Stream Side, Waterfalls, Catskill Getaway!  |  House in Palenville

Play in the Catskills all day, sleep by the stream at night.
This 2 bedroom space is centrally located between Saugerties (HITS), Woodstock, and Hunter. It's the best of the Catskills right on Kaaterskill Creek with legendary swimming holes.
CATSKILL GETAWAY
2-BEDROOM APARTMENT
Lovely second floor apartment with a private entrance, in a beautiful 2-family home on Kaaterskill Creek is available year-round for long or short stays.
Romantic, private and quiet, this great getaway spot is less than two hours drive from the George Washington bridge. Whether you are swimming, bicycling, seeking nature at it's best or just resting and rejuvenating, you'll enjoy the serenity of our idyllic location. Your own large well equipped eat-in kitchen is the perfect place for morning coffee or tea. (Supplied, of course, along with a variety of wholesome breakfast items including yummy locally baked goods and fresh fruit). This getaway also features two sunny, warm bedrooms where the stream sings you to sleep, a large bathroom with a deep tub for soaking along with wifi and a well stocked vacation library.
This amazing spot has it all:
We're conveniently located between Woodstock / Saugerties (10 miles) and Hunter Mountain (10 miles), right on Kaaterskill Creek.
Enjoy H.I.T.S. Horse Shows in the Sun (8minutes)
Explore Kaaterskill Falls (5 minutes)
Hike the long Path through Kaaterskill Clove (2 minutes walk to the trail head)
Stroll to nearby Michael's or the Fernwood Restaurant for a leisurely world cuisine lunch or dinner. Enjoy home cooked meals with organic and local ingredients at The Circle W Bistro. Or check out the stellar selection of wines at Lower Clove Wines,
Dine in Saugerties (8 miles) and try New World Home Cooking, The Red Onion
Visit Catskill's Storey Farms and Vinnie's farm stand for fresh local foods. (2 miles)
Enjoy Woodstock's shopping, restaurants and fun
No Car Needed!
We're easy to get to via bus. (Drops you off in the center of the Hamlet.) Or take the Amtrak to Hudson and grab a cab across the Rip Van Winkle bridge. (One of the most beautiful trips you'll ever take.) All you'll need is within easy walking distance of the house.
Located in the sleepy hamlet of Palenville, the beauty of our area inspired much of the Hudson River School of Painting.
Let it inspire your perfect vacation or sabbatical.
Your own private space suits 4 people wonderfully. Enjoy the large private backyard, organic veggie and herb garden, patio with outdoor seating and a grill. Rest or read in the shade of a maple in our swinging hammock
We can be flexible. While you have your own space and we completely respect your privacy. We are always welcome conversation and are more than happy to help you guide you to the best the Catskills have to offer.
We're a sleepy hamlet. Well known as America's First Artist Colony. Birthplace of the Hudson River School of Art.
Yes! The Trailways bus drops you off at the Circle W just 2 minutes from the house. We're happy to help you with luggage etc.
We also love to take the Amtrak. It's like a vacation at the beginning of the vacation. Take the train to Hudson and cab across the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. This is the most scenic route and inspiration for many fine photographers.
We're a green vacation rental. All of our cleaning solutions exceed Green Seal standards, all paint is zero-VOC, we recycle, grow organically and HEPA vacuum meticulously. We are happy to stock anything special you may want.
Want to know more about the history or our area?
Catskill Stream is snuggled into an area so rich in history, where legend begat fact, that the neighborhood adds another layer of wonder to an already stunning setting.
It was this immediate area of Palenville that Washington Irving borrowed in 1819 for the setting for the epic slumber and awakening of "Rip Van Winkle," drawing the then-young country's attention to the area. A few years later, the first of the pioneering artists of what became known as the Hudson River School of painting were pulled here, too.
Thomas Cole, Kaaterskill
Thomas Cole, The Falls of the Kaaterskill, 1826
The young Thomas Cole first visited here in 1825, to sketch nearby Kaaterskill Falls and other spots. The paintings he made from those sketches moved many other artists to flock to the area to try to capture it's awe-inspiring beauty, not only on canvas but also in poetry and prose.
Their glorious works, widely reproduced in the major periodicals of the day, attracted so many visitors that they in turn spurred the popularity of grand mountaintop hotels, which became favored destinations for all the giants of the 19th and early 20th century.
The famed Catskill Mountain House, in 1823 the first resort in America, was as legendary in its time as any playground of the famous and powerful today. The Mountain House, and the others that followed, like the Hotel Kaaterskill and the Laurel House, attracted Twain, Sherman, Presidents Arthur and Grant, along with nobility and notables from all over the world.
This is the real Catskill Mountains, not the vacation areas in the foothills to the southeast that long ago misappropriated the name. The justly famed Kaaterskill Falls, the tallest in New York State, rendered and made famous by all the major Hudson River School artists, is no more than four miles up the road!
The Mountain House, Hotel Kaaterskill and the Laurel House, widely-famed landmarks in their day, are all gone now. The depression of the 1930's, fire, and the march of time eventually brought their reign to the end, and the once imposing structures demolished. But the scenery is now even more sublime since the area has reverted to its natural state, and manmade structures no longer interfere.
"Kindred Spirits" (Cole & Bryant) by Asher Durand
Asher Durand, who bought one of Thomas Cole's original three paintings of the region, painted this tribute to his friends William Cullen Bryant and Cole after the latter's passing. It shows his interpretation of a spot in the Kaaterskill Clove, borrowing various features from different locations. It is regarded as a defining work of the Hudson River School.
Links, References
The Hudson River School Art Trail — Hike to the nearby sites made famous by the painters of the Hudson River School.
"Tracking the Artists' Journey on the Hudson" (NY Times, 11/13/05)
"Cedar Grove" — the Thomas Cole House in the nearby Town of Catskill, a national historic site.
"Olana" — The Frederick Church House, in Hudson, NY, hailed by many as the queen of the Hudson Valley estates
Thomas Cole, Dawn Of The Hudson River School
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This page shows reproductions of Thomas Cole's historic first three paintings from this area in 1825, including one of Kaaterskill Falls.
National Gallery of Art, 2007 Exhibition on Asher Durand
"Kaaterskill Falls" - from Wikipedia
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Conn.
The Wadsworth Atheneum's renowned Hudson River School collection, the finest of its kind, contains over 65 Hudson River landscapes, including thirteen of Thomas Cole's. The paintings are currently traveling as an exhibit in Europe (9/08). Founder Daniel Wadsworth was one of Cole's most important patrons.
Book: "Kaaterskill - From the Catskill Mountain House to the Hudson River School"
Published by the Mountain Top Historical Society,
Black Dome Press, 1993