{"id":92808,"date":"2021-05-18T07:15:32","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T11:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/upstater.com\/?p=92808"},"modified":"2021-05-19T14:10:55","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T18:10:55","slug":"millbrook-la-dolce-vita","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/upstater.com\/millbrook-la-dolce-vita\/","title":{"rendered":"Millbrook: La Dolce Vita"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Daniel Case – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0<\/p><\/div>\n

One of my favorite questions to ask people is: What does your town need? The answer usually offers a fascinating window into the collective desires, dreams, and sometimes grudges of the places we live and work. But I\u2019ve never quite gotten an answer like the one that George Langa, a broker for Berkshire Hathaway Home Services<\/a>, gave me when I asked him about Millbrook, the village he\u2019s worked out of for 17 years.<\/p>\n

After a very<\/em> long pause, so long I was beginning to think my phone had died, he answered, \u201cNothing. It\u2019s been perfect as long as I\u2019ve been here.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Millbrook Library. Photo by Brian PJ Cronin<\/p><\/div>\n

We both laughed. It was funny in its utter lack of deference. And also, because it\u2019s kind of true. If you\u2019ve been to Millbrook, you know. If you haven\u2019t, well, you\u2019ve got a treat in store.<\/p>\n

Part of the town of Washington, the Village of Millbrook<\/a> (population 1,406)\u00a0 is located in the center of Dutchess County. (Langa again: \u201cWe\u2019re only 20 minutes away from pretty much everything.\u201d) The land was first settled by Quakers in the 1700s and was originally two separate hamlets: Hart\u2019s Settlement and Mechanic. When a train station was built there in 1869, the village as we know it today sprang up around it. Italian immigrants followed, living there while working as stone masons on the great estates of Dutchess County. The village\u2019s Italian roots run deep: The many historic landmark plaques throughout the town are written in both English and Italian.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Callan Bergmann (@callanjb)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n