Inez's Farm House

A newly renovated 1890’s house off a quiet country road, on 25 acres of rolling meadows and forest with two streams and waterfall, the farmhouse on Webster Brook and its adjoining barn are the last remnants of an original Catskill mountains’ family homestead, lovingly restored and modernized. The space Fifteen minutes east of the vibrant upstate town of Delhi, turn right on one of the old ‘brook roads’ that snake north up the Delaware River watershed. After a couple of miles, you’ll come round a bend and see us off to the right. The house is completely private, you’ll have no visible or audible neighbors. Just fireflies, two babbling brooks, and birdsong. Pull up in the driveway, there’s loads of space for cars, unload your groceries and come on in. Downstairs has been stripped back to its original post-and-beam bones, interior walls removed to form a single huge, horseshoe-shaped room. There are windows on all four sides gazing out onto surrounding meadows and woods. The open kitchen has been re-fabricated using reclaimed wood from the barn along with a dramatic monolithic cooking island, half form, half function, with an inset 5-burner gas cooktop and supplementary prep-sink. The kitchen has all new European appliances, a dishwasher, stand-mixer, Vitamix, coffee-makers, loads of plates and bowls and stuff and everything you’ll need to stay home, cook, hang out or entertain. Utilizing the cornucopia of back-road, honesty-box farm stands the area is known for, the kitchen provides the perfect setting for a long-cherished locavore home-movie fantasy. Sunset views from the house, or as you walk across the meadows to the waterfall or the high-tree-line with a picnic and a bottle of wine, are pure 19th century Catskills Arcadia. The open living room has an elegant dining table which can comfortably sit eight people, a bread-baking wood-stove, sofa, 1970’s McIntosh receiver adapted to bluetooth for your phone, vintage Klipsch floor speakers and no neighbors within disturbable earshot. It’s the perfect environment for long dinners that ramble into card games and late-night communion with old friends. High-speed WiFi throughout the house. There are three bedrooms upstairs - one king, one queen and one twin, with hand-made beds, cotton and linen bedding - and two full bathrooms, one with a shower, the other a claw-foot tub. There is a further half-bathroom and mud-room downstairs. The house has a new washer and dryer in case you slip in the stream whilst tickling brown trout. The house and barn are surrounded by their own fields, streams and forests. There are no boundaries, no fences; so if you want to bring a dog please talk to us first so we can agree upon it being a good fit. There’s a picnic table by the stream and a fire-pit in the nearest field. Our closest grocery store, the much-celebrated First Bloom, is two miles away and can provide all the ingredients for a well-cooked meal. There are also a farmers’ market, several shops, restaurants and even a large supermarket in Delhi, which is a 15 minute drive. The local towns - Bovina, Andes, South Kortright, Hobart, Stamford, Hamden - all contribute to the folklore of this magical old agricultural area in the furthest orbit of New York City’s gravitational pull. There’s great bicycling right from the front door, as well as hiking, visiting antique stores, yard sales, skiing in winter, swimming holes in summer. But mostly the farmhouse is a place to nest down, make a home, wander the fields, take a dip, eat and sleep.