Flicker/Cake Girl by Hyeyoung Kim

Now that all the upstate New York ramp festivals are over, it’s time for dessert. The New Paltz Times has the skinny on this weekend’s celebration of cupcakes — apparently some 30,000 of them will be available, about 25,000 more than the population of the town!  Here are the details: “In addition to cupcakes from Wright’s Farms, the festival will showcase creations from Deising’s Bakery in Kingston, Sweet Maresa’s Upstate Cupcake and Moxie Cupcakes both from New Paltz, Bread Alone from Boiceville and Bettie’s Cakes from Saratoga Springs, who will be returning with its popular double-decker bus. Other food vendors include Full Moon Farms, Meadow View Farms, Pasquale Pizza, Twisted Pretzels and Aba’s Falafels. There will even be cupcake-flavored ice cream from Lazy Crazy Acres.”

There’s also a cupcake-eating contest, and an amateur cupcake-baking contest.

Wright’s Farm: 699 State Road 208, Gardiner. More info on their facebook page.

We’re not talking about ghosts, but booze. Over on Huffington Post, there’s a roundup of the best booze made in New York State. Most of them are Brooklyn-made, but infused with ingredients from upstate New York (Navy Strength Gin infused with upstate wildflower honey).

Tuthilltown Spirits, based in Gardiner, NY, made the cut. Their bourbon has been consumed over here at Upstater headquarters and gets an enthusiastic thumbs up: locavore whisky that can stand up to any test. Don’t take our word for it. Here’s what the reviewer has to say: “Made from 100% corn — a rarity for bourbons, which usually mix in at least a little rye and/or barley — and, if my information is correct, aged for a mere three months, this is a vibrant and slightly unbridled whiskey that belies its youth when taken neat. But drop in an ice cube and the cinnamon/clove sweetness takes a back seat to rich notes of caramel, chocolate and tobacco. Tuthilltown also makes a “four grain” bourbon which employs corn, rye, barley and wheat that’s quite good, though not up to the level of the Baby Bourbon.”

Their tasting room is the first of its kind since prohibition. Stop by and sample (and bring a designated driver!).

Many of you are hankering to get a look inside some renovated upstate New York houses, or to see what a modest cabin could be with the help of a professional’s skill. So we bring you Upstate, Redone, in which we profile the work of an architect, carpenter, interior designer, builder, contractor, or homeowner with a keen design sense and a handy bag of tools. If you’d like to share your work with us, just drop us a line.

For our debut column, we’re looking at the work of New Paltz, NY-based Bolder Architecture, a firm that specializes in green building and has handled projects from designs for renovating a 150,000-square-foot Gothic former seminary on the Hudson River to net-zero energy homes.

This is one of the latter: a very humble-looking cottage that the owners — eco-friendly builders called Ritacco’s Retrofits – saw tremendous potential in. It’s in Gardiner, looking out over the Hudson Valley Rail Trail. Obviously, the outside had an extreme makeover, that 60s vinyl siding reborn as cedar. The house was a 1960, 860-square-foot, two-bedroom ranch, ripe for gut renovation.

Here’s how the architect, Dave Toder, describes the “before” state of the place: “The interior was pretty bland and cramped, and cat pee had soaked through the carpet into the sub-flooring.  The basement had faux wood paneling in some rooms but was mostly unfinished, cold and slightly damp.  The sunporch and back deck were severely underbuilt, structurally and aesthetically. The septic system had failed.”

The owners wanted their gut renovation to result in something that produced as much energy as it used (hence the term net-zero) and used all eco-friendly materials that didn’t off-gas. The new house has bamboo floors, formaldehyde-free Forest Stewardship Council-approved maple cabinets and Energy Star appliances. The “green” insulation includes cellulose in walls and ceilings, soy-based spray-foam on the exterior, and recycled polyiso rigid foam boards on the roof.  ”The grid-tied PV system is capable of producing 5.16 kW of energy,” says the owner, “which is just about enough to power the entire house.”

 It has 12-inch and 14-inch thick walls in some parts of the basement, which not only makes it super-insulated, it guarantees a clean and dry place. They padded the place with additional insulation everywhere, then added an HVAC system to provide fresh air. They added a south-facing roof on which they put solar panels.

