Location, Location, Location: Bethel, New York
May 1, 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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