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cover
story
Excerpted
from the May 28, 2001 issue of New York Magazine. Copyright
©2001 New York Magazine.
The UnHamptons
Columbia County A weekend
in Columbia County isn't about proximity to New York's rich and famous, it's about
distance from them. "I can't see anyone else from my property, and no one can
see me, and I love it!" says lawyer Ernest Rubenstein. "We don't get that fast-lane
'look how much money I have' clientele up here," agrees local broker Andrea Gabel.
"People just want to come up and have a barbecue and go for a swim in their pond
-- they don't want to have to worry about their dinner reservations." The weekend
population consists largely of writers, artists, teachers, and editors -- and
the occasional lawyer. "There's a very different type of character here than what
you'd find in the Hamptons," says filmmaker Sedat Pakay, who moved with his wife
to Columbia County from New York City in 1988. "I would say it's a more intellectual
crowd." FAMILIAR FACES The Columbia County intelligentsia: poet John Ashbery,
Donald Westlake, Ellsworth Kelly, William Wegman, photographer and musician Christian
Steiner, sculptor George Ricky, Victor Navasky, Tatum O'Neal, and filmmaking team
Merchant and Ivory, who have weekended in the area for more than 25 years. "I
do quite a bit of cooking here," says Ismail Merchant. "I'm an excellent chef."
HOT TOPICS The same Upper West Siders who pack community-board meetings in
the city spend their weekends in Columbia County, so it's no surprise that socializing
here often takes the form of community protest. "Friends of" groups opposing virtually
any commercial development abound. A few of their least favorite things: the Lebanon
Valley Speedway -- a dragway beloved by some locals -- and a proposed cement plant
in Greenport. TRAVEL TIME Getting there actually is half the fun. "Once you're
on the highway, the trip is just beautiful the whole way up," says Ila Lane Gross,
who has been weekending in Chatham since 1973. The drive up the Taconic is about
two and a half hours from the city. The Amtrak train ride to Hudson is two hours
(1-800-usa-rail). THINGS TO DO Hudson has become a center for antique dealers
and collectors, with more than 65 high-end shops along its main street. Historic
sites include beautiful Mount Lebanon Shaker Village and the Shaker Museum in
Old Chatham, and Olana, the Frederic Church estate in Greenport. Christian Steiner's
wonderful Tannery Pond concert series at the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village is a
low-key alternative to Tanglewood, and the Spencertown Academy offers a range
of top-notch performing-arts events. For dinner, locals head to the Blue Plate
Restaurant in Chatham (518-392-7711), The Red Dot (518-828-3657), and the Charleston
(518-828-4990) in Hudson; and Mario's (518-794-9495) in New Lebanon. NICE
PLACES TO VISIT The Inn at Silver Maple Farm bed-and-breakfast in Canaan is a
beautifully converted post-and-beam barn with homey rooms and suites (518-781-3600,
doubles start at $140). The Inn at Green River Bed & Breakfast in Hillsdale
is a 1830 Federal-style house with seven guest rooms (518-325-7248, doubles start
at $110). RECOMMENDED REALTORS Andrea Gabel, Gabel Real Estate, in Spencertown,
518-392-4975. Frances Schools, Old Ghent Realty, in Ghent, 518-392-2480. ENTRY
PRICE Most houses with five to ten acres of land run about $250,000 to $500,000,
but houses with larger parcels of land can top $1 million, particularly if they
offer a trout stream or a pond. A summer rental from Memorial Day through Labor
Day generally costs around $9,000, although rental prices can run as high as $30,000
for truly magnificent estates. SIGNS OF THE TIMES The long-depressed city
of Hudson is undergoing a renaissance, with thriving antiques businesses, a revived
economy, and, most recently, a significant artistic community. Last year, internationally
renowned concert pianists Vladimir Pleshakov and Elena Winther purchased an old
bank on Warren Street and converted it into a 300-seat concert hall. "They've
spent the last few decades traveling all over Europe and the United States," says
Joe Ahern, executive director of the Columbia County Council on the Arts. "They
could live anywhere and perform anywhere, but they chose Hudson." Excerpted
from the May 28, 2001 issue of New York Magazine. Copyright ©2001 New York Magazine
See the Upper West Side liberal
in his "natural" habitat in this Arcadian patch of the Hudson Valley.
EMILY
GITTER