Looking for "on golden pond" vacation lake home (Wilkes-Barre: appointed, real estate)

[edward94]

We have family in washington DC, pittsburgh and NYC...and are looking for a vacation home (lakefront) convenient to all that offers seclusion (lots of trees and preferably a lake without public access)...but near a small town with good amenities (culture, good restaurants, activities for family). Have read good things about jim thorpe and milford....and are looking for lakes in that area. Anyone can advise thoughts on "golden pond-like" lake in the area...or know of a real estate agent who may specialize in this sort of thing? Any thoughts on jim thorpe vs milford....or some of the small towns in southern new york such as roscoe? Note -- we DO NOT want a suburb on the lake...thus the comment on "on golden pond". We are a US family living in africa...and only come home twice a year. So much of our research has to be on the internet....any information appreciated as we do not know the NE USA very well.

[NEPA-x-pat]

Our family has property on Paupakan in Lakeville. It is a private lake, quiet, with no gas outboards allowed. It is close to Hamlin. That is a nice little town.

[greentown]

There is another place called Lake Waynewood, off of Goose Pond Road near Hamlin. It also has a private, no gas outboard lake and a caretaker, sounds similar to the one NEPA-x-pat mentioned. It's the type of place where the family summer homes are passed down through the generations and all the families know one another.

[edward94]

thank you both so much. That is exactly what we are looking for....a lakehouse to be passed down generations...

[I LOVE PA!]

greentown...where is Lake Waynewood? I'm not familiar with it at all...just curious since it has to be right under my nose!

[MermanMike]

There's a super cute little community off of Hoadley's Rd in Lakeville called Lake Whitney. Went to an open house there when I was house hunting...of course I was only dreaming since I couldn't actually afford a lakefront cabin. It is a neat community because they have it set up so that there are cabins up about 1/4 mile of the lake, and then another row behind them. Then, the rest of the lake is just a preserve with no houses on it.

Anyone know anything about Cobbs Lake Preserve? I looked in there a bit too. Seems very pretty, and I got the feeling that the whole lake was preserved. Or are there houses around it that I just couldn't find? I also noticed tons of compost bins all over which I though was pretty cool.

[greentown]

When coming from Hamlin, turn on to Goose Pond Road. Take the first road on the right, then the entrance to Lake Waynewood is on the right. Sorry, I don't remember the road name.

[WasPA]

Originally Posted by edward94

We have family in washington DC, pittsburgh and NYC...and are looking for a vacation home (lakefront) convenient to all that offers seclusion (lots of trees and preferably a lake without public access)...but near a small town with good amenities (culture, good restaurants, activities for family). Have read good things about jim thorpe and milford....and are looking for lakes in that area. Anyone can advise thoughts on "golden pond-like" lake in the area...or know of a real estate agent who may specialize in this sort of thing? Any thoughts on jim thorpe vs milford....or some of the small towns in southern new york such as roscoe? Note -- we DO NOT want a suburb on the lake...thus the comment on "on golden pond". We are a US family living in africa...and only come home twice a year. So much of our research has to be on the internet....any information appreciated as we do not know the NE USA very well.

This is an idyll I can relate to. Although my family spent vacations at the Jersey shore when I was a youngster, we often had a place on one of the smaller local lakes: Sylvan Lake, North Lake, Nuangola. My grandfather had a lodge on a tiny island in the Thousand Islands-St. Lawrence River for getting away from it all......cold water! Loons, spiders the size of plates
and undependable electric sevice were no barriers to wonderful times and memories.

These days, with so much demand for waterfront/ in-migration from the cities
and the east, I'm not sure which lake I'd select so as not to be disappointed when the idyll became less than idyllic by virtue of congestion or noise. I wonder whether going up into the Adirondacks or deeper into central PA would promise a little more protection against encroaching 'civilization'...or,
as you say, the Catskill region. Of the local lakes (local to me) I'd go to those already settled such as Nuangola...charming, small, only a few miles from Wilkes-Barre via I-81----they are having harangues about the
installation of a sewer system, however.......the kind of matter that crops up in waterfront communities inevitably......the locals are down to earth, upper middle income generally.

Tiny Lily Lake in southerly Luzerne County is the most like "On Golden Pond'....very quiet.......the entertainer Edie Adams had a place there....she was the Muriel cigar lady from the old TV ads asking seductively, "why
don't you pick one up and smoke it sometime....?"

-----in another lifetime. lol

Afterthought: How about the Bellefonte area of PA..or south from it? What about West Virginia?

[Chefkey]

Bear Creek Lake. Just about 7 miles up 115 from Wilkes Barre. Private huge lake with houses backing up to it all around. Serene surroundings yet easy drive into Wilkes Barre to shop.

[WasPA]

^^^Bear Creek L. is a very nice lake..older and established, as well.....not something you'll find promoted in the NY Post or Daily News.....