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New York Times-April, 2004 WEEKENDER

Greenwood Lake, N.Y.
By SANDRA HURTES

When Carol and Howard Kolins, who live in Brooklyn, began thinking of buying a second home, friends in Greenwood Lake invited them for a visit. "It was autumn, and the foliage reflecting off the lake was stunning," said Ms. Kolins, an assistant preschool teacher and a former Rockette. "I couldn't believe how close to the city it was."

So in 1997, she and Mr. Kolins, an entertainment producer, bought a 1,500-square-foot brick lakefront house with a dock for $235,000. "I'll wake up at 8:30 and see swans floating by in the winter," she said. The feeling that comes to her, she added, is "this is so beautiful I can't stand it"

Although it's a lakefront town just about 50 miles from New York City and close to both the picturesque Sterling Forest State Park and the Appalachian Trail, Greenwood Lake remains remarkably little known as a second-home community. "It's hard to stumble upon because there's no direct exit off the Thruway," said Larry Rennee, a retired banker from Long Island who bought a weekend home in Greenwood Lake in 1983 after a classified ad sent him in its direction; he now lives here full time. Even today, only about 15 percent of the houses in and around the village belong to weekenders, according to Nina Steen, a Greenwood Lake real estate broker.

The lake itself is a 7.3-mile-long stretch of water half in New York and half in New Jersey, with both sandy and rocky shores, lined with houses and private docks. In the village are a half-mile commercial strip on the main drag, Windermere Avenue, and small neighborhoods, some with homeowners' associations and their own private beaches. Many second homes are a couple of miles outside the village in other beach neighborhoods. More houses are tiered upward on green hillsides and mountain ridges.

Driving up twisting roads where almost no two houses are alike, there's a feeling of space, even though typical lots are only 50 by 100 feet in the village itself and less than an acre on the outskirts.

Village lore traces the town's connection to the rich and famous who first made it a playground in the 1800's and early 1900's, arriving first by railroad and steamboat and later by car. In the middle of the last century, Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson were among the boxers who trained here. And according to Diane Stoeberl, a co-owner of one of the few remaining lakeside hotels from earlier days, the New Continental, Gypsy Rose Lee fell into the lake one night, mink coat and all, and Babe Ruth always stayed in Room 3.

The Scene
"On summer weekends in the middle of the day it sounds like a bunch of bumblebees up and down the
lake," said Mike Vesely, a New York City plumbing supervisor who lives in Queens and spends weekends in Greenwood Lake. He was talking about the water scooters that buzz over the lake, but they're only part of a lively mix of summer activity. Boats from bass fishermen's practical craft to the flat pontoon boats that Mr. Vesely calls "floating living rooms" motor out from private docks and marinas. Water skiers skim over the surface, and sailors catch the wind.

Restaurants have outdoor terraces for lakeside dining and music, usually rock 'n' roll or what Ms. Steen called "Frank Sinatra type." Some popular spots draw a motorcycle crowd and can be congested in the warm months, Ms. Kolins said.

A seasonal quiet descends in the cooler months, and though the lake is used for skating, snowmobiling and ice fishing, many weekenders treasure the stillness of the off-season.

This year, for the first time in 15 years, Greenwood Lake will have public water access. In a joint venture of the village and the town of Warwick, N.Y., a former marina is being turned into a three-acre beach park for the village, to be opened for Memorial Day. "This is the biggest thing to hit Greenwood Lake in a long time," said Annie Rabbitt, Warwick's deputy supervisor.

Pros

Weekenders who want to leave the car at home can get to Greenwood Lake on a bus and walk to the Country Grocery and Deli for breakfast if they are in the village or have lunch a mile away at the Breezy. Point Inn. In the small downtown commercial area are some basic stores and a quirky shop called Sewing the Blues, in a converted church, that sells items handmade from old denim jeans. A café called the Chocolate Mousse is expected to open this summer.

In the village of Warwick, eight miles away, are art galleries, antiques stores, cafes and restaurants, including the Chateau Hathorn, which looks like a castle, has a continental menu and is popular with out-of-towners.

For more serious shopping, villagers go to the Woodbury Commons, an outlet mall 14 miles northeast. The nearest supermarket is in West Milford, N.J., six miles away.

In the summer and fall, the orchards in the town of Warwick invite customers in for apple-picking. The Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville is 15 miles away, and the New York Renaissance Faire five miles away in Sterling Forest will be open weekends from Aug. 7 to Sept.26 this year.

When summer sports fade and winter takes over, downhill skiing is just three miles away at Mount Peter and in Sterling Forest

Cons

On summer weekends the lake is busy and noisy, which can be annoying to people who put a high value on quiet Motorcyclists often circle it as well, adding to the noise.

Parts of the lake have a weed problem, a discouragement to homeowners who like to swim from their own property. (The village tries to control weeds by dredging.)
People wishing to own a second home on an expansive private lot may be disappointed, as may people who want a substantial amount of shopping within walking distance.

Property taxes are high. The Kolinses' taxes are close to $8,000 a year. Mr. Vesely's will be $3,300 on a 900-square-foot bungalow just purchased in the village for $96,000. Homeowners are the major property taxpayers in Greenwood Lake "because there's not much industry," according to Mayor Bill Moms.

Total property taxes on a house in the village with a market value of $200,000 would typically be about $6,000 a year, according to Richard Hubner, the assessor in the Town of Warwick. If the same $200,000 house were a few miles away in New Jersey, in West Milford, the tax bill would be a little below $5,300, according to Brian Townsend, its tax assessor.

The Real Estate Market

Though the town was founded in the 1700's, Greenwood Lake is short on historic homes and gracious colonials. Instead there are two-story bungalows, capes, stone and log houses, ranches and split levels and modest summer cottages winterized for year-round use.

Lakefront houses are most desired but hard to find, and they sell quickly. This week, there were five lakefront homes for sale in the village, and 24 houses that are not on the water, according to Ms. Steen, who owns the Lake Country Homes brokerage. Outside the village, she said, 3 of the 26 houses for sale were on the lake.

Prices are rising everywhere in Greenwood Lake. "If you paid $130,000 two years ago, you could probably get close to $200,000 today," said Sue Layden, an associate broker at Compass Point Realty in the village, "and people are asking more." Houses move fast, usually in two weeks to 30 days, according to Paul Christman of Christman Real Estate. Condominiums are rare.

This week, Lake Country Homes was selling a lakefront 2,500-square-foot, three-bedroom log and stone house, with three bathrooms, a deck, a dock and cathedral ceilings, for $525,000. A newly built 2,100- square-foot bi level, with a two-car garage, was for sale through Compass Point Realty for $329,000. And Christman had a 1,540-square-foot two-story frame house, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, on a quarter acre in the village for $239,000.

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