Locale for "country" house?

Alice, Wonderland is on Line 2.

How about Hudson Valley, either side of the river, somewhere south of Albany? Hardly a perfect match with your criteria, but the 2 - 2.5 hrs drive limitation is tought.

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agreed. Hudson, NY (amtrak) or Great Barrington, MA areas.

OnTheMove, really your best bet is http://tinyurl.com/yjefqzy

"How about Hudson Valley, either side of the river, somewhere south of Albany? Hardly a perfect match with your criteria, but the 2 - 2.5 hrs drive limitation is tought."

Agreed. MUCH more expensive to be on the regular train lines... versus say Catskills, which are 1.5 hours away, or even the PA side of the delaware just beyond, very nice, VERY cheap.

Can take the bus to port authority though...

I think the issue is, the ones with regular NYC service have become commuter towns. The only cheap(er) stuff left is in the dumpier towns (say Beacon) which are getting better, but 'aint anywhere near cheap no more.

You should look at Bucks County, PA. It has everything you wanted except that instead of regular train service, there's regular Bus Service. You should look at Bucks County from the town of New Hope and to the North (along the Delewar River and up to Lake Nockamixon). It's only about 1.5 hours drive from the city.

It's quite a bit more expensive than the Hudson Valley but it's worth it for the proximity alone!

You should look at addisonwolfe.com and lisajamesotto.com for real estate and/or general info about the area.

Columbia County!

Columbia County-YES! Lot's of lakes. Easy access to Hudson Amtrack and 2 hs to nyc. Lots of good deals there now, as well

What are the best lakes to be on in Columbia County? I used to have a place near Germantown, which was OK. But I'd really like exactly what OnTheMove is looking for! How about over by Woodstock of Phoenicia on the other side of the river?

Copake Lake, the twin lakes in elizaville. Both are close to skiing at Catamount. The good thing about Germantown is that there is actually a town

New Paltz is a great area, no train but taxes are lower and housing stock is affordable.

Columbia County is heavenly .......... the Chathams ............

Candlewood Lake - Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford, Brookfield CT. About one hour plus to the UWS by car. The nearby Metro North stop in Southeast is an easy ride to Grand Central. Airport is trickier - 1 1/2 hours to JFK, LGA, but Stewart and White Plains are growing and not far. Big negative - for all the above reasons - pricey.

Saratoga Springs, NY is also very nice.

But for "culture" it has to be the Berkshires (area also has some great restaurants)

Woodstock is beautiful. Plenty to do. Great people. And,for fans of great music: "The Ramble", held at Levon Helm's "Barn", on Saturday nights. www.LevonHelm.com

"Saratoga Springs, NY is also very nice" Agreed, although 3 hours or so from the city.

i agree with saratoga, lovely location, lots of options. but is beyond your travel range and no train. something you can get to from hudson or the wassaic train stations would seem to be ideal. lake taghanick (sp??) is nice and smack in the middle of lower columbia county, making it close to the berkshires, catamount, hudson, rhinebeck, and chatham. lake queechy is a bit further north, you're still close to the berkshires, this time jiminy peak or bosquiet (sp???), but not as close to an airport, and quite a bit further from the train. i like the copake area, but not so positive about the lake as a place to buy, unless you're looking for the "shack" appeal.

kinderhook has a lake, is near albany and the catskills skiing, and kinderhook and valatie have at least some services. the lenox/lee area also has a lake. very low key, fun. great options nearby. lenox is quite expensive, lee is (or was when i was looking) very cheap.

the lakes at taghanick, lenox/lee are both public. queechy you need to have rights, but they are granted to a rather large (geographically, at least) group. the others i don't know, but i think most are private. i suspect saratoga has public access, but i've never looked into it or had any personal experience.

there are many other wonderful areas close to NYC. this is the area i know best.

saratoga springs does have a train station (amtrak) that goes to and from penn. it runs throughout the day and the ride is around 3 hours. OnTheMove - you said you want to be close to an airport.. saratoga is about 30 miles north of the albany airport. driving to saratoga is around 3 hours... it;s the thruway (87 North) straight up. if nothing else, it's a nice place to visit for a weekend, especially in summer.

also, thank you to aboutready and other posters for pointing out places that sound like great day trips / places to visit.

