Farmer John Gill on his tractor

Until the end of October you can go for beautiful hay rides in a wagon pulled by this tractor along the far side of the Esopus Creek behind our house. The rides start from Gill's Farm Stand at the end of our road. Watch out for ghosts, monsters and witches......and just lift your feet up when he fords the creek!

Hurley Fun

Mr Levon Helm walks to the stage at The Levon Helm Band's free concert at Gill's Farm, Hurley NY this afternoon.

Farmer John Gill prepares to fire his pumpkin cannon with a 97-foot-long barrel that shoots pumpkins nearly 1 mile at a speed of 600 miles per hour.

The audience for the gig stretches into the Pumpkin Patch.

It was a beautiful Fall afternoon here on the banks of the Esopus, just a few hundred yards from our house. We were told "Levon doesn't have his voice today, but it will be back!", and it was a great show anyway. Everyone loved it, it was a privilege to be there. Thank you Levon!

Levon Helm Band at Gill's Farm this Sunday

It's that time of year again. The Fall Farm Festival at Gill's Farm Stand on Route 209 - walking distance from our house! The Levon Helm Band is playing a Free Concert on Sunday, October 11th, from 2-4 pm. http://www.levonhelm.com/john_gill_farm.htm

Last years concert: http://stonehousebandb.blogspot.com/2008/10/free-levon-helm-concert.html

The Making of Electric Dirt, his latest album: http://www.levonhelm.com/electric_dirt.htm

High Falls

These photographs are from the "Country Seats Tour" (see last post). They were all taken yesterday in High Falls, NY - about 5 miles from here.

The bottom picture is The Jacob Hasbrouck House. Jacobus B. Hasbrouck, a descendant of one of the 12 French Huguenot patentees of New Paltz, built this house some time before 1797. Hasbrouck, who was from a wealthy family with large landholdings, owned and operated a grist mill on nearby Rondout Creek. Beginning as a two-room house, with a kitchen wing added later, the house has Georgian characteristics such as a center hall and plastered ceilings. Georgian features in Huguenot houses outside of New Paltz are not uncommon. Signs of a granary door still exist on the west gable end.

The middle picture is of The Elmendorf Barn. This traditional Dutch timber-framed barn was built in 1851 by James Henry Elmendorf on land owned and lived on by the Elmendorf family since at least the late 18th century. The barn’s framework of massive posts and beams leads the eye to the soaring rafters above, echoing the vaulted nave and side aisles of Gothic cathedrals. The anchor beam of the middle bent was recycled from an earlier Dutch American barn. Late Dutch timber-framed barns are rare and this example testifies to the persistence of the Dutch tradition well into the 19th century.

The top most photograph is of the proud owner inside the Van Wagenen House. The Van Wagenen House was built in the late 18th century, replacing a house that may have dated to 1682. It was likely built as one unit except for the kitchen addition on the south end gable wall. The enclosed staircase is original. With its symmetrical façade–a door in the center leading to a spacious central hall, it is a classic example of a Dutch house with a strong Georgian influence. The house has been meticulously restored.

What's Dutch

Hudson River Heritage and Hudson Valley Vernacular Architecture combined forces this weekend to present the "21st Annual Country Seats Tour. Dutch-American Rural Architecture– from Hurley to High Falls –Ulster County, NY." We were honored to be part of this tour today and met many interesting people visiting our house. The tour continues tomorrow and you can learn more about it here: Whats Dutch .

Woodstock Film Festival

10 miles up the mountain from here - The 10th annual Woodstock Film Festival will take place September 30th-October 4th, 2009. The “fiercely independent” festival includes more than 150 films, panels, concerts and special events in Woodstock and the neighboring towns of Kingston, Rhinebeck and Rosendale. For more information visit: http://www.woodstockfilmfestival.com/ .

The 10th Annual Woodstock Fillm Festival will present the World Premiere of Guy Jacobson and Adi Ezroni's REDLIGHT, Sunday October 4, 7:00pm at the Bearsville Theater. Narrator and producer Lucy Liu will be in attendance for Q&A. Ms. Liu will also partake in the ACTOR'S PANEL with Vera Farmiga, Sunday, October 4, 12:00pm at Utopia Studios at the Bearsville Complex.

