Cabin near NYC for Weekend Escapes (New York, Ramapo: houses, wedding, buy)

[jad2k]

Op I don’t know if you’re on Instagram but there are many accounts that you can follow like

Escapebrooklyn
Upstater
Hudsonvalleymag

These pages showcase all of the wonderful and rustic areas not too far from nyc. Escapebrooklyn, for example, even features a real estate section too. A recent posting had this adorable cabin in Neversink, NY for $159K. https://escapebrooklyn.com/neversink-cabin/

[jad2k]

Originally Posted by Airborneguy

I've been looking for YEARS and I hate to tell you but to stay under $200,000 without buying a total piece of crap, you'll need to go a lot further than 2 hours from the city.

My budget will be slightly less when the time comes, around $175,000, and I am figuring that we will be in the Adirondacks somewhere, BUT, the "zone of affordability" for what I want starts somewhere off Route 28 (Exit 19 of Thruway) past Shandaken.

Ideally I would like to end up around Lake George but not on the lake itself (too touristy). Anywhere up in that area is beautiful, cheap and there are plenty of other bodies of water that get far less traffic.

I’ve not seriously looked carefully at real estate prices outside of nyc so I’ll have to take your word for it on the zone of affordability, which is going to differ for people of course, but there are certainly enough towns within a sub 2 hour (we’ll probably 2 1/2 hour) radius of nyc that fit the definition of quiet and rustic.

I’ve never been to Lake George (I’ve been as far up as Lake Placid though which is amazingly beautiful ) but for me, Lake George is too far north to make it weekend distance accessible. However, if you don’t need to go back and forth from that area to nyc frequently, then it’s likely a good location.

[ShayLove]

Have your tried Greenwood Lake (NY side)? I've seen homes as low as $179. Right off the lake!

[LizfromtheBronx]

Mom and I started talking about this last weekend. We're thinking about looking for a weekend/vacation house, within 3 hours from Mom's house in Bronx. Something waterfront, whether that's a lake/river, etc.

I'm partial to Hudson and Catskill....but also open to other places in Dutchess, Ulster, Columbia, Greene & Sullivan counties.

The discussions are just getting started, and my sister may want to be involved (which makes it more complicated, because then we'd need 3 masters, along with another guest room or two and bath. Not sure we'll find a 4-5bed/4 bath in our price range - remember this is a second home, we have primary homes to pay for as well!)

I'm going to start following those IG accounts....it's a new idea and probably a few years away, but never hurts to formulate the plan

[Airborneguy]

Originally Posted by jad2k

I’ve not seriously looked carefully at real estate prices outside of nyc so I’ll have to take your word for it on the zone of affordability, which is going to differ for people of course, but there are certainly enough towns within a sub 2 hour (we’ll probably 2 1/2 hour) radius of nyc that fit the definition of quiet and rustic.

I’ve never been to Lake George (I’ve been as far up as Lake Placid though which is amazingly beautiful ) but for me, Lake George is too far north to make it weekend distance accessible. However, if you don’t need to go back and forth from that area to nyc frequently, then it’s likely a good location.

Lake George is about 1-1:30 closer than Lake Placid. From Staten Island, I can be in the town of Lake George in about 3 hours. For me, that is definitely weekend worthy, even if leaving early Saturday morning. My uncle's property is west off of the thruway, so it takes longer to get to than Lake George would. We do weekends there frequently throughout the year.

There's definitely beautiful small towns within 2 hours of the city. But unless one is willing to be in a very rundown area (like say Ellenville), staying under $200,000 will be tough.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by jad2k

Not true. You must not get up north much. There is a lot of “rustic” in Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Columbia, Sullivan counties. Many places you can get to within 2 hours in a car OR metro north.

A close family friend of my parents lived in this amazing secluded country home with an apple orchard and a “swimming hole” on several acres. We’d go up there and walk along trails by their house to get to creeks and ponds for fishing. This was in Putnam Valley.

No of course a hose like this so close to NYC isn’t going to be under $200K but the point is there are many rustic places not too far outside of nyc.

Hehehe. That is funny. I drive through New York to Ontario monthly. That is NORTH.

I've been through and in most of those counties, but I've also commuted to NYC for longer than you've been alive, and an hour from the city, unless you're driving in the middle of the night, doesn't get you out of the NYC metro area. Two hours can get you to some semi-country areas, but it may also be what you consider "rustic" or "country" and I don't.

For example, the Poconos are about two hours drive from the city. When I was a kid, we went there every summer, and it was country back then. Now it's got traffic lights and Walmart and crime and people who commute to their jobs in the city every day. That's not "country". I guess in my mind, what I thought this guy was asking for was something outside of commuting distance.

