We’re not sure why the price is such an odd number, but we do know this: we wrote this Millerton Colonial up six months ago, and it’s still on the market for the same amount. If you haven’t been, Millerton is a lovely town — good food, movie theater, agricultural supply, 12 miles from a MetroNorth station. Taxes are estimated at less than $8,000, which is pretty good for Dutchess County, and it’s got a little over two acres and a pond. Might be time for a more modest offer if you’re interested.
17 Stateline Road, Millerton. $349,991. GMAP.

When I started eating meat again 8 years ago, a friend commented, “I don’t know how you were a vegetarian, I’ve never seen anyone enjoy a burger as much as you do.”

I was a vegetarian for ethical reasons (ahimsa to yogis), and my return to meat eating coincided with a deeper interest in food politics and farming. For the most part I only eat meat raised by farmers I know and respect, so I was very excited when I found No. 9 in Millerton. It serves locally sourced, seasonal specials and a really killer Herrondale Farm beef burger.

In addition to pasture-raising their livestock, Herrondale Farm raises heritage breeds such as the British White (pictured above attempting to cross-breed with McEnroe‘s Hereford-Angus cross). Raising heritage breeds is akin to  seed-saving heirloom varieties of fruits or vegetables. There is value in maintaining individual characteristics of plants or animals, but  more importantly it maintains the genetic diversity of the food supply.  (more…)

Six months ago we picked out this “Buckminster Fuller-inspired” dome-ish lake house. We still like it: it’s creativity, its compactness, its light fixtures, its waterfront access. We also like its location: Millerton is a favorite spot of Upstater’s. It was for sale then for $429,000, after a $70,000 price reduction in September, and the price has not budged in six months.

The two-bed, one-and-a-half bath, 1,960-square foot cottage was built in 1975, but doesn’t feel outdated to us. Taxes are in the $6,000 range. Were it ours, we’d do a little something with the kitchen. GMAP.

Every week we hear from Suko, a former downstater now living in Dutchess County, about life upstate. This week: the inside scoop on some fantasy business property for sale.

In Woody Allen’s Sleeper, his character Miles Munroe wakes 200 years in the future from his Happy Carrot health food restaurant.  Sleeper was my first Woody Allen, and still one of my favorites, but maybe because I have a total love of 70′s health food.

Dr. Melik: This morning for breakfast he requested something called “wheat germ, organic honey and tiger’s milk.”
Dr. Aragon: [chuckling] Oh, yes. Those are the charmed substances that some years ago were thought to contain life-preserving properties.
Dr. Melik: You mean there was no deep fat? No steak or cream pies or… hot fudge?
Dr. Aragon: Those were thought to be unhealthy… precisely the opposite of what we now know to be true.
Dr. Melik: Incredible.

Since I first saw it, I’ve had a fantasy that Oasis- International Bistro, on Route 22 between Amenia and Millerton, was a 70′s style health food restaurant. Maybe it’s the bubble windows, or the golden pine furniture, more simple than modern, but in my dreams plates are piled with brown rice, steamed greens, sweet potatoes, and hijiki, with a side of miso-tahini dressing.

Girls with long braids, calico dresses and freckled noses serve grilled tempeh and hemp milk green tea lattes sweetened with local maple syrup. There’s a garden of medicinal herbs, lettuce and kale for tisanes and ginger, apple, fennel, green juice. A flower labyrinth a la Kripalu or Shoving Leopard Farm invites post-meal contemplation.

In reality the space has limited parking, and the building is a victim of weather and neglect. There isn’t a university or other enclave of idealism nearby so customers and employees might be hard to come by. The price has been reduced to $154k and it sits on 2 acres of a busy thoroughfare, so if you want to build my dream, I’ll grow the veggies at the farm up the road.

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This is more like it, although methinks very close to the road, which detracts a bit from the charm. But it has real charm, with those built-ins, the porch and the mountain views. 17 State Line Road has three beds, two baths, plenty of room to roam with 2,352 square feet. Taxes no joke at almost $8,000 and it “needs a few updates,” so call your contractor. Can anyone explain the very precise pricing of this place?

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Well, look. I love Millerton, but the real estate options are dry. Thus, I’m putting up this fella, which could probably be nice with a decent renovation. Built in the Reagan era, not known as a glorious period of residential architecture. Conspicuous absence of interior photos, yes? The good parts: great views, close to town. The bad parts are a bit of a mystery. Let us know if you go see it. Reduced $10,000 in April. Stats on the jump.

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This place is more than I want to spend, but if your budget is up to a half-mill and you want water, proximity to NYC and to be close to lovely Millerton, I would definitely take a look at this. It says Buckminster Fuller-inspired, and perhaps by that they mean it has a triangular window? Not huge, with 1,900 square feet and two beds plus sleeping loft, but it has over an acre of land. And it’s just NICE. I’d happily curl up on a couch in that living room. What about you guys? It’s gone down $70,000 since it was listed in August. Stats on the jump.

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Right on the Connecticut border, off bucolic, winding Route 199, Millerton, N.Y.  is definitely a prime candidate for a second home location, if you’re in search of a nearby village with services. My favorite of those services is Saperstein’s, an old fashioned work clothing store that sells things like Wrangler jeans but also has tux rentals. Which pretty much sums up the town. There’s still a very popular animal feed store, as well as a fine tea shop. Also, as my regular readers know, it has my number one desire in a town (besides good coffee): a movie theater. I know we’re supposed to be communing with nature in our second homes, but if I’m going to spend significant time there, I need to escape to the cinema.

It’s about two hours and change from New York, but along relatively small roads (that could be considered a plus, of course), and apparently very close to the Wassaic Metro North station. There’s as much pricey real estate as affordable-ish real estate (nothing under $100K here, though), with an average listing price of $325,000 as of this writing. The downside: pretty slim pickings right now in the real estate market, unless you have more than five million to spend.