Friends,

It's Upstate newsletter time! But before we dive in - let's all take a moment. Let's all take a breath. At the end of this paragraph, look away from my email for just one second. (I know! I'm asking you to do something people who work in sales never ever do! Look away! Come back of course.) Now, breathe in...breath out... maybe reach towards the sky for a good 30 seconds.

You've entered the space I've been inhabiting for the past few weeks. Yes, the last couple of months have been busy - I'm grateful. Yes, my colleagues and I have brought well over 100 new properties to the market since the beginning of April - we're excited. And while much of the world seems a little overstimulated at the moment - I feel like the time I've spent in the incredible homes we've listed (particularly the historic properties) has grounded me.

The feeling I've found in these comfortable spaces, spaces that remind me of a time before things beeped and bleeped all day, has inspired me to inhabit wherever I am; to look for ever more sources of inspiration in my clients, communities, and our landscape. So, I'm dedicating this issue to these inspiring historic homes that surround us. May they inspire and ground you too. Also...I'm feeling a little farmer's market obsessed (hence the flowers), we'll go there as well.

If you or anyone you know could use my expertise in buying or selling properties please reach out. Your referrals are appreciated and handled with care!

The story of how the spirit of The Catskills was born in Greene County; apropos of Pride Month and of putting our phones down....

The Catskill Mountains were not always "The Catskills". Once upon a time, they were simply magnificent mountains above a majestic tidal river peopled by... well... just a few people. They were mostly farmers who spent their days doing valiant battle with a never-ending crop of rocks. And then, in 1887, that changed. A brother and sister pair, Candace Thurber Wheeler and Frank Thurber - she the founder of the first all-female interior design company, he the owner of a multi-million dollar grocery concern - took the new train line up the Hudson to Tannersville in search of the perfect spot to launch a passion project. The endeavor? Some cabins, to be decorated in rustic style by Wheeler, that would connect them and their friends to the wild beauty of the same region the pair had called home as children (they grew up in nearby Delhi). They climbed a hill. Thurber encountered one of those farmers, who happily sold him the land where they stood, and the spirit of The Catskills - as I think of it - was born.

Wheeler later wrote that Onteora “grew by an accident of friendship, the human instinct for congenial companionship, the desire to draw people whom we loved into an almost unknown realm of beauty. . . . where we could build a camp or cabin and live the wild life for a little space.” Onteora grew to be a community of their friends - artists, writers, musicians, and designers who escaped to the mountains together to create plays, pantomimes, paintings, and cottages that were decorated with murals echoing the sweeping views outside. They spent time together undistracted by the outside world, pesky electricity, and telephones. How wonderful does that sound? It remains a private club today - whose members still use the trails that Wheeler once laid out, as well as the golf course, the field house, the theatre, the library, pool and sports house, and escape to a very, very special place where you can't help but feel connected and creative.

All of the above becomes real when you enter Caddam Hill (once part of Onteora), the incredible home built for and inhabited by Maude Adams, one of America's greatest stage legends. Her signature role was as the first Peter Pan, but she was lauded for the many roles she played on Broadway before she took an early retirement from the stage to Onteora. Some say she went there to recover from a terrible episode of flu and stayed for the mountain air once she found that her voice never returned to full power (which was important in those days). Some say she stayed because the colony at Onteora allowed her to be who she was, a woman who loved women. Regardless of why she came or why she stayed - the house she built, designed by renowned architect George Reid, remains the magical haven she found it to be. It is for sale, and while a truly unique, incredible, stunning home, on 31 equally unique, incredible, stunning acres (that are incidentally adjacent to the Mountaintop Arboretum I included in my last newsletter) - it is also an embodiment of the creativity found in community and fed by nature that Onteora was originally created to be - and the Catskills as a whole have become. Caddam Hill will give you The Spirit of the Catskills - click below to take the 3D tour for an immersive experience of this special place.

Summertime approaches! Perhaps you have a string of guests slatted to visit you in the Hudson Valley. Perhaps you're connected to school children who need some entertainment and educational opportunities that don't involve blue light. Perhaps you just want something fun to do all by yourself. The Hudson Valley provides! The Valley's history as a place of growth of every kind: natural, artistic, financial - has left behind stunning homes of architectural and historical note. Even if you are never-ever going to buy a home of your own (ever), you can tour, enjoy, and imagine a life in these incredible buildings. That imagining is both super fun and good exercise for your synapses. Curbed New York has done a great job of putting together a list of their top 11 homes to tour and mapping them for you, so that I don't have to (tee-hee). You can fill your summer calendar with short trips that will turn you into a Hudson Valley historian by summer's end.

