Above: The "Waterfall" house, offered by Kellie Place of Century 21 Chesser Realty.
The phrase “unique Catskills property” is a redundant one. As we who dwell here know, the vast majority of homes up this way have personality to spare – be it a personality resembling a comfy old friend, a sleek sophisticate, or a high maintenance diva who demands perpetual pampering.
There's even a Hunter-based agency that openly admits this: Unique Realty, where they maintain a drool-worthy array ranging from estates and chalets to simpler fare and can arrange the creation of a dream home as unique as you are. But to truly stand out in a region where fanciful souls have been creating dream homes for generations, a property needs to be special indeed.
That goes double if the property's claim to unique status is its luxury. After all, with its proximity to major metro stuff coupled with stunning beauty, the region's long been a draw for those who can afford the very best. But even with such a high-set bar, some properties do manage to stand out. Here, for your delectation, we present the current crop of extraordinaire:
No ordinary barn. Live, work and play has never been more applicable than to this 30-acre Greenville parcel with pond and views. The house is a converted barn, four lovely bedrooms with two fireplaces – one in the master suite – and a fine spacious kitchen downstairs. Upstairs, another 2400 square feet of open space awaits your whim. Guest suites? Art studio? Gym? What's your passion?
Fix the upstairs to suit your wildest dreams, because there's plenty of space to get practical in the included 6,000 square foot commercial/manufacturing space with its prime frontage on Rt. 81.
117 Legendary Lane is 10,000 square feet of living and playing space with Windham views, being offered fully furnished. It's all white pine logs and stone inside and out. Your 45 acres are surrounded by forever-wild land, with a stream and waterfall running through.
The main house – over 6,000 square feet of it- is a five-bedroom pleasure palace. There's a wine cellar and a sun room and three fireplaces. Put your guests up in privacy in the carriage house, and get together for a dip in the saltwater indoor pool house. Should you feel the need of more amusement, there's a perfect spot just waiting for a tennis court on this “family/corporate compound.”
The Neversink Gorge Lodge is a six-bedroom stunner recycled from an 1867 post-and-beam barn, downright, well, gorge-ous with its river frontage, chef's kitchen and towering stone fireplace. You're surrounded by forever-wild land. Will you have brunch today on the wraparound deck off the Great Room, or on the spacious screened-in porch?
But that's not even the cool stuff. The Lodge is completely off the grid, with an array of solar panels backed up by a generator and propane fired heat accented with a cozy-making pellet stove in the master suite- not to mention the massive fireplace, of course. Perhaps most unique of all the Lodge's features, though, is the privacy. It's situated well within the Neversink River Unique Area. No tacky “Posted” signs needed when you're occupying only one of two deeded residences, two miles of driveway past a stop sign and gate erected by the DEC.
The Waterfall House. “You could never reproduce this property!” raves realtor Kellie Place, and she's got a point. Nestled within walking distance of Main Street in tiny Downsville, the Waterfall House features not one but five waterfalls literally within spitting distance. Walk out from your fully finished basement and dip your toes – either before or after a soak in the his and hers Jacuzzis.
There's an open floor plan and a Great Room with cathedral ceilings, an-extra large bluestone fireplace and three glass walls. The ten-bay garage space comes stocked with “a Jeep and plow, two tractors and three quads,” the better to explore your astonishing new 'hood.
Place has posted a YouTube video of all that water rushing past a house that blends sweetly to its stunning backdrop; to watch it is to be enveloped in dreams of positive vibrations and negative ions, in the tuneless, eloquent song of the rocks. But yeah, this is – after all – the Catskills. We got that.
