Craig Watters
HUDSON VALLEY COMMUNITIES
Browse a few select active listings in some of the most popular areas of the Hudson Valley.. Updated weekly
LOWER HUDSON VALLEY
Reinvented industrial city and picturesque river front village — world-class art, serious hiking, and 2 Main Street's worth the trip.
Beacon's transformation is real but not finished, which is part of what makes it interesting. It started with DIA, and now Beacon has a Main Street that runs from gallery to restaurant to coffee shop to waterfall without a gap, and the housing stock — mostly early 20th century working-class homes — is still being restored at prices that make sense.
Cold Spring is a true riverfront village, with stunning scenery and deep history. Metro-North splits thge village in two, with service to GCT in under 90 minutes. Boutique shops, good burgers, a real deal pub, tons of walkable scenic park acres. Breakneck Ridge is only one of several miles of rugged trails accessible within ten minutes of your front door.
The two main streets draw different buyers but share the same essential logic — real commuter access, real outdoor life, real main streets.
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Mountain meet Rivers, Storm King mountain dominating the landscape
There are 2 massifs flanking the River at the northern border of the highlands, like the Argonath guarding the northern border of Gondor
kings of old in guard the north entrance of the Highlands
Storm King Art Center, New Windsor Contonement. The real estate around it tends toward larger properties with more land per dollar than the east bank of the river, and the equestrian community here is established and active. Black Rock Forest and Storm King Mt give outdoor enthusiasts terrain that most people outside the region have never heard of. Rt 218 south from Cornwall rivals Big Sur for memorable stretches of mountains meeting water
Quiet, wooded, and deliberately under the radar — the Hudson Highlands at their most residential
Garrison would rather you not now about it. And the people who live there prefer it that way.Lot sizes are larger, homes are larger, views are larger, less than an hour drive to midtown, and it's off the radar.
Constitution Marsh, Boscobel, the Garrison Art Center, Hudson Valley Shakespear Festival all call Garrison Home.
Putnam Valley, just over the ridge from Garrison, is the heart of the Hudson Highlands mountain and lake life. Larger parcels adjacent to state land and smaller cabin like lakefront housing dominate the market
Apple orchards, vineyards, and a historic old town vibe & upstate lake life close to the city
Warwick features one of the best downtowns scenes in the Hudson Valley — independent restaurants, a working bookstore, a farmers market that fills the village green on weekends. The surrounding countryside is still populated with apple orchards and dairy farms, and crawling with foodies looking loving the farm-to-table lifestyle.
Greenwood Lake has got game. Straddling the New Jersey state line, the lake has all the boating and lifestyle you expect, beaches, powerboats, pontoons, waterfront dining and cabins, all in a mountain setting that provides solitude. it is a legit lake community, minus the 'up north' part: boating, summer rentals, and more and more year-round residents who chose lifestyle over a shorter commute. It's the most resort-flavored corner of Orange County, and it knows it.
Sophisticated and historic homes with Hudson River views gradually giving way to orchard country to the north and west
Balmville is a northern suburb and a part of the Town of Newburgh (f. 1780's) Settled nearly a century before the City of Newburgh existed, lying to the north of the city limits, this neighborhood on high high bluff overlooking the Hudson has an impressive array of architecturally interesting homes Housing stock of genuine historic significance​
Marlboro and Plattekill is where the agriculture begins to dominate the landscape. Wander through the back roads
High density residential rapidly gives way to historic farms with open spaces and rolling hills, making it one of the more memorable stretches in the lower valley.
THE
CATSKILLS
Highland, New Paltz & Gardiner
College town energy meets Shawangunk climbing culture — creative, outdoor, and increasingly on buyers' radar
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New Paltz runs on two overlapping energies — the SUNY campus keeps it young and economically active year-round, and the Shawangunk Ridge directly above the village is one of the premier rock climbing destinations on the East Coast. The combination produces a downtown that actually functions: restaurants and bars that aren't dependent on weekend tourism, a real estate market that mixes student rentals, starter homes, and serious country properties.
Gardiner, next door, is quieter and more agricultural, with Mohonk Mountain House visible on the ridge above and some of the most appealing farm properties in Ulster County within a short drive.
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Woodstock & Phoenicia
The myth is real, mostly — artists, musicians, serious food, and a trout stream running through the middle
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Woodstock's reputation as an artist colony is old enough now to be archaeology, but the creative community is real and still present — musicians, painters, writers who came for the myth and stayed because the reality is genuinely good. The village has more restaurants and galleries per square mile than it has any right to given its size, and the surrounding mountain landscape is serious backcountry within ten minutes of a decent espresso.
Phoenicia, further up the Esopus Creek valley, has gone through a quieter revival — a few restaurants and shops that draw weekend visitors to a town that otherwise functions as a trailhead for the Catskill High Peaks and a put-in for tubing the Esopus.
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Hunter & Windham
Ski weekends in winter, hiking the rest of the year — the Catskills' most accessible four-season towns
Hunter and Windham are the most accessible four-season towns in the Catskills, and the ski areas — Hunter Mountain and Windham Mountain — organize the winter economy in ways that keep both towns commercially viable year-round. The buyer profile here skews toward people who want a recreational property rather than a primary residence, and the rental market reflects that. Summer brings hikers, mountain bikers, and people escaping the heat; fall brings leaf peepers and everyone else. The real estate ranges from ski chalets to farmhouses with acreage, and the prices, while no longer a secret, haven't caught up to the lower valley.
Accord, Hurley & Kerhonkson
Off the radar, on purpose — stone houses, swimming holes, and plenty of isolation with views
Accord and Kerhonkson sit in the Rondout Valley between the Shawangunks and the Catskill front range — swimming holes in the Rondout Creek, stone houses that predate the Revolution, and a level of quiet that's genuinely hard to find this close to the city.
Hurley's historic stone district is one of the least-visited significant colonial sites in New York, and the surrounding farmland has attracted a small but serious community of organic farmers and food producers. Buyers here are usually looking for isolation with views and have already decided that's worth more than a shorter drive.
Warwick and Greenwood Lake Real Estate
Higland and Milton Real Estate
"His knowledge of the area was so helpful — he was far above the competition."
— First-time Buyer, Hudson Valley