Tuxedo Park

All: Thanks much for the wonderful suggestions. I've spent a good bit of the weekend surfing for real estate in the locations you suggested.

- Saratoga is lovely but a bit out of my search area; besides, have any of you been there during horse racing season? It's a little too jam packed for my liking.
- rsm321: Pennsylvania is a great suggestion that I had not thought of...I've seen some lovely pics; now I need to do some exploring.
- AR, you're right about the shack factor of Copake Lake.
- AH, Tuxedo Park is a little outside my budget!
- sjtmd: What's the quality of the water in Candlewood Lake? I got the impression that it was rather swampy, but I could be mistaken.

Tuxedo park? What are the house prices like there? Many years ago i worked there as a student. I love the Park but never considered it 'affordable'... Any updates.

"Swampy" - I think not - from Wikipedia: Candlewood Lake was created in the 1920s. Inhabitants were relocated elsewhere, but many of the buildings were left standing and some farming equipment was left behind. The roads were not torn up before the valley was flooded. Scuba divers can investigate buildings from that era, following the roads underwater, and discover artifacts from that era onwards. Some of the notable underwater finds are model Ts, plane wreckage from small craft that have hit the lake since then, and covered bridges from that era.
The lake is used year round, although tourists primarily come during the summer months for fishing, boating and golfing. Along its approximately 60-mile (97 km) shoreline are five-star tourist resorts and recreational facilities, including golf courses, beaches, and

sjtmd: By swampy I was referring to problems with algae. Continuing the wikipedia excerpts:

The lake has an ongoing problem with the growth of eelgrass and Eurasian milfoil in shallower areas. Because of the silt kicked up by boats and the problem with water weeds and algae, the visibility in the lake is around 5–20 feet.

The level of the lake is usually dropped ten feet over the winter in an attempt to freeze the weeds. Attempts have also been made to trim them with mechanical cutters on barges, but this has had limited success. In December 2006, the state Department of Environmental Protection working with members of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency treated Candlewood Lake for its eelgrass and algae issues with an organic phosphate, and the initial results appear promising. However, the full effect of the initial treatment and subsequent additional treatments will not be realized for several more years.

I grewup somewhat near candlewood lake. I wouldn't classify it as "swampy", its definitely a lake. I haven't been there in more than 5 years. Visibility was not great but I never noticed large amounts of algae, the water is just kind of dark. It's not slimy or anything. They're have been a few times I can remember over the past 15 years where swimming was restricted due to high bacteria. Not sure if that has been a problem in the recent years.

It's generally a nice place, I've never had the pleasure of going to any of the private houses with their docks and water access. I've been to one of the beach clubs where many people bbq and store their boats, and Dyke's Point, which is a state park where kids jump off cliffs. Also have been on people's boats which we've taken out to some of the small islands in the lake which are nice. Many local HS proms are held at Candlewood Inn (including mine) which is a popular place.

As for the culture, I'm not a big fan of fairfield county having grown up there, but others appreciate it. The lake is close enough to downtown brookfield (Rt7) which has all manner of chain stores and a multiplex cinema, or you could go to Bethel which has a nice indie movie theater (Bethel cinema). New Milford is a more bucolic town which could be enjoyable to some people

As I said, my opinion is heavily skewed as I felt that my options were limited having grown up there.

As for transport, I would say 20-25 mins to Southeast on Metro North. Also you can fly out of Bradley airport in Hartford if desired.

If you're interested in exploring Bucks County, PA, I would start with a drive down River Road/ Rt 32. It runs along the Deleware and is consistenly rated one of the 10 most scenic drives in the country. Start in the North (where 611 and 32 intersect) and go all the way down, through New Hope and Yardley. The drive takes about an hour. If you're feeling ambitious turn right up the palisade at any point to get a different flavor. Enjoy!