Acres upon acres of space

Typically Spring Break comes around, and every year and lm at a loss for pulling together a spanking good time for the nippers. Granted, most of my close friends have booked their flights and jolly beach holidays to bask in the sun with the melancholy winter blues in the rear window. 

So post popping the kids to bed - out came the computer and eyes down most nights, on a mission to find an affordable rental spot upstate that had plenty of land for the kids to roam, would allow the dogs to join us, and most of all some privacy. 

And did I find it!  Two hours north of the city just outside the beautiful little town of Stoneridge, N.Y.  Nestled on a private road which hosted no more than 5 cars a day passing by, a gated front driveway, a huge pond (that in the summer would be a swimming treat for us folks) which the dogs spent most waking hours in, tennis court, basketball net, trampoline (which is used at your own risk), an outdoor fireplace, tree swing, and a darling stream running along side the property. And thats just the outdoors....

You enter the house to what l could only explain as the heart of the building. A huge kitchen decked out with everything you could need, wrapped around a beautiful island.  l typically take my chef knives and some other choice kitchen gadgets/untensils...but honestly l had no need for them. A beautiful country table which seats 8 comfortably (bring candles though, as the lighting above the table is super bright with no dim option), two cosy sofa's and a fireplace (which we had blazing away every night.

A porch adjacent to the sitting room has a very masculine sized gas BBQ which was fired up more than once. Another sitting room beyond the kitchen with more cozy sofa's, working piano, a perfect spot to get stuck into a book. Up the stairs to two huge bedrooms with ample light and bathrooms a plenty. A third flight to another bedroom with two double beds.

Back in the day before kids we owned a stone house much like this just ten minutes down the road. It brought back found memories living in an old stone house - all its creaks and character.

A 15 minute drive to Minnewaska State Park, 25 to New Paltz and Mohonk Preserve

So everything is close by including my favourite supermarket Emmanuel's , and oodles of farm stands close by in either direction on route 209

I would love to come back in the summer so the kids can swim, put our tennis rackets to the test, and also invite my local friends back that still live in the area. They made it over for supper while there - which felt so nice to entertain away from home.

The dogs returned to Brooklyn and slept for a day straight. Completely knackered from a weeks worth of obsessively retrieving the ball, chasing the geese, and playing keep-away with branches. All that plus a keen eye on the kids where a bouts.

Oh and did l mention there is a washer and dryer! Nothing beats returning home with bags full of clean clothes, and zero laundry post unpacking.

Hope you get to stay at this beautiful spot and visit everything it has to offer around the area

Beth x