Garrison, NY Real Estate

Garrison is a hamlet of Phillipstown located on the incomparable Hudson River. It is a community of creative people where culture thrives like nowhere else. If you do not care for dirt roads, Garrison is not for you.

Asphalt, for instance, is noticeably absent on many of the roads that snake through Garrison's thick woodlands. The 200-odd members of Garrison's Old Roads Society consider dirt roads ''more harmonious with the stone walls and trees,'' said Noel Kropf, a software developer who is currently the group's president. The society's most prized stretch of dirt is a six-mile length of Old Albany Post Road, once the main stagecoach route between New York City and the state capital.

The desire to preserve and protect is strong in Garrison, where the spectacular river views so often captured on the canvases of 19th-century landscape painters continue to inspire. Garrison nurtures a variety of cultural, spiritual and physical pursuits on and around hundreds of acres of protected land.

Garrison grew up around a boat landing that was a loading point for farmers' produce in the early 18th century. Over time, its magnificent scenery and location just 50 miles north of Manhattan made it popular with successful New Yorkers seeking a quiet weekend hideaway. In recent decades, Garrison's weekend crowd has become a microcosm of the arts and entertainment world. Among those who own property in Garrison are Kevin Kline, the actor; Julie Taymor, the theater director; Matt Williams, the television producer; and Dianne Wiest, the actress. Governor George Pataki makes his home here, as did Hamilton Fish, New York's governor from 1848 to 1851.

The arts center, located in Garrison's tiny commercial center at the old landing, offers a full schedule of classes for adults and children. The annual fine arts and crafts fair is one of the center's most successful fundraisers, along with ''Artists on Location'' events that send painters into the countryside for the day to create works to be sold in the evening.

Cold Spring is as far as Garrison residents have to travel for an elegant dinner, a bottle of wine or groceries. Recreational options are available in Garrison itself. It has two golf courses: a nine-hole course at the semiprivate Highland Country Club and an 18-hole public course at the Garrison Golf Club. Canoeists can lose themselves for hours exploring the 270-acre Constitution Marsh Sanctuary.

For those who love to hike, Garrison is a great place, said Tildy La Farge, communications director for the Open Space Institute. ''There is a gorgeous trail leading to the Appalachian Trail and Glenclyffe right at the Garrison train station,'' she said.

Great Historic Sights in Garrison, NY