Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photo: Upstate Down
Part of living in New York City is thinking about moving out of New York City. Each month, we’ll round up the best listings within commuting-ish distance, places where entire houses go for the cost of a “junior one-bedroom” (or less), but you’ll have to fix your own toilet.
This month, we found a lot of good ones in Rhinebeck. We don’t make the rules, so we’re taking the roughly two-and-a-half-hour drive up the Taconic to look at a very renovated (some might say Inness-ified) house from the 1990s and a renovated (but in a very normal way) farmhouse from the 1800s.
$4,750,000; five bedrooms, four and a half baths
Photo: Upstate Down
A statement house upstate. Why not! Actually, two statement houses. The main residence is a four-bedroom, four-and-a-half bath built in … 1991. But the current owners decided to do a massive renovation before taking it to market, which explains the very 2025, very Post Company interior choices being made here. Your mileage may vary, but we find the arches and marble-forward kitchen all quite elegant. Same for the warm terracottas of the bathroom tile. Outside, there’s a Gunite finished pool, which is beginning to feel like an upstate pre-req for houses listing above a certain price point. There’s also a one-bedroom guest house, which makes an overnight trip for friends and an easier sell, plus a nearby pond and winding stone paths. At the nearly $5 million price tag, however, this property is one of the most expensive on the market in Rhinebeck right now, but it does come with bragging rights of three wood-burning fireplaces. (Is it possible to have too many fireplaces? Only you can say.)
How do I get back to the city?
We’ll only say it once but you’ve got some options: If you’ve got someone to drive you the 25-ish minutes to Poughkeepsie, it’s a nearly two-hour trip via Metro-North. Since you are also a person who can apparently buy a nearly $5 million home, you can also take the Amtrak from Rhinecliff. Or, similarly, just do the entire two-and-a-half-hour drive yourself.
So what do I do if I live there?
Go hiking along the Vlei Marsh Trail, a six-minute drive away; get a massage at the Mirabeau Inn and Spa.
$1,800,000; five bedrooms, five and a half baths
This estate’s main house has soaring post-and-beam ceilings, as seen in this listing photo, along with many nice touches like a bluestone fireplace.
Photo: Hudson Modern Co
We’ve got another two-for-the-price-of-one thing here. This highly customized craftsman is truly grand. The four-bedroom main house has soaring post-and-beam ceilings and a bluestone fireplace. There are many other nice little touches, including double-height windows; a chef’s kitchen that includes a six-burner Wolf stove, warming drawer, and a wine fridge; and a Brazilian walnut rear deck that comes with a swim spa and hot tub. The primary suite also has a steam shower and jetted tub. It’s swanky. Elsewhere on your five acres, there’s a two-car garage with a roughly 670-square-foot bedroom upstairs that’s currently stocked with LPs and houses an impressive recording studio. (Property records show the current owners are music producer Eli Goldstein of the DJ duo Soul Clap and holistic chef Andrea Lubrano.)
So what do I do if I live there?
Since you already know how to get back to the city, we’ll just tell you to drive four minutes to see the Center for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck’s staging of “Gypsy,” and then get dinner at Terrapin.
$2,950,000; four bedrooms, two and a half baths
You can take in the 49 acres this Mid-Century Modern home sits on through the sliding glass doors and oversized windows, as seen in this listing photo.
Photo: Rouse + Co Real Estate
This box-style mid-century home was built in 1970 and sits on 49 acres. That’s a lot of space. Inside, there are original wood floors along with a wood-burning fireplace cut into a white-brick wall in the living room. Sliding glass doors plus oversize windows offer a clear view of the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and, of course, your sprawling woods. (The current owners have done the hard work on that front by removing some of the old trees and canopying others.)
So what do I do if I live there?
Take many long walks across your 49 acres of land; get a pork-roll egg-and-cheese at Rhinebeck Bagels, a five-minute drive away.
$495,000; two bedrooms, two baths
This 1800s farmhouse recently had its kitchen and bathrooms renovated, but still has low ceilings with exposed beams, as seen in this listing photo.
Photo: The Truss Group
Lean into the low ceilings. Live the gnome life. This renovated 1800s farmhouse still has its original staircase, along with gorgeous exposed beams, dark plank floors, and plenty of leaded windows to take in the lighting. The updated kitchen and bathrooms, honestly, are fine, but the stone-walled porch is alluring, as is the 2.7-acre setting: a spread of towering trees and wetlands. As far as we can tell, the cat in the listing photos is not included, but you do get a storybook-worthy red barn that can double as a garage, and two additional outbuildings for raising chickens or becoming a potter.
So what do I do if I live there?
Take a dip in Little Wappinger Creek, which borders the property’s right side, grab a beer on the weekends at Slow Fox Farm Brewery that’s a six-minute drive away, and go see a movie at Upstate Films. Like every night.
