Rocker David Bowie bequeathed half of his $100 million fortune to his wife, Iman, after his death in January, including the apartment the two shared in Soho, which he bought for $4 million in 1999. The remainder of his estate was mostly split between his two children.
Yet what ranked among his most prized possessions, close friends say, was a 62-acre estate in Ulster County, a rugged enclave along the Hudson River about 100 miles north of Manhattan.
He left the home to Alexandria, the 15-year-old daughter he had with Iman.
“He lived a relatively quiet existence up here, but that’s exactly why New York City residents like this area,” says Bill Sidoriak, the principal broker at Fleming Realty, which covers Ulster County.
“People come up here for a quiet, simple life to get away from some of the craziness of the city.”
Bowie wasn’t alone among New Yorkers finding their way to Ulster County.
Urban dwellers, including many artists and musicians, have long been drawn to the densely forested mountains and secluded farmland of this Hudson Valley region that also encompasses part of the Catskill Mountains.
The area’s scenic beauty began attracting creative types as far back as the early 1900s, when the town of Woodstock housed the county’s first artists’ colony.
But a new wave of New Yorkers on the hunt for weekend retreats and summer homes has recently begun flooding the area, says Jim Allred, a broker with Mary Collins Real Estate. “They visit for a weekend and then end up falling in love the with it.”
After decades of colonizing well-known historic towns such as Woodstock and Saugerties, the new batch of buyers, mostly from the worlds of fashion and art, is now showing up in picturesque hamlets like Marlboro, Stone Ridge and High Falls. They’re finding a heady mix of vintage housing stock and new developments with price tags well below what they’d pay in other second-home playgrounds such as the Hamptons, the Jersey Shore or the Connecticut coast.
Luxury home builder Toll Brothers just launched Mountain View at Gardiner, an enclave of estate homes on one-acre sites between the towns of Gardiner and New Paltz. Prices at the development, whose properties sport cathedral ceilings and bay windows, range from $525,995 to $614,995 for three- and four-bedroom homes, the company says.
Consultant Andrew Lewis, 40, and his husband, 37, lived in Harlem for several years and spent time visiting Ulster County for hiking trips and weekend getaways. But the couple decided to make their presence more permanent in February and bought a four-bedroom home on six acres in the town of Olive, located in the Catskills just west of Kingston.
The property, last listed for $549,000, overlooks Mohonk Preserve, an 8,000-acre nature park laden with cliffs, forests and streams. The median price of a home in Harlem currently stands at $940,000, according to real estate website Trulia.
“We couldn’t get a one-bedroom apartment in the city for that price,” says Lewis, a workplace consultant. “We just really liked the vibe and feel of life up here, and love the open space.”
Owning property in Ulster County is also a good real-estate investment, housing data shows.
For the first quarter, the number of home sales in the county increased 28 percent compared to a year earlier, according to the Ulster County Board of Realtors. The median home price rose 13 percent in March, compared to the same time last year, to $215,000.
Meanwhile, homes in popular areas of Ulster County — such as Woodstock, Saugerties and Phoenicia — can soar near $1 million. For example, a three-bedroom home in Woodstock is currently on the market for $949,000, repped by Douglas Elliman. The residence measures 1,536 square feet and includes three bathrooms, a spacious living room with a 15-foot-high ceiling and a fireplace.
The area’s housing market wasn’t always so robust. “We had a number of lean years after the crash in 2008,” says Harris Safier, principal broker at Westwood Metes & Bounds Realty, who has been selling property in Ulster County for 38 years. “Things started turning around in 2012 and have never really slowed down since.”
On the more affordable end of Ulster’s spectrum, Westwood Metes & Bounds is currently listing a lakeside three-bedroom home in Kingston for $359,900. The mid-century ranch home includes a large sunken living room and stone fireplace.
The recovery in area home prices coincides with its burgeoning artsy scene, including a surge in fairs and outdoor markets that has upped its creative chops.
Jonathan Butler, the co-founder of the popular Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasburg markets, which got their start in Fort Greene and Williamsburg, is set to open a Smorgasburg outpost in Kingston, along the Hudson River’s bank, this summer.
The 10-acre venue will launch August 6 with up to 75 vendors and open up every Saturday through October. “There’s a lot going on in the county all of a sudden and we really wanted to be a part of that,” says Butler, who adds that he has been meeting with local brokers and aims to buy a home there this year.
Two years ago Ford launched an upscale craft and furniture fair,in the nearby town of High Falls. Called Field + Supply, it is held in October inside a refurbished barn and tents; it includes more than two dozen furniture makers, artisans, designers and retailers.
“Fairs and restaurants and hotels are popping up all over the place,” says Ford, an Arkansas native who moved to the city more than 20 years ago. “It’s really a testament to just how popular this region has become for many New Yorkers.”