Grant and Tamara

Staying at The Stone House last weekend: Grant and Tamara. Grant is a painter and apparel designer for GAP. Tamara makes sculptures, you can see them here: http://www.tamarazahaykevich.com/ .

The Milkmaid visits Manhattan

Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632–1675) painted The Milkmaid about 1657/8. To mark the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage from Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum has lent the painting to the Metropolitan Museum Of Art in New York. Find out more about the exhibition here: http://www.metmuseum.org/ .

While you're at the Met visit the New York Dutch Room, 1751 (Bethlehem, New York), the top image above, which is in The New American Wing: http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/american_decorative_arts/period_rooms.aspx#03

High Point - Catskills

The Catskill Mountains look beautiful at this time of year.

Meet your local farmers!

Joanne Michaels with her new book Hudson River Valley Farms at the Woodstock and New Paltz Arts and Craft Fair today. Meet your local farmers! The book details 44 varied farms in the valley, including many that are open to the public.

http://www.joannemichaels.com/

Blueberries turning red

The nearby Shawangunk Ridge is an extraordinary environment. In this picture taken at sunset yesterday we can see wild blueberries in the foreground growing in a crevice in the hard conglomerate rock that makes up the ridge, surrounded by a "dwarf pine barren" - a very rare environment. In the fall the Blueberry plants turn bright red. You can get great views from here across to the Catskill Mountains.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawangunk_Ridge

http://www.shawangunkridge.org/

http://shawangunks.org/

http://www.mohonkpreserve.org/

Our Backyard

Nadia Kayaking on the Esopus Creek at the bottom of our backyard this afternoon.

Esopus Bend

http://esopuscreekconservancy.org/

The Ashokan from Overlook

About 7 miles away from us, up into the Catskill State Park, lies the Ashokan Reservoir. Started in 1908 at that time it was the largest man-made reservoir in the world and the main water supply for New York city, 90 miles to the south. Here you can see it from Overlook Mountain, near Woodstock, a great hiking spot about 20 minutes away from us by car.

Flowers in our Garden

18th Century Delft Tile

One of a set of tiles above one of the fireplaces in our house.

A Great Review

It's been crazy busy here through August, with bookings almost every night and full on the weekends. We have been amazed at how thoroughly many of our guests have studied our website. One lady staying last night had been following this blog for almost a year! Some have very kindly written reviews of our B & B on various websites, like this wonderful one we discovered yesterday:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g47942-d1466964-r36248217-The_Stone_House_Bed_and_Breakfast-Hurley_New_York.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT

Stone House Day 2009 in Hurley, NY

This is part of the interior of the Hyman Roosa, Elmendorf, Bevier Stone House, with additions and alterations, Main Street, Old Village of Hurley, Ulster County, NY. This part of the house is thought to date from about 1710. The house is owned by our friend Jim, who as you can see is doing fantastic work restoring it. You can tour the house next Saturday when it is open to the public. You can see a larger version of the photograph here: http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3696388318&size=large

At The Stone House Bed and Breakfast we will also be open for "Stone House Day" on Saturday 11th July 2009. This is the annual event here in Hurley, NY, where many of the local houses built in the early 1700's are open to the public. This year is the 60th anniversary of Stone House Day. To learn more visit the website:

http://www.stonehouseday.org/

Hudson's ship the Halve Maen (Half Moon)

The replica of Henry Hudsons ship which he sailed up what is now known as the Hudson River in 1609 off Rhinecliffe NY. The sloop Clearwater in the background. You can learn more about the Half Moon here: http://www.hrmm.org/halfmoon/1609moon.htm

And the Clearwater here: http://www.clearwater.org/ .

This picture was taken yesterday at a Hudson River Heritage event as the Half Moon came up to Rhinecliffe and the Rondout at Kingston to celebrate the 400 hundredth anniversary of Hudson's voyage. You can learn more about Hudson River Heritage here: http://hudsonriverheritage.org/ .

"The Lacemaker" room, circa 1700-1720, now available

Our earliest guest room, The Lacemaker, is now completely finished and available. It is quite possibly the oldest guest room in New York state that you can stay in. The first guests experienced it this weekend and loved it. For more details see here: http://hurleystonehouse.com/Lacemaker.html