When Laura Phillips was planning her retirement after 30 years of teaching art to elementary school students and living in Seaford, N.Y., on Long Island, she and her husband started looking for a more tranquil place to live.
“We wanted to move someplace less populated with less traffic,” Ms. Phillips, 58, said. “Every year, for 20-something years, we’ve gone up to Mohonk Mountain House for a weekend, and it came to me that we’re the most relaxed and the most content when we’re in those mountains.”
Kingston, N.Y., is among the reasons New Yorkers are flocking to Gardiner, which is also prized for its wide-open spaces. Although the actor Robert De Niro’s 98-acre Gardiner compound is an extreme example, the town is known for expensive homes surrounded by acres of farmland.
“There are big properties that haven’t yet been subdivided into smaller developments,” said Steven Asher Cohen, an associate broker with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices who recently represented a New York City client on the purchase of a modern farmhouse on 34.5 acres for $1.625 million. “The village is small, but it’s only about six miles to New Paltz. People like the easy access to the Thruway and a little bit of a shorter drive to the city.”
Hyde Park, N.Y. “After climbing in the Gunks since I was in college, and always wanting to live there full-time, we decided life was too short to put off living where we wanted to be.”
For Ms. Pazer, Gardiner is all about the Gunks. “I’m so focused on the recreation,” she said. “It’s nice to live in a place where you can hike, cross-country ski and climb — all these things are right here.”