When Laura Phillips planned to retire after 30 years of teaching art to elementary school students and live in Seaford, NY, on Long Island, she and her husband began looking for a quieter place to live.
Ms Phillips, 58, said: “We wanted to move somewhere less populated and with less traffic. “Every year, for 20 years, we have increased Mohonk Mountain House over a weekend, and I found that we were the most comfortable and most contented in those mountains. “
Phillips and her husband, Chris Capone, also 58, can now look out over the Shawangunk Mountains – known locally as the Gunks – from their home in Gardiner, NY. They closed in the 2,600-square-foot colonial home in wooded acres in August 2020, paying $490,000. Ms Phillips said: “In the winter, I can see the mountains from my kitchen window.
That view of the 50-mile Shawangunk Ridge, a climbing mecca stretching from the New Jersey border to Kingston, NY, is one of the reasons New Yorkers flock to Gardiner, which is also prized for its wide open spaces. Although actor Robert De Niro’s 98-acre Gardiner residence is a prime example, the town is known for its expensive homes surrounded by acres of farmland.
Steven Asher Cohen, a realtor affiliated with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, who recently represented a New York City client regarding the purchase of a modern farm on 34.5 acres for 1.625 million dollar said . “The village is small, but it’s only about six miles from New Paltz. People love the ease of getting to the Thruway and the slightly shorter drive to the city. “
Access to Gunks and undeveloped lands attracts outdoor enthusiasts like Deyano Manco, a New Paltz native who moved to Gardiner in 2014. “I wanted to be somewhere with more open space. ,” said Mr. Manco, 49, a founder. of the nonprofit Shawangunk Cycling Association. “Gardiner was a natural fit for me, to be a cyclist. It provides much more direct access to where I want to go. “
In June, Mr. Manco founded BaseCamp, a 7.5-acre “community center” with a 2,000-square-foot building, beer garden, fireplace and a long table that “encours you to sit together.” “. BaseCamp sells outdoor equipment, supplies and maps; snacks such as skins and salads; and wine and craft beer – all served outdoors.
It was the fascination of the outdoors that inspired Jannette Wing Pazer, a founding member of the nonprofit Climbers’ Alliance, to move to Gardiner from Millburn, NJ In 2010, she and her first husband moved to Gardiner from Millburn, NJ. paid $395,000 cash for a three-bedroom home. on 5.5 acres. Pazer now lives there with her second husband, Matt Logan.
Ms. Pazer, 59, a search engine optimization specialist at the Culinary Institute of America, said: “In early 2010, both my sister and mother passed away. Hyde Park, NY “After climbing the Gunks since I was in college, and always wanting to live there full time, we decided life was too short to live where we wanted to be.”
To Miss Pazer, Gardiner is all about Gunks. “I am very focused on entertainment,” she said. “It’s great to live in a place where you can go hiking, cross-country skiing and mountain climbing – all of this is here.”
What you will find
Mr. Cohen said: “Architecture at Gardiner is ‘a totality of all things’. “There are older farmhouses, modern farmhouses, contemporary style houses, and you have a lot of colonial houses built in the 80s.”
What many Gardiner properties have in common is ample land. Stretches of woodland, wetlands, farmland, grasslands and apple orchards abound. In 2008, the town expanded the minimum lot size to 5 acres in its Rural Farm District, which includes approximately 27 square miles of the 44 square mile town. In Shawangunk Ridge Protected Area, properties are now required to be at least 5 to 20 acres in size, with higher acreage attached to higher elevation lots.
About 6,200 acres – 22% of Gardiner’s area – is protected land, according to the town’s preserved land database. The two main owners of protected land are the 8,000-acre Mohonk Preserve, with 1,990 acres in Gardiner, and the 24,000-acre Minnewaska State Park Preserve, which has 2,790 acres in Gardiner.
The idyllic setting makes this town of about 5,600 residents an optimal location for vineyards and wineries. One of the newest companies is Bruynswick Distillery, which Ryan and Johanna Kiernan opened last fall at Kiernan Farm, owned by Kiernan’s father, Marty Kiernan. Other offerings include Tuthilltown Spirits, Gardiner’s 19-year-old distillery, with a guided tasting and cocktail bar, and Yard Owl Brewery, with its Belgian-inspired line of beers.
Among the outdoor recreation opportunities is the 26.2-acre George Majestic Memorial Park, with numerous sports facilities and playgrounds; Skydiving over the Farm, which attracts skydiving enthusiasts from around the trinity; and the 87-acre Gardiner Park, where a new network of trails is being created near the Wallkill River.