Orange County is no longer country. It is suburbia. I know when I head north from my mother's house in Bergen County, about 10 miles from the Rockland border, I'm in Sullivan County from THERE a couple of hours later, but I'm already starting 45 minutes from outside of Manhattan.

I'm not as familiar with Putnam County, though, or the other areas east of the Hudson, so you may be right there.

Anyway, what I thought this guy was asking for may be different from what you are thinking. I had neighbors in NW Bergen County who moved there from Queens, and she enthusiastically told me how much they loved "living out here in the country." But she wasn't in the country AT ALL. You could see the WTC from the center of town.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by Airborneguy

Lake George is about 1-1:30 closer than Lake Placid. From Staten Island, I can be in the town of Lake George in about 3 hours. For me, that is definitely weekend worthy, even if leaving early Saturday morning. My uncle's property is west off of the thruway, so it takes longer to get to than Lake George would. We do weekends there frequently throughout the year.

There's definitely beautiful small towns within 2 hours of the city. But unless one is willing to be in a very rundown area (like say Ellenville), staying under $200,000 will be tough.

Lake George is nice.

Three hours is not a bad drive at all for a weekend. Once you are out of the NY metro area, driving can be enjoyable.

[city living]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

An hour or two from the city, you are still in the suburbs, not in some rustic paradise with lakes and woods where you could have a "cabin". Three or four hours is much more realistic.

You can find this 2-3 hours away if you look hard enough.



We stayed somewhere recently that wasn't even that far from Peekskill---maybe 20-25 minutes---and we had some crazy drive to get to this place---we had to drive a few miles in on a dirt road to get to this property which was completely secluded surrounded by acres of forest. I was surprised given how close it was.

[jad2k]

Originally Posted by Airborneguy

Lake George is about 1-1:30 closer than Lake Placid. From Staten Island, I can be in the town of Lake George in about 3 hours. For me, that is definitely weekend worthy, even if leaving early Saturday morning. My uncle's property is west off of the thruway, so it takes longer to get to than Lake George would. We do weekends there frequently throughout the year.

There's definitely beautiful small towns within 2 hours of the city. But unless one is willing to be in a very rundown area (like say Ellenville), staying under $200,000 will be tough.

You can make it to lake George from SI in 3 hours? Interesting. But I guess you don’t have to cut through nyc traffic which saves time.

So here’s the thing about the accessible rustic towns close by nyc. There are a lot of them but if one is looking for a “rustic getaway”, how much does it matter if the town itself is rundown? If you’re looking to live there long term, it’s likely more important to have a decent area but if you’re literally looking for a weekend home that’s close to hiking, hunting, fishing, you probably only need a town that has basic amenities.

[jad2k]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

Hehehe. That is funny. I drive through New York to Ontario monthly. That is NORTH.

I've been through and in most of those counties, but I've also commuted to NYC for longer than you've been alive, and an hour from the city, unless you're driving in the middle of the night, doesn't get you out of the NYC metro area. Two hours can get you to some semi-country areas, but it may also be what you consider "rustic" or "country" and I don't.

For example, the Poconos are about two hours drive from the city. When I was a kid, we went there every summer, and it was country back then. Now it's got traffic lights and Walmart and crime and people who commute to their jobs in the city every day. That's not "country". I guess in my mind, what I thought this guy was asking for was something outside of commuting distance.

Orange County is no longer country. It is suburbia. I know when I head north from my mother's house in Bergen County, about 10 miles from the Rockland border, I'm in Sullivan County from THERE a couple of hours later, but I'm already starting 45 minutes from outside of Manhattan.

I'm not as familiar with Putnam County, though, or the other areas east of the Hudson, so you may be right there.

Anyway, what I thought this guy was asking for may be different from what you are thinking. I had neighbors in NW Bergen County who moved there from Queens, and she enthusiastically told me how much they loved "living out here in the country." But she wasn't in the country AT ALL. You could see the WTC from the center of town.

What’s “country” to you? Or to the OP for that matter? For example what type of area is a place like Livingston Manor in the Catskills? You can still be within a few hours of nyc but in a small town, village, or hamlet that’s surrounded by nature with waking distance to hiking and fishing.. I was assuming this is what the OP was asking about.

If you’re thinking of the type of “rural” that’s on a farm or in a forest or the mountains with no one else for miles, that’s different. My mom grew up in a rural and remote area way in the Deep South. Literally only one store in the entire town (back then and still today). If that’s the only thing you consider “country” then yeah, you’ll have to go much further for that level of remoteness.