Town of the Week: Rustic and Refined in Livingston Manor

  |  November 4, 2013
covered bridge livingston manor

Covered Bridge Campsite, Livingston Manor

Last we explored Livingston Manor, it was in July 2012, just weeks before yet another round of devastating flood waters ravaged parts of the Sullivan County hamlet. Livingston Manor can’t seem to escape this fate, thanks to it being situated on the Willowemoc, Cattail Creek, and the Little Beaverkill. For years, the Army Corps of Engineers has been conducting extensive flood mitigation studies, and while the results of those findings suggested that approximately $5 million worth of mitigation work was needed to shore up the Little Beaverkill, that still doesn’t alleviate concerns about the other waterways running right through Main Street. And yet, we seem to be drawn back to this Sullivan County hamlet again and again, even while understand the risks of living right in town.

So, what to do about Livingston Manor? Do we just ignore it, pretend it doesn’t exist? Absolutely not. We believe that the flooding risks in areas like Livingston Manor are well-documented, and that the onus is on the home-buyer to seek out all the information readily available to them about whether their prospective home is located in a high-risk flood area. Truth is, we like Livingston Manor, and we know we aren’t the only ones who feel this way. Several weeks ago, we put up a post asking your opinions on the most underrated towns in upstate New York. The response was huge, and Livingston Manor was mentioned more than once. That prompted us to take another look around town and at the real estate market, and we loved what we saw. You can read about the hamlet’s good stuff here in our July 2012 Town of the Week post. Meanwhile, the real estate market is quite varied and robust right now, with a wide selection of super affordable properties that range from modern and sleek to painstakingly renovated to rustic and quaint. In fact, our favorites were all under $300,000, many of which are nifty cottages perfect for the occasional getaway into the Catskill Mountains. Additionally, overall, the taxes probably won’t blow the top of your head off, since things are a little more reasonable in Sullivan County.

By the way, if you’re dying to fall/winter camp, you can do it in Livingston Manor. During the course of our exploration, we came across the picturesque Covered Bridge Campground. Secluded and situated along the Willowemoc River, the campground is open until December 2nd.

Livingston Manor is located approximately less than 2 hours from NYC.

livingston manor capture

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About Kandy Harris

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

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