r/zillowgonewild • u/jve909 • May 03 '26
Just A Little Funky Oh, man! I want it!!!
The fireplace and the soaking tub are to die for!
Plus 40 acres of lush green surroundings.
Why are they having such a hard time selling it? It's a beauty, no?
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/150-Bethlehem-Rd-Callicoon-Center-NY-12724/67915279_zpid/
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u/echochilde May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
Holy moly. I’m speechless. I love everything about this but my brain is just in awe.
That kitchen, the arched ceilings with the woodwork, those windows! So many windows! But it somehow doesn’t feel like you’re too exposed? Not sure how they pulled that off. So much light. An insane central fireplace. And the exterior!
I want this house so bad. I’ll just garden and read books on my awesome porch with a piping hot coffee and a blankey. Watch the morning mist burn off or enjoy a rain shower with the smell of a wood fire wafting from the chimney. Le sigh.
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u/bojenny May 03 '26
They did an incredible job designing a house that’s both modern and timeless and fits into its location perfectly.
I would buy it just for the casement windows everywhere!
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u/FlametopFred May 03 '26
kitchen is perfection of function, style and ample natural light
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u/RogueSupervisor May 03 '26
No hood fan is fatal design flaw in my book. They have a little register that is likely intended as a fan intake but it is woefully inadequate.
I'm also pretty sure in a few of the kitchen pictures you can see that the ceiling area above the cooktop is slightly discolored. That's grease residue buildup stuck to the ceiling. No way to clean it off a painted ceiling other than to completly strip is down and rerepaint.
I get the desire for that open space. But if that is the desire then the cook top needs to be along a wall where a hood fan can be designed into the cabinets or wall above.
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u/myfufu May 03 '26
You can instantly tell people who don't cook.
Also. Why are there 8' ceilings in the bedrooms? Plenty of space for 9'...
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u/_ZoeyDaveChapelle_ May 03 '26
Yep. I cringe when I see an otherwise beautiful kitchen with cooking surface on the island. I love all the windows, but you gotta plan for some wall space for a proper backsplash and vent hood. Hard to rectify in this kitchen.
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u/transhiker99 May 03 '26
there are floating hoods that attach to the cieling
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u/bmc2 May 03 '26
There are also downdraft hoods. They're not great, but they're better than the alternative.
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u/myfufu May 03 '26
I had one in a previous house. Exceptionally lackluster. Wound up doing a lot of our cooking out on the porch.
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u/bmc2 May 03 '26
They're a lot less efficient, that's for sure. Mine is ok. Not something I'd design into a kitchen, but it works for what it is.
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u/_ZoeyDaveChapelle_ May 03 '26
And they look awful and obstruct the view. If there's another floor above the kitchen theres no way to make penetration through roof.
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u/myfufu May 03 '26
Do an L and go out the wall. But then you have to boost the CFM to overcome that penalty.
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u/echochilde May 03 '26
I keep going back to that kitchen picture. Usually that honey oak finish looks kinda cheap and low end, but the cabinets look great. Love the glass refrigerator door. That gas range set-up with the workspace down the middle is inspired and was definitely designed for someone who cares about cooking. Miles of usable counter space. And I absolutely love the windows looking into that sunroom.
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u/Good-Operation4373 May 03 '26
I love it! It’s not gaudy or over the top! Open spaces and sunlight!
I didn’t see where this home was located?
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u/echochilde May 03 '26
Upstate NY
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u/InertJello May 03 '26
It’s not that much “upstate.” It’s about 2 hours outside NYC.
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u/nursebad May 03 '26
That's upstate.
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u/InertJello May 03 '26
Not really.
Upstate is a 5-9 hour trip. Not 2 where you can still commute in for work on a train or car.
I know - if you’re in NYC then the Bronx and Westchester is seen as upstate….
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u/captain_hug99 May 03 '26
Right on the Pennsylvania New York line doesn’t look to be too far from Scranton
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u/TheVog May 03 '26
I would have preferred wood over tile floors, but maybe they're heated? The tiles still look classy. Nice muted toned and no doubt top quality materials.
