there’s a really cool store in Beacon called Dream In Plastic.  I don’t get to Beacon a whole lot these days, but when I do, I make a bee-line for this shop.  I won’t spend a lot of time talking about how awesome it is, because I think that’s pretty evident from the website.  Just be prepared to spend some ducats, for their wares, though quite irresistible, are not cheap.

Long story short, you should live in Beacon.  You should live in this house right here, and then you should go buy some cool stuff at Dream In Plastic.  After that, you should grab your spouse/significant other/dog/tolerant cat and take a walk on Long Dock park, and then you should have some pad thai.  You can thank me later.

The stats:
70 Howland Avenue, Beacon (Kristie Alexa Difrancesco – Prudential) GMAP
Asking Price: $274,500
Beds: 3
Baths: 1.5
Square Feet: 1400
Land: .44 acres
Year Built: 1925
Taxes: $5241
Features: 2 car detached garage, wood burning fireplace, hard-wood floors

Kerhonkson Farm House, $145,000

Ah, for the price of a parking spot, you can get a lovingly painted farm house on an acre of land in Kerhonkson. This one caught my eye because of the exterior paint job, though I’d wash over much of the interior colors with hues that don’t evoke a package of Smarties. Yes, the interior needs some love.

There’s only one bathroom at 145 Samsonville Road, which explains some of the price (of course, I really like that bathroom). So does the fact that the MLS lists the condition as “good.” That said, I love those kitchen cabinets and their deco-ish door pulls (are those original, you think? Or from the ’40s?). Nice views, although you’re perched right on the road, sitting on your porch to look at them. Nice expanse of backyard and adorable outbuilding. A good starter upstate home, you think?

The stats:
145 Samsonville Road, Kerhonkson (Exit Welch Realty) GMAP
Asking Price: $129,000
Beds: 3
Baths: 1
Year Built: 1926
Square Feet: 1,496
Land: .98 acres
Taxes: $3,135
Features: mountain views, outbuilding

Still for Sale: The Kerhonkson Dome, $375,000

Inspired by the New Paltz dome (now on the market), we spent some time last year looking at dome houses for sale in upstate New York. And since we’re concentrating on Kerhonkson this week, we peeked in again on this super-green monolithic dome. 105 Dymond Road hasn’t gone down in price, but, heck, it hasn’t gone down in originality either. Been listed for about six months. Three beds, two baths, 3.2 acres, 3,200 square feet. For the hippie in all of us. Some estimates I saw of sale prices were in the $325,000 range.
105 Dymond Road (Westwood Metes & Bounds) GMAP

Frederick Clarke Withers Home in Newburgh for $395,000

This gorgeous home designed by Frederick Clark Withers has been on the market for a while. Now it is being listed as a short sale and the price has dropped considerably, so it’s worth a spot here on Upstater. Withers is known for his Gothic church designs, and he also worked with Calvert Vaux as a partner. This home has a carriage house, 6 bedrooms, and original character galore. It is a wonderful example of Newburgh architecture at its best that has been preserved. Neighboring homes have equal historic architecture of the same caliber. See below for more photos and information.

Town of the Week: Kerhonkson

photo from Wikipedia

So, my experience of Kerhonkson is limited to two drives through it, and talking to two single New Yorker ladies who bought second homes there. One works in photography, the other in TV, and chose the location because it’s not too much of a drive (a little over two hours) and significantly cheaper than some towns with more curb appeal in Ulster County, like Stone Ridge or Rosendale.

Not to say that there aren’t amenities in the town: a Chinese restaurant, a pharmacy, post office, pool supply and a funeral home, to name a few. Route 209 cuts straight through town, leading deep into Sullivan County. The hamlet of Kerhonkson is one of two within the town of Rochester (not to be confused with the city of Rochester) — the other is Accord, which has even fewer amenities. It’s pretty and quiet and rural, a good area to be alone in. You might find yourself driving into Stone Ridge or Rosendale for groceries or a bit of night life, but it’s not more than a 20-minute drive to most of what you’ll need.

As for real estate… you can find luxury homes in the area if you search hard enough, but in general what you’ll find here are farm houses hovering in the affordable range: $300,000 to $600,000 for something with character, good bones, and land. More houses, and more on Kerhonkson, this week on Upstater!

Claverack Passive Solar $285,000

I have to admit, I’m kind of a sucker for an open floor plan. Sure, it’s not always the best choice if you have children or you live with someone but enjoy your privacy, but I still love the airiness of it all. But then again, I was born and raised in Alaska, and it’s well known that we Alaskans love our open spaces.

Speaking of space, the property also features a nice and roomy 6+ acres to stretch out in, plus a waterfront view of the Claverack Creek. And although Route 23 is kind of the main drag in Claverack, it’s more of a country-fied main drag, which means less bumper-to-bumper and more farmland views, and it’s set far enough off the road to make this property quite the nice little get-away, either as a second home or a year-round residence.

The exposed posts and beams are not too shabby, either, if you’re into that sort of thing, and I am totally into that sort of thing.

Oh, and another thing: There are organic fruit trees! The land is suitable for keeping horses! The seven year old in me seems to be really excited about that.

The stats:
300 Route 23, Claverack (Beach & Bartolo) GMAP
Asking Price: $285,000
Beds: 2 (if you put up a privacy screen)
Baths: 1
Square Feet: 1300
Land: 6.45 acres
Year Built: 1989
Taxes: $7678
Features: Studio/guest room above detached garage

Friday Real Estate Porn: Claverack Passive House, $675,000

Haven’t heard of Passivhaus? It’s one of the greatest green building innovations since the igloo. Basically, it’s a house so tightly sealed that it hardly needs to be heated or cooled. It uses an air exchanger to help regulate the temperature, as well as passive solar heating (basically, a giant wall of south-facing glass that lets lots of light and sun and heat in during winter months, and an overhang to block it during the summer).

This passive house, a spec house in Claverack built by Dennis Wedlick Architects, is a beaut. 349 Millbrook Road in Claverack is an electric house with an expected annual utility bill of $400. Nice. It has three beds, two baths, 1,650 square feet and seven acres, all a hop-skip from Hudson. The ceilings are 22-feet high, very open floor plan. I think it’s a tad too modern for me, a little on the sterile side, though I’m sure if you furnish it warmly it’ll be amazing. Certainly, it’s a piece of architecture to be proud of.

It was profiled in the NY Times last summer (as well as in Interior Design this fall) and listed at $595,000. So what happened? Turns out the builder’s costs were much higher than anticipated, so they’ve now listed it at $675,000. Harumph.

349 Millbrook Road, Claverack (Gabel Real Estate) GMAP