Since I don't have to put together a list, here are my top 5 things to look out for as you tour...

#1 - There's a trail that takes you from Eleanor Roosevelt's cottage to FDR's home and library museum to the Vanderbilt Mansion. It's an all-day affair on which you should definitely bring more than one picnic (you're going to want to picnic at more than one of the vantage points). It pairs history and architecture with the songs of frogs in the forest. It's a good one!

#2 - They left off Olana - a tremendous oversight. Go visit Olana too.

#3 - I love how cozy the FDR house is. So low-key. So very, very cozy. I promise you'll get a warm fuzzy feeling too!

#4 - The Mills Mansion at the Staatsburgh State Historic Site has the Downton Abbey upstairs/downstairs dynamic we all like to romanticize. I love this home's downstairs!

#5 - I find the Clermont State Historic site just a little bit spooky, in a delicious way. If you go, let me know if you get the vibe!

Herb juice, incorporated into a crafted, beautiful, hydrating beverage that doesn't quite belong on the soda list, and also isn't anywhere on the sommelier's radar, seems to be all the rage at restaurants Upstate and down. Even if they're not on the menu, they're a special that I've found I quite appreciate!

Apparent non sequitur: having your own herbs (whether you grow them in the garden, a pot, or in a special gadget that doesn't require soil but does require some counter space) is a no-brainer! I think everyone has experienced that feeling of profound guilt that comes when you decide you have no choice but to throw away a bunch of cilantro you bought. It's the worst! So grow yourself some herbs, friends.

(Here's where this little article might begin to make sense.) When you have those herbs, you can use them to whip up some of the trendy, abstemious beverages that mixologists at all our favorite restaurants have been making. Gaskins has the "Daisy Jones", Butterfield has the "Pomanono", Silvia has Blueberry Cardamom Soda, and your house can have any of the below selections. I chose some recipes that will not only help you use up the herbs you've bought at a farmer's market or the ones you've grown - but are also reminiscent of some such beverages I've had while I've been out and about in the past few months. They were often the best part of my meal. So, let's mix them up! Also, before serving to friends, make up some more creative names for these drinks - these are descriptive, but don't sound nearly as exciting as they taste!

Ruby Red Grapefruit and Thyme Spritzer | Citrus Honey Mint Spritzer

Salty Greyhound Basil | Blackberry Basil

Our New Paltz office (like all our offices), does double duty for the community as an art gallery. Right now we're hosting the paintings of Alix Hallman Travis. They're amazing. Alix makes a home in Rhinebeck and has brought paintings across the river to share them with the west side. Alix's style is varied enough that each work is a wonderful surprise. The New Paltz office is open every day during business hours - stop in at 157 Main Street and be surprised!

Multiple offers are de rigueur at the moment. This may sound a bit like a PSA, but the times call for it... if you or someone you know would like one of these properties, have them call me right away. If you're just browsing - enjoy, peruse, digest for as long as you like.

30-32 Mill Hill Road, Woodstock

This stately Queen Anne Victorian holds a special place in our hearts. Right in the Village of Woodstock, partially visible from the front doors of our Woodstock office, this historic home has been our neighbor since we opened over thirty years ago. We're honored to be offering it for sale. If you love Woodstock as we do, this is the perfect opportunity to live in town as well as have a workspace there.

It's Pride Month, it's HITS time, it's time for outdoor music. My friends, it is time for some fun. Here are just a few of the many events you might fill your calendar with...

Our mortgage partner Brian Scott Cohen has unleashed a batch of viral videos upon the internet. Why are they so popular? 2 years ago, homebuyers had an idea of what they could spend on a home because interest rates had been steady for long enough that it was as though the collective consciousness had a mortgage calculator available for download from the ether. Interest rates changed. It takes a while for the collective conscience to "get it" - we need help! Brian's solution, give everyone new calculations based on their income. Click on the income closest to yours for a ballpark from the expert - if you're working with a combined income, use the combined number. $50K, $80K, $90K, $100K, $200K. Don't see your income? Go to Brian's Instagram, he has more!

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Coldwell Banker and Guaranteed Rate Affinity, LLC share common ownership and because of this relationship the brokerage may receive a financial or other benefit. You are not required to use Guaranteed Rate Affinity, LLC as a condition of purchase or sale of any real estate. Equal Housing Lender. Brian Scott Cohen NMLS ID: 410025 Guaranteed Rate Affinity NMLS 1598647; For licensing information visit nmlsconsumeraccess.org. D/B/A GR Affinity, LLC in lieu of the legal name Guaranteed Rate Affinity, LLC.