Less popular recent projects include Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort, a 100-acre campsite, and a small water park that opened in 2014 by the Wallkill River, running south to north through the town center. . The camp’s cabins, RVs and tents, which can accommodate up to 2,000 visitors, are often fully booked during the summer, leading to noise complaints and other quality-of-life concerns.
Town residents have also raised concerns about Wildflower Farms, a luxury resort scheduled to open September 30 with 65 luxury cabins and cottages on 140 acres and a main house. There is a restaurant and spa. Some fear that wildlife along the Shawangunk Kill, a stream that flows through the area, will be threatened by development.
What you will have to pay
Gardiner has the highest home prices and property taxes in Ulster County. The median price for a single-family home increased nearly 60% from 2019 to 2021, to $568,250 from $358,750, according to the Ulster County Board of Realtors. In 2021, homes spend 73 days on the market on average, down from 100 in 2019.
At the end of June, Zillow put out eight listings for single-family homes in Gardiner, ranging from a 660 square foot home on 0.19 acres for $158,999 to a 3,321 square foot home. with a Wallkill River frontage on 79.1 acres for $1,995 million.
According to the town assessor’s office, the annual property tax bill for an average single-family home would be $16,730 in Central Paltz and $19,047 in Central. Wallkill.
The Vibe
Gardiner is reserved and premium – a good choice for a reclusive celebrity, though Mr. De Niro’s battle with the town on his tax bill didn’t drop his record there.
The compact business district has only a few businesses, but each has a distinct character. Gardiner Liquid Mercantile serves craft cocktails and homemade cider in a stylish atmosphere. Julian’s Provisions offers elaborate lunch options such as shrimp salad with toast, and the popular Cafe Mio brunch restaurant with fresh, local ingredients.
The town has an active artist community that hosts the annual Open Studio Tour with around 20 artist studios. Ms. Phillips, who has retired from Long Island, is also an artist and plans to go on tour next year. She was so moved when she met some of the artists who lived on her street, she said, “I met them just walking in the neighborhood.”
Schools
Most Gardiner students are served by one of two school districts: New Paltz Central School District to the north, or Wallkill Central School District to the south.
The district’s database administrator Cheri Pettus said the current enrollment is 1,871 students, 252 of whom live in Gardiner. In 2020-21, according to the New York State Department of Education, 75 percent of the district’s students identify as white, 13 percent as Latino, 5 percent as mixed, 4 percent are Black and 3 percent are Asian or Pacific Islanders.
On the 2018-19 state tests, 95 percent of New Paltz High School students were fluent in English, compared with the statewide average of 84 percent; 94 percent are fluent in geometry, compared with 70 percent statewide. In 2021, the average SAT score of New Paltz High School students is 636, compared with the statewide average of 526; Their math GPA is 615, compared to the statewide average of 531. The high school has a 95 percent graduation rate, compared with 86 percent statewide.
Brian Devincenzi, assistant superintendent of support services, said the Wallkill Central School District, which serves 2,766 students, has 145 students from Gardiner. In 2020-21, according to the New York State Department of Education, 64 percent of those students identify as white, 26 percent as Latino, 6 percent as Black, 3 percent as Poly race and 1 percent are Asian or Pacific Islander.
On the 2018-19 state tests, 96 percent of Wallkill High School students were fluent in English and 90 percent proficient in geometry. In 2021, the average verbal SAT score of Wallkill High School students is 564, and their average math score is 574. This high school has a 92% graduation rate.
Route to work
Gardiner is about an 80-minute drive from the George Washington Bridge. Many residents drive to Newburgh and take the New York State Thruway at Exit 17. To avoid traffic on the George Washington Bridge, some drivers travel from the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge to the Taconic State Parkway.
Metro-North Station in Beacon is about a half-hour drive southeast of Gardiner. The trip from there to Grand Central Station in Manhattan takes a little over an hour and a half, and a round trip during rush hour costs $46.
History
The town’s historian AJ Schenkman says the first Europeans to arrive at Gardiner, around the 1680s, included Huguenots from France as well as Dutch and Irish settlers.
The The New York State Legislature established Gardiner from parts of New Paltz, Rochester, and Shawangunk in 1853, naming it after Addison Gardiner, lieutenant colonel governor of New York from 1845 to 1847. The town quickly became known for its dairy farms and homes. The machine is formed from Rocks rich in quartz.
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