The house is now a 2200 s.f., 3 bedroom, 2 full bath, modern ranch with 10′ 8” cathedral ceilings in the living room, kitchen, and dining room. Says, the owner, “The house does not use any fossil fuels whatsoever, and is all electric, utilizing state-of-the art, air-source heat pumps for both heating, air conditioning, and domestic hot water.” They finished off the basement, too.

Has anyone been following the story about the New York State Property Tax Cap? As far as I understand it, Cuomo ushered through some legislation late last year that caps the increase in property taxes at 2% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. Sounds good, right? Here’s the catch: municipalities can vote out the cap (which doesn’t apply to NYC, by the way). “Communities may raise or lower property taxes according to the needs of the community. If the taxpayers want to pay more taxes they can, and they can override the cap with a 60 percent vote for schools and by a 60 percent vote of the governing body for local governments.”

In Ulster County, all but two municipalities opted out of the cap, according to the Daily Freeman. Here’s the skinny:

“According to the  Real Property Tax Service Agency, 2012 county tax rates per $1,000 of assessed property value will be as follows.

• Denning: $23.34, up 8.4 percent from $21.53 in 2011.
• Esopus: $4.25, up 8.4 percent from $3.92.
• Gardiner: $4.85 per $1,000, up 2.3 percent from $4.74.
• Hardenburgh: $6.39, up 8.3 percent from $5.90.
• Hurley: $4.02, up 0.5 percent from $4.
• Kingston (town): $4.69, up 1.5 percent from $4.62.
• Kingston (city): $4.24, up 8.4 percent from $3.91.
• Lloyd: $4.24, up 8.4 percent from $3.91.
• Marbletown: $3.95, up 1.3 percent from $3.90.
• Marlborough: $4.27, up 8.4 percent from $3.94.
• New Paltz: $4.23, up 8.5 percent from $3.90.
• Olive: $4.21, up 8.5 percent from $3.88.
• Plattekill: $4.27, down 0.6 percent from $4.30.
• Rochester: $4.23, up 4.2 percent from $4.06.
• Rosendale: $4.25, up 8.4 percent from $3.92.
• Saugerties: $4.27, up 8.7 percent from $3.93.
• Shandaken: $18.30, up 8.3 percent from $16.89.
• Shawangunk: $21.35, up 3 percent from $20.72.
• Ulster: $5.24, down 0.2 percent from $5.25.
• Wawarsing: $257.92, up 8.3 percent from $238.05.
• Woodstock: $4.43, up 3.7 percent from $4.27.

That means that for lower taxes, head to Plattekill or the town of Ulster. Upstater will check those towns out soon!

It might be torturous to rent this place in winter when it looks out on a pool and tennis courts (unless you’re planning to join the Polar Bear Club on New Year’s Eve). Butwith those mountain views and that nice kitchen, might be worth it. You don’t actually rent the entire 173-foot-long barn, but rather a two-bedroom apartment within the barn. It’s in Gardiner, near New Paltz. We haven’t made it to Gardiner but have heard good things about it from someone who has a second home there. You can also hire a “natural, gourmet cook” to bring your relaxation to the next level.

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In general, when an upstate New York real estate listing shows more pictures of the surroundings (and the sun setting over mackerel skies) than the interiors, you should be nervous. But a quick peek inside this five-bedroom Victorian in Gardiner, N.Y. shows no offenses, other than perhaps a bit too much country charm; the decor is a little shabby chic for our taste.

We met a woman who lives in Queens and keeps a second home in Gardiner last week, and she gave it the full thumbs up: rural, quiet, friendly, close to New Paltz if you want a nice dinner or trip to the museum, but far enough away to not be surrounded by drunken hippie college students.

The main problem we can see with this house for sale in Gardiner, N.Y. is that it’s on a busy road–they call it Albany Post Road, but they mean Route 9. Still, it has three private acres, four bathrooms and meadow and mountain views–a bit of traffic might be worth it.

1538 Albany Post Road, Gardiner, N.Y. GMAP
Distance to NYC: 65 miles; one hour, 50 minutes
Transportation: Bus to New Paltz
Land: 3.3 acres
Neighbors? No
Water: No
Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 4