This Week on Upstater: Welcome Home to the Irish Alps

  |  October 18, 2016

 

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It’s a bit old now, but did you happen to catch this piece on the Catskills in the New York Times back in August? We did, and we found ourselves enchanted by the writer’s telling of his childhood experiences spending summers with his family at the O’Neill House in East Durham, Greene County. In fact, we were so enchanted by, we’re stilling thinking about it two months later.

Affectionately referred to as the “Irish Alps,” the town of Durham and surrounding area along Route 145 in the Northern Catskills was Vacationland for downstate families looking to escape the hot mess that is NYC in the summertime. Irish-owned and themed resorts drew scores of guests during its heyday in the 1950s and 60s, making the Irish Alps (AKA “The Emerald Isle of the Catskills”) the northern equivalent to the Borscht Belt in the Western Catskills in Sullivan County.

A handful of those resorts are still open and operating, like Gavin’s Irish Country Inn, the Shamrock House, and the Blackthorne Resort. The Irish Cultural Center hosts a popular Irish Festival every year, bolstered by a renewed interest in the awesomeness of the Catskills. Zoom Flume waterpark continues to flourish, thanks to that same renewed interest. There’s a slow burn happening underneath the in-ground pools and green front lawns of this part of the Catskills. People are starting to get hip to its beauty. While the area may never explode in the same way it did back in the mid-century, but the kernels are starting to pop again.

Residential real estate-wise, properties on the market are affordable, attractive, and low-tax. Thinking about making the Great Northern Catskills your family’s summertime retreat? Then stay tuned this week as we share our favorites from the real estate listings. As August draws to a close, consider this our bittersweet farewell to another stunner of a summer spent in the Catskill Mountains.

Stay tuned…

About Kandy Harris

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

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