Location, Location, Location: Bethel, New York
05/01/2002
The name Bethel may not ring a bell, but Woodstock should. It has been 33 years since some 600,000 concertgoers descended on this small town in upstate New York. After hosting the music festival in 1969, Bethel settled back into a quiet existence. The biggest attraction in this town of 4,400 is now the Fall Garden Harvest Market, which draws up to 3,500 on autumn weekends.While Bethel may never again see a concert on the scale of Woodstock, it and other towns in Sullivan County are undergoing a revival. Those same concertgoers are back, albeit older and wealthier, seeking a piece of vacation peace from Manhattan. Some are snapping up lots at new developments such as the exclusive Chapin Estate; some are renovating old farmhouses and turning them into family compounds.
Just 90 miles north of Manhattan, Bethel and its neighbors provide the space and pace coveted by the low-key urban crowd. This very un-Hamptons set prefers entertaining at home to being seen at the latest restaurant. They are also enticed by low prices—real estate sells for a fraction of the cost of a house in the Hamptons, in Westchester County or on the New Jersey shore.
Randy Florke calls Sullivan County “the forgotten frontier.” The fashion model-turned-Realtor is selling real estate in Sullivan County through his Manhattan-based office the Rural Connection. “My buyers are not concerned with the social scene. It’s all about their property,” he says. While Florke has sold homes to fellow fashionistas, Sullivan County has also attracted musicians Marc Anthony and Joan Osborne and film producer David Picker, who has purchased a lot at the Chapin Estate. The steady nibbling at bargain real estate in Sullivan County has picked up since September 11, emphasizing the increased need for a safe haven for many New Yorkers. Florke says he’s selling 20 houses countywide every six weeks.
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At the Chapin Estate, 10 of the original 19 lots in the gated community are spoken for. The lots are the most expensive in town, but they come with unobstructed reservoir views, a protected nature preserve, a private golf course, a golf lodge, a lake house and other clubby amenities. Chapin also has one of the area’s most desirable home designers, Steve Dubrovsky, whose Adirondack-style post-and-beam houses feature local stone, timbers, whimsically carved woodwork and plenty of windows. (Click image to enlarge); function voidFunc() { } voidFunc(); "Chapin Estate Development")
The surrounding hills will soon be alive with the sound of music again—this time the classical kind. This spring construction begins on a performing arts center on the original Woodstock site. The center is set to open in 2004 with an inaugural performance by the New York Philharmonic. The glass-ceilinged pavilion (shown in the rendering, below), designed by architect Richard Meier to accommodate 3,500, with room for another 14,000 on the lawn, is part of an ambitious scheme that calls for a performing arts school, hotel, museum and stores. (Click image to enlarge)“Those who went to Woodstock are now 50,” says Glenn Pontier, director of communications for the Gerry Foundation, the developer of the new center. “They have been to Tanglewood and Saratoga, and now we are trying to create a village like that here.” Pontier says that Tanglewood serves as a good model, but he doesn’t expect Bethel to become the Berkshires. “We are Woodstock, and we are hipper.”
Facts & Stats
CHAFIN' FOR CHAPIN: The Chapin Estate is a gated 5,300-acre second-home community with mountain views and frontage along the 860-acre Toronto Reservoir.
FROM FATHER TO DEVELOPER: Chester W. Chapin Jr., a successful New York City entrepreneur, acquired the land in 1891 and spent his life developing it into a private hunting preserve. The current owner is Woodstone Development, 866.583.4900, www.chapinestate.com.
LOCATION: The Catskill Mountains, five miles from the Woodstock site and 90 miles from Manhattan. Private planes can fly into the Sullivan County International Airport in nearby White Lake.
SIZE MATTERS: Phase one features 35 homesites of five to eight acres, priced from $250,000 to $400,000. Constructed homes must be at least 1,700 square feet and cannot exceed 7,500 square feet.
PENDING PROJECTS: A par-72 championship golf course designed by Scottish golf course architect Donald Steel, a golf lodge and a lake house.
CREATING YOUR OWN: A four-acre parcel in Bethel has a large pond and a barn and chicken coop that can be converted and restored into a home and guesthouse. $200,000. Contact the Rural Connection at 212.645.4488, www.theruralconnection.com. A 1,600-square-foot, three-bedroom, one-bath teardown built in the 1950s on 16 acres with lake access is for sale for $84,900. Contact Kaaterskill Realty, 845.794.7000.