Town of the Week: Taghkanic

  |  September 30, 2013
taghkanic ny

One of the many fancy homes in Taghkanic

We first heard about the Columbia County town of Taghkanic through Sam Pratt’s blog. As a resident of Taghkanic, Mr. Pratt certainly has his finger squarely on the pulse of all things Columbia County, and boy are we glad he’s around, because he sheds light on issues that generally don’t get a lot of play in bigger news publications. But what caught our eye on his blog were the photographs in and around Taghkanic. It seems so lovely there (with the exception of a spate of graffiti that appeared on local buildings a couple of years ago), and, indeed, this was confirmed when we recently took a drive around Columbia County, passing through Taghkanic and other environs.

There are cute walkable towns in Columbia County. We all know them well: Hudson, of course, but also Kinderhook, Valatie, and the village of Chatham. And then there are the rural areas that are not the places to go if you’re looking to grab a latte and read the NYT while people-watching. Those places include Stuyvesant, Ancram, and Taghkanic. It’s a place you go when you want to get away from it all, and that occasionally includes cell service, cable, and Wi-Fi, too. Rural living is a trade-off. You need a car, but you get trees. You’ll have to commute, but you can have privacy, if you want it. You get small town politics, but you can watch the mist rise off of Copake Lake in the quiet, early morning hours. This is what country living is all about. Take it or leave it.

We’ll resist going into much detail about Taghkanic, because the aforementioned Pratt does a much better job, and if you’re considering moving to Columbia County, you should definitely read his blog. We will tell you, though, that there are some truly stunning houses in Taghkanic. Stunning, and expensive. By our last count, there are seven multimillion dollar properties on the market right now, which is a lot for a town with a population of just over a thousand residents. Don’t worry; there are lots more reasonably-priced homes, as well. There’s even a farm or two. And, if you’re looking to homestead, you’ll find plenty of pretty plots of land for sale, too.

The town used to be a farming community, but now it seems to have evolved into a place popular with second home owners. It’s easy to see why (proximity to the Parkway, natural surroundings, less than 2 hours from NYC, seclusion, slower pace, etc.), especially for those who have decided that the country living trade-off is a deal they can not only live with, but love.

Taghkanic is located approximately 24 minutes from Hudson, 1 hours from Albany, and 1 hour, 53 minutes from NYC.

taghkanic capture

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About Kandy Harris

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

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