Summer Travels
I like to travel, and I tend to do it a fair amount. But the lockdown has prevented much of that, and even now that it has 'loosened up', who really wants to navigate empty hotels, dirty airports, unknown airplane crowdedness, and just all the uncertainty. On top of that, a lot of airlines have reduced their routes, meaning what used to be direct is no longer. I'm not big fan of connections and tend to plan trips around direct flights.
So, after canceling a trip to ski Big Sky, Montana in March, Bike NY in May, Turks and Caicos in July, I've gone back and forth about a 4 day trip to Wisdom Montana, to a small cabin amidst hundred of thousands of cattle farms about 2 hours northwest of Yellowstone. My friend from college who lives in Santa Rosa CA has a law partner who has a place. We'd drink beer, shoot guns and go fly fishing. But, it's complicated to get there - what normally would be a 7 hr door to door trip now is more like 14 with the connections, etc..., plus who knows what sort of uncertainty, and even risk.
So, I'm not going to go. We decided to take a 3-4 day golf trip to Upstate's best courses - Turning Ridge, Leatherstocking, Colgate University. That region is in Phase 3 as of today, so indoor dining and even haircuts might be in my future. We've been doing a lot of road biking this season, and truth be told you can't do both golf and biking unless you don't work.
Interestingly, no ball washers, no sand rakes, 1 person per cart. So won't be the same, but it will be something.
What's interesting is Lucas my son typically is only home for a few days per summer with all the running around he does with me and his mom, but this summer looks like just one of those stay at home dog days that I remember growing up.
Today was the last day of school for the area school district around Milford PA. We drove up, picked up some items left over, took home a paper graduation certificate, and met at a distance outside with his teachers. No friends around. I guess in real life this end of 5th grade is marked with elaborate ceremony since it marks the end of elementary school and they leave for middle school. Everythings just a big blah, all the typical markers and moments of life. So you look inward, to yourself, your family and some close friends, and you know what, it almost seems the narrower the lane, the more fulfillment to be had.
How cliche is it to have it all, and just want more? So here and now we reduce the world to close-knit circles of friends and family and rewards are real, tangible and solid. The kids miss out for sure, and the elders for sure too, but for most of us, there are as many pros as cons, surprisingly.
Press, press and more press
Lots of people writing about the Catskills and urban flight and a hundred sub-topics, and we have a lot to say about such things, since we are up close and personal to the story, and its impacts.
The Real Deal about current Urban Flight-
TV Interview with Hudson Valley Station about local real estate market -
National Mortgage News reprints an Op Ed about reopening construction I wrote
As well as a reprint of the Hudson Valleys Times Herald Record story about the local real estate market
Times Herald Record - Homes Sales Spike, etc...
Crains NY covered a story about summer rentals.
These are good stories trying to figure out the future looks like, by detailing today and guessing about tomorrow.
Farm 57- Farmhouse in Field, Callicoon NY, SuCo
One of our favorite designs, set in an open field with big views, a few miles from Callicoon NY, in the Beechwoods section, in SuCo (Sullivan county). I have this thought that I'm actually the one who coined SuCo, but like Churchill's reputed coining of "Iron Curtain", we will never really be able to verify.
Presenting Farm 57
Here's a version we just finished.
3 beds, 3 baths. We are going to finish off the basement, which pushes this house up to almost 2400 sq ft. That's a big house for a small farmhouse. With a rocking chair front porch, and back deck and screened porch, the outside living adds another 50% to the home, let alone the flat and gently sloping fields abutting it, a perfect palette for badminton, croquet, and other yard games.
What's neat about this home is how tidy the exterior is, with sharp lines, and rubbernecking gables.
Looking to get $479k and worth every penny. This home will be ready by the end of 2020.
