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<\/p>\nBecca Moore and Randy Makiej are committed to revitalizing their adopted Parksville, a hamlet of the Town of Liberty in Sullivan County. Since 2011, they have been commuting there from their apartment in Long Island City, about two hours away. Moore is a product designer at Perka, a Manhattan start-up, and Makiej is a freelance producer.<\/p>\n
Six years ago, the couple considered their next move. \u201cWe were looking for something new and exciting,\u201d says Makiej. \u201cWe considered either buying a place upstate to renovate and make our creative hub, or traveling. They spent four months camping at 16 national parks. But the dream of owning an house upstate persisted, so when they heard about a four-acre plot of land in Sullivan County, they jumped on it. \u201cIt was a beautiful wooded lot on a mountaintop with access rights to the nearby lake, but it needed a road to connect the lots,\u201d says Moore. Markiej oversaw the construction of a road and year-round cabin. Meanwhile, they camped on their property.<\/p>\n
\u201cSummer was great,\u201d says Moore. \u201cFall was nice, and winter was very cold. We were able to stay over in the winter once the cabin was enclosed, and we spent many cold nights huddled in our barely heated cabin while building out the interior.\u201d<\/p>\n
These days, Moore and Makiej and their baby daughter, Willa, born last summer, welcome friends and family for weekends at the cabin. \u201cWe host a giant\u00a0Fourth of July\u00a0party every year with bands, boating, fireworks, and
\na giant paella,\u201d says Moore. They\u2019ve set up over 20 camping spots, each one nicknamed for their Boxer, Bunker Bockhorn.<\/p>\n
Now they are getting involved in the life of Parksville, which consists of two cross streets and about 1,030 people. They\u2019ve bought two turn-of-the-century Main Street storefronts with apartments. \u201cThey had been occupied by one family for a few generations and hadn\u2019t ever been rehabbed,\u201d says Makiej. \u201cThey\u2019re in pretty rough shape. We\u2019re just beginning the renovation. It\u2019s already a beautiful time capsule.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Route 17 bypasses Parksville, so many of its buildings are sitting empty, but now new businesses are springing up. \u201cParksville turned into a bit of a ghost town,\u201d says Makiej. \u201cThis made it really enticing to us. We saw all these mostly original buildings sitting empty, and we saw tons of potential.\u201d<\/p>\n
After rediscovering the Parksville Rail Trail, which winds behind Main Street toward Little Beaverkill Creek, Makiej and Moore have been working with Parksville residents, the Town of Liberty, and Cornell Cooperative Extension to install trailhead signs. They have big plans for their own Main Street storefronts. \u201cWe thought, wouldn\u2019t it be cool if Parksville had a small coffee roastery and place to get a fresh cup of specialty coffee? In one storefront, we\u2019ll have coffee,\u201d says Makiej. \u201cThe other will start off as our studio and workshop, but we think it will probably evolve into something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Meanwhile, the couple continues traveling upstate and downstate, with Willa in tow. \u201cWe both have flexible work schedules, which allows us to be where we want to be,\u201d says Moore. But they are gravitating more to their Parksville retreat. \u201cIt couldn\u2019t be any more different from the city,\u201d says Moore. \u201cOn a dark night, we can see the Milky Way\u2014when it\u2019s so dark you can\u2019t see your hand in front of you. When the moon is full, you can practically read a book by the moonlight. You know you\u2019re outside the city. If we don\u2019t get upstate for over a week we start to feel it, start to get a little anxious and miss it.\u201d
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