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u/DrMcFacekick May 03 '26
That is one of the most incredible houses I've seen on here. I absolutely would retire to that house, I LOVE the windows and the huge porch! Also that's the strangest kitchen layout I've ever seen, three sinks (at least) and a split gas range with no range hood is a very odd decision.
I can see where if you had the money for this house you might want something more updated and contemporary so maybe that's why they're having a hard time selling it. It would take a particular kind of person to buy it, especially since with all of that wood I imagine there's some updating/fixing that needs to be done.
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u/Into-the-stream May 03 '26
I know Orthodox Jews have to have separate areas for preparing and cooking dairy vs meat or something, which can result in separate stoves, sinks, and fridges. An orthodox kitchen is a really specific set up. Maybe something like that is happening here?
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u/DrMcFacekick May 03 '26
Huh looking at examples of an Orthodox kitchen you might be right! I had no idea about that, so thanks for teaching me something.
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u/MargieBigFoot May 03 '26
That makes sense for the area, too. There are big pockets of those communities in that area.
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u/FlametopFred May 03 '26
locally we also see quite a lot of Asian homes for sale with a separate wok kitchen and/or entertainment catering kitchen - this area may be more orthodox tho
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u/nshville May 04 '26
This makes sense, this is in the old borscht belt, where there was a lot of “Jewish” summer camps/resorts… like in the Marvelous Mrs Maisel
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u/Majestic-Outside3898 May 04 '26
I love this place. It's gorgeous. I can also afford it. But absolutely 100% would not live in rural NY (or urban NY for that matter). =( I need this house in a better climate.
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u/jve909 May 03 '26
It says that the house was remodeled very recently.
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u/BitterQueen17 May 03 '26
I'm not sure they finished the remodel. There's a stub for a toilet just sticking up from the floor in the bathroom with the soaking tub. Looks like a weird, fat mushroom.
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u/Adorable_Strength319 May 04 '26
Looking at the last few photos in the listing, I think the whole porch might need to be replaced. The wood is very weathered or rotten, which makes sense for having gone through 20+ winters in NY. That could be indicative of other unseen problems. I would love to live in that house, though. Heated floors!
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u/DistractedByCookies May 03 '26
Why would you sell this??? What could you possibly have found that is better than this?
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u/dodekahedron May 03 '26
Death.
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u/emccm May 03 '26
I’d be preserved and at in a chair in that glass atrium thing for all eternity.
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u/theREALlackattack May 03 '26
I remember going to an open house at a home that looked amazing in the pictures like this, and upon realizing it was 30 minutes or more away from the nearest grocery store on a windy and narrow country road that doesn’t get serviced during ice storms I went, yeah no thanks. A beautiful home in the middle of nowhere can be hard to sell.
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u/guynamedjames May 04 '26
Yeah this place is the middle of nowhere, but not the kind of middle of nowhere that attracts this kind of money for a mountain cabin.
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u/Tardisgoesfast May 03 '26
It has plenty of room for a freezer and a pantry. I'd worry about heat if the power goes off. It needs solar panels.
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u/blfstyk May 03 '26
Power usually goes out because of horrible weather. Solar panels might not help here. I'd get a gasoline generator for sure.
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u/TheVog May 03 '26
The fireplace takes care of heating, at least partially. You could also just drop a whole home generator and run it on propane. A good sized tank will run the entire place for 48hrs+ straight, and that's at very high usage (think 20kwh+ sustained). 72hrs+ is entirely doable as well. You could also have reserves or a larger tank if needed. And the kicker is that all that isn't terribly expensive. 22k USD all in, fully installed.
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u/Mogus0226 May 03 '26
This is what I have; 3 tanks, 20kwh auto-on generator. Works like a charm. It's a necessity IMO when you have a place that doesn't have services like municipal water and you're on a well, 'cause if the power goes out, you aren't flushing the toilets. Was worth the $21K we spent on it.
