Circa-1917 Church at Shandelee in Livingston Manor, $575,000

  |  December 28, 2015
15 Shandelee Lake Rd Livingston Manor

When most people think of the Borscht Belt, they think of a very specific time period during the 1950s and 60s when Catskills resorts were all the rage. The truth is, however, that tendrils of the Borscht Belt’s beginnings reach back to the turn-of-the-century when synagogues and Jewish communities started to spring up around towns like Fleischmanns (the oldest synagogue dates back to 1917 and is one of the oldest in the Catskills), Ellenville, Fallsburg, and Mountain Dale.

The village of Livingston Manor in Sullivan County is right in the buckle of the Borscht Belt. It’s also home to the c.1917 Catholic Church called, appropriately, the Church at Shandelee (doesn’t that name just smack of enchantment?) because of its location on Shandelee Lake Road and proximity to Shandelee Lake. Here’s one of the Church’s neighbors. During the 1980s, the church was transformed from house of worship to private residence, but the wide-open former sanctuary with cathedral ceilings and stained glass windows make it feel churchy in all the right places.

Includes an interior swimming in warm maple and a 45-foot bell tower that contains a working 1867 bronze bell that, according to the listing, was “relocated from Colorado, had once pealed across the Rockies from a country church in a small mining town.” Well. That certainly rings our bell.

The 4 bed/3 bath, 3100 sq.ft. house sits on close an acre of land approximately 2 hours from NYC, in the quaint and historic village of Livingston Manor. Check out their helpful visitor’s guide.

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15 Shandelee Lake Road, Livingston Manor (Judy Van Put Realty)

About Kandy Harris

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

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