BEAUTIFUL. PRIVATE, QUIET, COMFORTABLE HOMESTEAD

I wanted a place that was not now, and would not any time soon, become a vacation mecca. With Pittsburgh at 250 miles, Cleveland 275, and DC, Philadelphia, and NYC at 300 Greenwood was perfect. But what struck me was the ad description--organic garden, fruit trees, spring fed pond, updated 1870's farm house, and 70 acres of fields and woods.

Another important reason was my Dad (99 now) grew up in the depression and remembers how people in the country in Minnesota got by a bit easier than those in the cities. He wanted a country farm so together we bought one.

But those are all secondary to my first visit. I drove down lovely gravel roads (who knew New York State even had any) wondering if I was in the right place. After two miles and no houses for what seemed like forever, I came upon this vision of country loveliness at the farm. The owner had not arrived yet so I sat down at the picnic table. There was beauty all around me and deep peace. The sound was so profound that I could hear it! Well after that I had to buy it--it took almost a year to convince everyone but when my wife say a bear run across the road on her first visit she turned to me and said 'we have to buy this place'--so that was that.

Interesting instructions/advice from HomeAway on what to say --'the little touches that made me choose this property'. There are so many--the grassy path through wild flowers leading to the pond--the rolls of hay in the fields from the harvest, the fact that there was a seasonal road coming up the hill with a beautiful curve, the 1920s combination wood and gas stove, the swing on the old apple tree (Northern Spy--good for pies and native to the region). The sun porch, the barn with its huge hand hewn beams and granary, and the fruit trees in the yard. The laundry line from the door to the top of the tree and the woodshed cobbled together with old windows and logs with their bark still on.