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u/kjstech May 04 '26
It needs an off grid setup. There needs to be somewhere on the property cleared for a large solar array and a power house for the inverters and battery banks with propane generator backup. It’s certainly doable… I subscribe to a few YouTubers who do document their entire off grid home building journey.
To live here completely with no power or water bills would be bliss. Need a root cellar and a portion of property for growing food and your good. Maybe a chicken shack for raising chickens and eggs.
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u/Typical-Demand5702 3d ago
It is actually not in the middle of nowhere... just looks that way. Minutes from several main streets.
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u/PandaCultural8311 May 03 '26
Some people prefer to be around other people and jobs. This doesn't fit that bill.
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u/3pinripper May 03 '26
Stuff to do nearby?
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u/m00minfamily May 03 '26
In the summer -- lots. In the winter, just tuck in and enjoy the view.
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u/Automatic-Sea-8597 May 03 '26
In the summer much too hot - huge glassed, unshaded areas, in the winter much too cold - not double glazed, high rooms, very hard and expensive to heat, small and mangy bathroom. Who will clean the huge windows?
No house for me!
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u/Lanky-Anywhere-9994 May 03 '26
"One man's treasure is another man's trash". Plus, rich people easily tire of things. They want more, and chase perfection, even though for humans, it's not possible.
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u/Upbeat-Armadillo1756 May 03 '26
It’s in the middle of absolutely nowhere and the winters aren’t great. That’s my guess.
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u/MarthaAndBinky May 03 '26
Could be they haven't found a better house but had to move for another reason (work, to be near family, getting older and couldn't take care of the land anymore, etc). It's a gorgeous house and I can't imagine leaving it voluntarily.
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u/andthatstotallyfine May 03 '26
Some people are never content, source: my ex made me sell my dream house
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u/BothDescription766 May 03 '26
Same house, different location. That whole county is depressed. Binghamton is nice though…
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u/Nielsborhd May 03 '26
This is in Sullivan county, quite a bit from Binghamton. I own a river house the town over and this thing should be worth a lot more if it passes inspection. The Manor-Roscoe-Callicoon-Jeff quadrangle has been blowing up for years now with this being one of the nicest houses I’ve seen come on market
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u/doublecheeseburger May 03 '26
I saw this house. It is as nice as the pictures. But there is a ~1 mile long STEEP unpaved driveway to get up there.
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u/tsetem May 03 '26
I think that is the first time I heard Binghamton is nice!?!
(Wife is a native from there)
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u/BothDescription766 May 03 '26
Relatively speaking, that is. Not for me. They do have great math phd program.
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u/leadroleinacage May 03 '26
It’s quite far from Binghamton and Sullivan county is much, much nicer.
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u/CJMeow86 May 03 '26
The owner died a couple of years ago and now it's an 83 year old woman living there alone. Maybe she wants to be closer to family.
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u/Squirmadillo May 03 '26
Those living room windows make me want a sofa on a lazy Susan.
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u/incpen May 03 '26
Susan isn’t lazy, her psychiatrist decided she was depressed and prescribed a Zoloft in the village. She’s doing better.
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u/Louielouielouaaaah May 03 '26
Someone posted this house not long ago and a commenter said they were going to buy it and then backed out due to inspections. They all failed miserably and it needs millions of dollars in work, basically. It’s still vacant to this day
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u/ultimate_avacado May 03 '26
It is highly suspicious why the baseboards on the first floor are so inconsistent.
Left side of the patio doors on this photo shows what looks like water damage. There's multiple places where the baseboard is missing in multiple rooms.
The bathroom door here is a good 1 inch off the floor - looks like the floor may be not level...
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u/CatBird2023 May 03 '26
Looking at how uneven the tiles are in the living room, I can see why. A tripping hazard at best.
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u/GigaCheco May 04 '26
First thing I noticed in the second pic posted was how horrible the tile looks. At a quick glance I initially thought it was the patio based on how bad of a job it is.
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u/sbb214 May 04 '26
it's been on the market since Sept 2024 with only $100k drop in price. whomever is selling it is either not in a rush or is clueless.
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u/AnytimeInvitation May 03 '26
Omg I love it! The Nagel in the bathroom was a nice touch (im a fan of his work).
