Town of the Week: Claverack

  |  January 23, 2012

I’ve never hung out in Claverack, though I’ve driven through many times and remarked on the sweet old houses and the great location within Columbia County. And once upon a time I knew someone who was caretaker for Merchant and Ivory’s grand house there, so you know it’s attracted some illustrious residents in the past. There’s not much of a town itself, just the crossroads of 23 and 9H, with a foodmart, a library and Keeler’s Eskimo Bar, for your fries and ice cream. If you want real countryside and want that countryside close to Hudson, worth a look here.

One hamlet within the town of Claverack is Philmont, which a friend visited last week and said it was charming and had a delicious locavore restaurant, so that’s a plus, too. Mostly, this is a quiet area, a hop-skip from the Taconic, 10 minutes from the Hudson train station, a 40-minute drive to swanky Great Barrington.We’ll dig up some great old houses there, too. One thing about Claverack: many a lovely home under $500,000. In the meantime, drool over this modern masterpiece profiled in the NY Times this summer. Oddly, it’s still listed for sale, but now it’s $80,000 more than it was many months ago. Hm. We’ll dig up the story there.

Read On, Reader...