Artist colony made famous by ‘hippies’ and rock stars is a new luxury hotspot
Woodstock, NY, has one of the most recognizable names in real estate, thanks to a world-famous music festival that wasn’t even in town.
The name conjures up images of Jimi Hendrix let loose with ‘The Star Spangled Banner’, Joe Cocker‘s famous twists, and an ominous warning not to take the brown acid. However, not one of those historical scenes actually took place in Woodstock. Instead, they took place 60 miles away on a farm in Bethel.
It doesn’t matter. Woodstock in Ulster County, in the middle of the Hudson Valley and 90 minutes from Manhattan, is forever linked to the 1969 music festival that, as the movie poster said, “defined a generation.”
The enclave had long been an artistic haven, home to music icons such as Hendrix, Bob DylanAnd David Bowieas well as co-creator of the Woodstock festival Michael Lang. For those with the means, the area today is the perfect blend of luxury, convenience, nature and artistic sensibility.
Other celebrities who have made Woodstock or nearby zip codes their home include an acting couple Daniel Craig And Rachel Weiszactors Steve Buscemi And John Turturrosinger Kate Pierson by The B-52sand actress Uma Thurman.
Woodstocks’ identity as a cultural touchstone, with deep roots in the visual arts, music and a creative economy that has attracted buyers for generations, gives it a demand profile that is less price sensitive than markets defined primarily by proximity and square footage.,” says senior economist at Realtor.com Anthony Smith in its latest luxury spotlight on the Hudson Valley.
Scaling up a Bohemian enclave
This year, the city reached a less creative milestone: It crossed the $1 million average list price threshold, underscoring its transition from a well-known arts community to a fully established luxury market.
The share of million-dollar listings now stands at 44.7%, and the highest luxury threshold (the top 10% of listings) is at a median of $2,620,000.
“Woodstock is now operating at a scale and pace that places it among Ulster’s premier luxury destinations,” says Smith. “A legacy of the art colony, the Catskill Foothills attract buyers looking for mountain access, cultural density and a landscape that has inspired painters since the 1800s.”
Early 20th century, wealthy, English-born painter Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead and artist cohorts founded Woodstock’s Byrdcliffe Arts Colonywhich attracted other well-known artists of the time.
Today the city remains an artistic center, with the Woodstock Film Festival almost as important to the industry as Sundance or Tribeca, and The Woodstock Art School producing the next generation of creatives.
The city’s second most expensive listing is a 1950s wonder. Nestled on nearly 9 acres within the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, this $3.5 million, four-bedroom home built in 1969 was designed by Johannes Storykacclaimed for his work at Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village and the Bearsville Theater live music venue.
The house retains Storyk’s bold visual style, with dramatic sundial-like curves, high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows and a lowered, sunken living area characteristic of the era.
“This is mid-century if that’s really true was midcentury,” listing agent Sharon Breslau with Creative Living Berkshire Hathaway Hudson Valley tells Realtor.com.
The main house features a separate in-law suite, a saltwater pool and a Poggenpohl kitchen. The exterior showcases landscaped gardens, winding paths, wooded sitting areas, a tranquil pond and a guesthouse.
“Woodstock has a momentum,” Breslau says of the city, where she also lives. “Not just because of the concert and the music people who came here before the concert, but the Catskills has a magic that draws people here. There is an energy that is very profound.”
As for the city’s new average status, she says: “Ulster County is undervalued to some extent, so sometimes I think the values are just catching up with all the surrounding areas.”
As always, the area lures city dwellers longing for more wilderness – and more homes than they can get for the same price in the boroughs.
“Rather than spend $3.5 million on a two-bedroom apartment [in the city]here they can get 8 hectares,” she says. “I show a lot of houses to people who recently sold a condo in Brooklyn, and now they live with their shed and their art studio.”
She notes that even “non-musical” types who move to the city end up “ending up at a local venue to watch a blues concert.”
Although she says “older hippies” like her may not flood the city like they once were, the energy of ’60s Woodstock lives on.
Local agent Kimberly Canteen, who grew up in the city and has the most expensive listing, says the groundbreaking music festival is still a draw all these years later.
“Tourists always ask, ‘Where was the concert?’” she says, laughing.
Her listing for a $3.6 million modern home on 16 acres of forest with spectacular mountain views borders thousands of acres of protected state land. With a 40-foot outdoor deck and two-story screened porch, it offers plenty of opportunities to entertain family and friends while gazing out over the treetops.
While today’s Hudson Valley luxury buyer is typically an affluent retiree from out of state looking for a place to stay for his city-dwelling extended family, Woodstock retains its strong appeal for those at the height of their artistic powers.
“There are definitely very successful musicians in the area,” she says. “It’s still a very creative place.”