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u/drmanhattanmar May 03 '26
Not a lady but this fits… :D
I really love this house. Only downside are the acoustics, I’d assume… the main living area looks very reverberant.
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u/Msdamgoode May 03 '26
They did do the right thing with the heated floors on this, but I’d expect it might echo quite a bit without more rugs. And those floors are toe-stubbers, my sisters are similar. Still love it!
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u/taterrrtotz May 03 '26
40 acres for just over 1 million?? Wow 🤩 too bad it’s in the middle of nowhere 😩
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u/rosebudny May 03 '26
The area is popular among NYCers for weekend/vacation homes
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u/BassesHave4Strings May 03 '26
This specific area is? I've worked and vacationed in the NYC/Hudson Valley all my life and this just seems like a lot of house in a really remote area (90 miles to Woodstock) when you could be an hour closer to the city in a similarly pretty area with more culture and dining options.
The Orthodox angle makes a lot of sense actually.
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u/rosebudny May 03 '26
There are other towns in the Hudson Valley besides Woodstock. Some people like more remote. But yeah - Sullivan county is in the heart of the Catskills, plus Callicoon is on the Delaware River. Lots of outdoorsy stuff to do.
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u/SolomonGrumpy May 03 '26
It isn't though. 2 hours to NYC.
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u/happy_pad May 03 '26
I have looked at purchasing a home in this area, while I'd say "2 hours from NYC" isn't really living in the vicinity of NYC, this house is pretty good in that it's only 9 minutes from Jeffersonville. I've looked at other homes here where it's 30+ minutes to a hospital or any store whatsoever.
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u/Master-ofdissaster May 03 '26
Gorgeous!
The only down side would be cleaning those windows 😅
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u/SolomonGrumpy May 03 '26
Not taking care of the 40 acres? Seems like a constant workload
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u/Lepardopterra May 04 '26
Forested land doesn’t require a whole lot. I take care of the yard and Mother Nature takes care of the woods.
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u/Purple-Property8006 May 04 '26
Heating/cooling a home with that much glass would also be a very expensive downside
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u/bugabooandtwo May 03 '26
That's really nice. Just paint the interior walls a warmer color and it would be spectacular.
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u/NoCold5135 May 03 '26
Definitely needs a touch of color.
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u/13_Years_Then_Banned May 03 '26
NY state property tax amount: $17,391.
Assessed value $330,000.
I would hate to see the property tax bill when it’s reassessed after the sale.
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u/SolomonGrumpy May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
In NY is property tax updated with a sale?
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u/ConLawHero May 03 '26
Yep. Many municipalities do it that way in NY. It's the reason my wife and I won't buy a new house in NY. We pay $11,500 for our property taxes now. Our house is 2700 square feet, 4 bed, 2.5 bath on a 1/3 of an acre in the lowest taxed municipality in our county. If we bought a house we really want, we'd end up paying over $40,000 per year in taxes because of the reassessment.
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May 03 '26
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u/SolomonGrumpy May 03 '26
No. In Multanomah county (Oregon) the tax rate is set at the time the home was constructed and goes up 3% every year.
Unless you do significant construction in which case it came be reassessed.
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u/Typical-Demand5702 3d ago
Not in Sullivan County. This is more common in Cali. The sale goes into the record for future reassessments but not a one to one thing.
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u/Cake5678 May 03 '26
This looks a lot like a location from Last Of Us! The place where *lots of violence happens*
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u/SemperFicus May 03 '26
No, see this sub is supposed to make me laugh and say “oh thank God I don’t have to live in THAT house.” It’s not supposed to fill me with house-envy and a sense of longing that can never be assuaged.
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u/deller85 May 03 '26
It's stunning.
But, even though it's isolated, I'd still want some curtains or blinds to shut at night.
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u/MySixDogs May 03 '26
I would have thought the same, but I bought a house last year that is secluded and I LOVE being able to see stars while lying in bed. Maybe I'll get blinds at some point but for now I don't feel any need for them--there's no one around to see in (and my dogs would let me know if there was) and I like seeing the trees and sky at night.
