Upstater

Eagle’s Rest Main House at St. Basil Academy, Garrison, via Wikipedia

The riverside hamlet of Garrison, located in Putnam County, is one of those places we fantasize about moving to someday, perhaps on the same day we find a heretofore undiscovered trust fund in our account. Make no mistake: Garrison is tony. It also moves at a slower pace and has some of the finest views across the Hudson of anywhere in the Lower Hudson Valley. Its distinct shortage of asphalt streets has been written about, lauded, and become the stuff of legend for years now, and a Trulia search of properties on the market in Garrison is some of our favorite eye candy. Multimillion dollar manses amongst rolling green hills and hidden behind trees are more prevalent than more modest home offerings; in fact, one would be hard-pressed to find anything that isn’t a foreclosure for less than $300,000. But that’s fine. We’ll look elsewhere for our five-figure offerings at the end of the week.

Samuel Warren House, Garrison, via Wikipedia

Garrison’s neighbor to the north is the village of Cold Spring, a fun artists’ enclave and funky town of festivals and specialty shops. What Garrison and Cold Spring do have in common, however, is their picturesque surroundings, where nature-lovers venture out to hike a trail or two, or drop a kayak in the Hudson to have a closer look at West Point Academy, right across the river. Culture-wise, Cold Spring gets more attention than Garrison, but for a wee hamlet blissfully bereft of big-box chain stores and mini-malls with monstrous parking lots, Garrison does have a scene, thanks to the Garrison Art Center. It’s also home to stately Boscobel mansion and gardens, as well as Manitoga/Russel Wright Design Center.

Old Garrison train station, via Wikipedia

We probably don’t need to tell you that Garrison has a Metro-North station; we’ve written about Car-Free properties in Garrison several times before. Since it takes about 70 minutes to get from Garrison to Grand Central, the hamlet is a commuter community through and through. The market is pricey; certainly too pricey for us, but as we’ve said many times before: Looking is always free, and oh so much fun to do.

Garrison Living Website.

GMAP

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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