Spring Glen, N.Y.

Read the latest posts about Spring Glen, N.Y. here.

Spring Glen is about 90 miles, or just under two hours, from New York City. It’s an unincorporated village (meaning not part of any official municipality, and thus with lower taxes but fewer services), just north of Sullivan County. The area is full of bungalow colonies, many of them Orthodox Jewish–Spring Glen was apparently the site of the first Synagogue in the Castkills–but some of them full of plain old New York City summer refugees. It’s bordered by the Shawangunk State Forest, which will keep at least its eastern border from over-development.

The area is Rural-with-a-capital-R; expect to drive a few miles, probably north into Ellenville, for most provisions. There is a sports bar, part of the Gold Mountain Resort (itself a former bungalow colony reborn as an inn), and a post office, but not much else. Still, chances are you will have neighbors if you choose a home here, from whom you can borrow a cup of sugar.

In the summer of 2011, the market seems fairly bearish, with average listing prices generally falling below $200,000.