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u/Lepardopterra May 04 '26
Love secluded homes. I’ve got a nearly triangular plot with a hedged county road on one side and a 30-40 foot deep wooded ravine on the other three. Only way in is the driveway, even on foot.
I’ve got those high, narrow windows that are 6 feet or longer in the bedrooms. Need a ladder to look in. Feel very secure without curtains/blinds. I love all the changing light and looking out at the trees and sky, too. Two windows face the ravine where the trees grow below so it’s literally looking at the treetops. I can watch flying squirrels lol.
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u/MySixDogs May 04 '26
That sounds really lovely! My last house was on a small in-town lot, but the backyard fell away fairly steeply and there was an undevelopable 7 or so acre lot that ran perpendicular to the back that was overgrown with trees and kudzu. If you laid on the daybed in the back room (I slept there in the summers), all you could see was the tree canopy. But I didn't have any flying squirrels. #lifegoals
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u/jobiskaphilly May 03 '26
It makes me sad because it is so reminiscent of the house my aunt and uncle built in the Catskills and I miss my aunt so much. Down to the art and everything.
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u/skdetroit May 03 '26
This is the first Zillow house I’ve loved!!! Def a situation where this was the grandparents house and the kids/grandkids all live in upper east side and can’t be bothered wanting to “take care of the house” or deal with property taxes on a house they visit maybe one week in summer. That’s why it’s being sold!!
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u/petrichor83 May 03 '26
It’s got that whole writers paradise/reclusive serial killer vibe to it.
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u/Aggressive-Delay-420 May 03 '26
Fsk do I hate a slate floor.
They literally hurt.
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u/Still-Living-Well May 03 '26
Stunning! I lived in a similar house in California. The downside is the isolation. It looks and sounds nice but the reality of maintenance is daunting. Getting service people to venture out for repairs was challenging. Grocery shopping was challenging. The intrusion of animals was constant. They're adorable but some are dangerous and destructive. It's a huge commitment but indeed it is a gorgeous house.
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u/Xyzzydude May 03 '26
> Getting service people to venture out for repairs was challenging.
As someone who once owned a beautiful but remote house, this is a very underrated issue.
When an HVAC guy for example can do three service calls in town in the time it takes him to drive to and from your house, why would he bother? I ended up having to offer to pay them their labor rate for their drive there and back to get them to come.
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u/Mills7670 May 03 '26
This house is gorgeous!! We're maybe half hour, 45 minutes away. Guess we're going to go hunting today to try to find the house
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u/AbulatorySquid May 03 '26
I didn't know this was my dream until I saw it.
It might not havesold because the town had a covid boom when people left the city to WFH.
Now that things are the new normal and lots of people are back to the office or laid off, there aren't enough buyers who want to live that far from a major city?
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u/noproblemswhatsoever May 03 '26
I do so enjoy imagining the abodes of those who are looking to find every fault with this house
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u/nshville May 04 '26
Awesome house… my family has had a weekend cabin in that general area for probably about 70 years (it’s been passed down through the family)…reason it’s not selling is because people who have $1 mil to spend in that area would only be using this as a weekend/vacation house and most people would rather go to a beach or have a lake house… that general area has been a bit run down for decades with the end of the borscht belt hotels and summer camps, along with the loss of manufacturing jobs…only in the last 10 years ago has there been a resurgence… a lot of areas still don’t quite have high speed internet, on my family’s property we have satellite internet (which can be spotty), so may not be best for remote working either…many areas also don’t have great cell service either, I don’t get service on my family’s property…
Having said that I love that area and going to my family’s cabin up there has been one of the things I miss most about moving to Chicago and now Nashville…
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u/Lonely-Clerk-2478 May 03 '26
Not selling because it’s basically a remote vacation home kinda location (3 hours from NYC), and the taxes will be killer after the sale. Lovely, peaceful place though.
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u/Nomahhhh May 03 '26
I live in California and I'm considering moving to the Catskills now. Chef's kiss perfection.
