This is an architect/artist home featured in various design magazines including Architectural Digest and Icon Design Magazine Italy. GQ magazine rated the Pond House amongst the 7 best vacation rentals in the US. In short walking distance to the center of Woodstock the secluded setting with a surrounding pond and private waterfall bordering public preserves, as well as the attention to architectural detail, is unique.
The Pond House is the 1930s original Reginald Marsh artist studio building with 16' ceiling height and tall artist windows. Frederick Dana Marsh, father of the well known Social Realist painter Reginald Marsh, married Mabel Van Alstyne in 1930, starting a notable artistic partnership as the Van Alstyne Marsh Collection that was later acquired by the Smithsonian Institution. Their home was unique for Woodstock —'It was in the background of the Mona Lisa; a Van Gogh landscape; a train ride through Tuscany, ball shaped junipers; a pond that bracketed the house; expansive lawns; a gathering of birches. But most of all, big cone shaped cedar trees. It is a marvelous thing to look up at backlit clouds at sunset, see the intrusion of cedar peaks, pointing up like soft missiles and the erratic flight of mosquito catcher bats making ninety degree turns down the channels between the trees. A photographer friend was here last weekend, “Don't worry about framing the picture, just point and shoot. The landscaper framed it for you hundred years ago." ' Here we quote Austin Metze, a long time Woodstock writer.
Today the former artist studio of the estate is an architect-renovated gem featuring elevated design standards that include architectural details, high vaulted ceilings, original art work, a hand-selected library, a piano, a wood burning stove. The contemporary kitchen is fully equipped with premium appliances and amenities. The house comes with central A/C and radiant floor heat. The floor plan is open, which is ideal for a family, but not ideal for guests seeking privacy from each other.
It’s a socially enhancing and creative space, from the bedrooms to the open dining/living room, gardens and terraces with an outdoor charcoal grill, outdoor dining and lounge areas.
There are 2 bedrooms and a kids room, the master bedroom is offering an especially tranquil overlook of the pond under the stars, with floor to ceiling windows on three sides without obstructing shades. It is open to the staircase with the kids room adjacent. The kids room with a twin-sized bed can only be accessed through the master bedroom. The queen-size bedroom is next to the bathroom downstairs, adjacent to the pond with a glass facade and sliding doors to the staircase and bathroom. It's a very special room, with deer walking by the glass facade a few feet from the bed. There are no neighbors on that side of the house, hence the glass facade in both bedrooms and bathroom need no coverings.
Pond and Carriage House are separated by the owner occupied adjacent Manor House, facing away from each other ensuring privacy. No other house is visible from inside the Pond House with its own designated back yard facing the pond and the stream. The grounds and pond surrounding the Pond House are reserved for the Pond House. The Pond House feels very secluded, since two sides of the property are bordering preserves. The pond is not a swimming pond, but the stream comes with multiple swim holes and a waterfall. The swim hole with outcroppings and waterfall is shared with the Carriage and Manor House, with other swim holes a short stroll through the woods away. An outdoor day-bed overviews the legendary Indian Head mountain ridge. The parking area comes with an electric car port.
Woodstock is an historically aspirational location with a variety of farm-to- table restaurants, eclectic bars and artisan shops. Upon request we offer professional resources from childcare and house keeping services to a private chef and a massage therapist. The estate is a within a 40 minute driving distance to major New York skiing destinations Belleayre Mountain, Hunter Mountain and Windham Mountain.
