The thing about Kingston is that it’s kind of like a good NYC neighborhood, but with nature. There’s Rough Draft Bar and Books, the coffeeshop-bookstore-bar; multiple places to get a coffee or lunch and meet up to talk or work on your laptop; bars, including one with great rock shows in a tiny room; restaurants, revived after a pandemic slump. I mean, it’s never going to be THE city, but that’s kind of the point, isn’t it. In Kingston, you have room to spread out and create. The natural world is right here: There’s the linear trail/rail trail, the path around the Ashokan Reservoir, parks and woods galore where you can walk, bike, hike, run, bring a dog. Or you can spread out and garden. Sit in your yard and read a book.
Or, if your living room looks like this, sit inside.
I may have mentioned that I am a book critic-slash-realtor, and here I am wearing my real estate agent hat. (And the stubborn copy editor hat that refuses to capitalize realtor just because they’ve added a damn TM). I’m lucky enough to be listing this house in Kingston for sale.
I didn’t do the DIY — the very gifted owner did. He calls it rustic Scandinavian minimalism.
The porch! It fills with sun in the afternoon. That shelf has a live edge and well, it was made with care by the owner but I’m going to stop there because I don’t remember the all details.
It doesn’t really have a front yard, but aren’t we over yards? The house’s remarkable outdoor space is in the back. It’s like a mini forest. Really nothing like it right in town.
Before we go out back, let’s go upstairs. The house has 3 small bedrooms (or offices) upstairs, connected by a small hallway. Original hardwood floors throughout. There’s also a bathroom there, which the owner before this owner inexplicably painted brown? Never fear, it’s white now. All the upstairs rooms and their closets have brilliant original wood doors from the 1930s, which have aged into a deep rich patina you can’t replicate.
On the vintage doors, doorknobs are glass or crystal, and even the door plates are beautiful. You don’t find this at Lowe’s (DIY people don’t shop at Trumpy Home D unless we absolutely have to).
There’s more to see inside, but first, let’s go to the backyard. Imagine you’re walking down the driveway past the garage (aka woodshop) and you come to winding stone steps. They take you up to the level of that rock outcropping, which is nestled close to the back of the house.
Yes, there’s room for a cafe table and chairs on that gravel landing.
Now you’re standing in the backyard, which is basically at the level of the second floor. Above, you can see the sun-dappled clearing with a stack of cinder blocks — which is actually a DIY BBQ. Here it is in action:
There are two huge white oaks on the property, along with elm trees and white pine. Also mountain laurel and sassafras. Which is why it feels like a wild foresty space with a clearing, not like a yard.
At the back of the property there’s this shed. After some repairs, like fixing up the floors and a corner of the roof, it could become a yoga room or podcast studio or writing spot.
OK, let’s go back inside. Of course there’s a kitchen! It’s an eat-in kitchen, big but not open plan style. It’s its own space.
The kitchen has room to put a sit-around butcher block island in the middle, if that’s your thing. The door on the left opens to a small pantry; the one next to it leads to the basement. Wait, where does that open door lead?
Behind the kitchen there’s a primary bedroom suite. (Realtors occasionally do good — we’re trying to get people to stop using “master bedroom” because of the horrid plantation-era connotations. Let’s use “primary bedroom” instead). Here’s the primary bedroom.
With a wall of closets and its own bath.
There’s kind of a thing these days about having the primary bedroom on the main floor. Maybe all parents’ knees are shot? Or that it’s nice, once kids aren’t too little, to have separation between your sleeping spaces.
But the thing is, you don’t have to have this be the primary bedroom — you could use the largest bedroom upstairs and dedicate this to something else. Maybe a hangout room for movies, TV, video games? A music room? An art studio? A library?
Anyway I love this house, and I think it’s going to be amazing for someone ready to move upstate. It’s at 300 E. Chester St. in Kingston. I hope it finds the right next owner. Please share it with your upstate curious friends.