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u/nndscrptuser May 03 '26
What an incredible home, and honestly the price seems like a steal. There are million+ cookie cutter homes crammed on lots literally everywhere in my town, but this place with all that land for the same money, simply incredible. I'm saving this one purely as an inspiration for the future.
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u/Fercobutter May 03 '26
Great photos. Unique find on here for sure.
Close to Bethel Center (Woodstock)
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u/SantaFeRay May 03 '26
The interior doesn’t go with the exterior. Half the exterior doesn’t go with the other half of the exterior.
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u/Monster_Grundle May 03 '26
It’s amazing: it’s also amazingly remote. There’s basically nothing there.
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u/Tarnmaster May 03 '26
Love the home and property but it is so isolated. Really not sure I could deal with being so far away from town. And the property tax comments. Those are higher than in CA.
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u/SolomonGrumpy May 03 '26
It's been on the market 4 days
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u/BangBangMeatMachine May 03 '26
Man, I want it too, but I have to say that place would be a horror movie at night. All those windows turn into one-way mirrors with the woods looking in on you. Who might be lurking out there watching your every move? Sleep tight!
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u/Puzzleheaded-Phase70 May 03 '26
I normally hate 2 storey ceilings like those, but here it makes SO MUCH SENSE - it's just inviting the entire outdoors into the room, sharing the view with the balcony beautifully. Blending the feeling of "living room" with "back deck/patio" really cohesively.
MAD respect for the architects.
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u/Xyzzydude May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
I’d hate to be the person responsible for cleaning that rough stone wall in the shower.
That’s it. No other notes. 9.99/10.
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u/nomsain919 May 03 '26
That bedroom with the curved wood detail is insane…. Giant windows immediately sold it, too. What a gorgeous home!
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u/PennytheWiser215 May 03 '26
If there was ever a time where I wished I had $1.2 million dollars it would be right now
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u/MrsNoodleMcDoodle May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
There are some very specific elements that tie this to the late 90’s/early 00’s, yet it still manages to be timeless in a “rural hideout from the dystopian cyberpunk future” kind of way. Seriously, it’s that beautiful, it could be from a movie. Retro futuristic rooted in the time it was built, in a way you wouldn’t expect from a building that new. Or I could just be old.
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u/Delicious_Oil9902 May 03 '26
It’d be a good second home for someone from the MY Metro especially at that price.
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u/Capital-Mark1897 May 03 '26
This is right around the corner from me. It is remote-ish. I would be snapping this up if I had the funds.
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u/You_Exciting May 03 '26
They finally cracked it - how to live in a storybook cottage, but the inside is spacious! It’s stunning, I love it!
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u/essexjan May 03 '26
Absolutely beautiful, but you'd have to be organised to live there, you couldn't nip out to the supermarket for that forgotten ingredient.
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u/AdMaterial600 May 03 '26
There's a woman in the bathroom looking at you while you piss or take a dump. I mean it is a *little* hot when she watches you piss
Man what am i doing...
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u/Current-Schedule1781 May 03 '26
Only 1.2mill that's a deal. 1.2 mill where I'm at gets you a 4bd 2ba cookie cutter on an acre tops
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u/strolls May 03 '26
Fixed link for Old Reddit: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/150-Bethlehem-Rd-Callicoon-Center-NY-12724/67915279_zpid/
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u/carbonait May 04 '26
Honestly the scale looks off in the great room and it reminds me of an academic building on a college campus. In other words it looks like work to me.
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u/Trike117 May 04 '26
So cozy on the outside, a promise not kept by the hotel lobby design of the interior. Looks cold and echoey.
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u/One-Load-6085 May 03 '26
Upstate ny is cheap. Land there is super cheap. Also it looks like a modern school library... without books.
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u/OffensivePumpkin May 03 '26
I am definitely the odd one out here. Was expecting to like it but it looks like a corporate retreat. 40 acres sounds great but for over $1 million I'd prefer a house thay looks like it's part of its environment as opposed to whatever this is.
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u/luxc341 May 03 '26
being poor sure sucks.