Caretakers' Cottage with Snob Factor Appeal for under $300,000

  |  June 3, 2011

My real estate fantasies generally don’t involve gated communities, but the Onteora Club is a worthy exception. I have to drive through gorgeous, wooded, Gilded-Age mansion-speckled Onteora Park en route to my own little house. I’d use the cliche and say exclusive Onteora seems a world away, but it doesn’t, quite. Even the humbler towns in Greene County have lush mountain views, winding roads, black bear sightings and Lyme disease. Onteora Park, though, is home to some of the most beautiful homes in the Catskills, and residence also offers you the opportunity to join the private club, which sounds like a cross between a Cheever short story and Dirty Dancing: private lake, heated pool, tennis and golf, and an “enchanting Tudor-style library.” Nearby is the wonderful Mountain Top Arboretum, a beautifully maintained 23-acre foliage sanctuary that’s free and open to the public.

All of the above is a long way of explaining why I was so excited when I saw this listing with Gordon Realty. Most of the “cottages” (ahem) in Onteora are well out of the second home price range of most folks I know. This cottage is actually a cottage, and it’s lovely. Built at the turn of the century and recently updated, it offers great outdoor space as well as beautiful details inside. I’d happily care take this one. Check out the interior photo on the jump.

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