Martinis and Tapas

"Karma Lounge is one of the prettiest adult watering holes around... Inside, polished dark and light woods, brick niches and dramatic draped fabrics provide a Zen-like backdrop... But the kitchen’s tapas alone were worth a visit, and those that our table sampled were inspired."
—The New York Times review of Karma Lounge and Martini Bar & Grille in Ossining.

Custom Creations

Looking for something unique? Peekskill's Studio No.9 creates original works of art, handcrafted furniture, and functional objects. The 5,000 square foot studio boasts a wood shop, a metal shop, an art studio, and a gallery. 

Weekend Picks

I only had time to rustle up a few picks, but they're pretty good

The Trapps Tapping into the roots of Americana, folk, and rock and roll, The Trapps wraps it all into a tightly-knit package that is entirely their own. Friday, 8:00 pm. Bean Runner Cafe

Fall Scavenger Hunt Enjoy a wonderful walk as you go in search of nature's hidden treasures. Saturday, 1:00 pm. Ward Pound Ridge Reservation

Locavore Holidays Discover easy, locally grown foods you can choose for the holidays. Saturday, 10:00 am. Croton Point Park Nature Center

The Three Stooges: Shorts Program Moe, Larry, and Curly come back to the big screen in all their eye-poking, shin-kicking, head-knocking slapstick glory. Saturday and Sunday, 12:00 pm. Jacob Burns Film Center

Holiday Origami Workshop Kids can join artist Yoshimi Arai and create a delightful Peace Crane and festive Origami holiday ornaments. Saturday, 1:00 to 3:00 pm.  The Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden

In Search of Wild Turkeys Take a hike to find turkeys in the wild. Sunday, 1:00 pm. Westmoreland Sanctuary

Jasper String Quartet Continuing their tradition of presenting probing programs, the Jasper String Quartet returns to the Music Room with Schubert’s Quartettsatz, Beethoven’s final Razumovsky quartet, and Aaron Jay Kernis’s second quartet. Sunday, 4:00 pm. Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts

Book Reading Readings from The Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay, a novel the late author Beverly Jensen. Sunday, 4:30 pm. Hudson Valley Writers' Center

Barn in the U.S.A

Year Built: 1700
Square Feet: 2,100
Bedrooms: 4
Property: 4.4 acres
Location: Bedford Corners, in between Mt. Kisco and Bedford—and next to 684.
Best features: This restored 1700's barn has as much country charm as a, well, a restored 1700's barn. Beams, wide plank floors, stone chimneys, this place has got it all. Whats more, the outdoors is lovely, too, with nice patios, a pool, and gorgeous woods.
Downside: The picture-perfect setting is darn close to major highway 684, which probably reduces some of the bucolic charm.
Taxes: $16,979
Asking Price: $719,000
Agency: Ginel Real Estate
Maps: Google Map, bing Map

Bee Movie (and Discussion)

The documentary Queen of the Sun explores the mysterious collapse of the honeybee population and what it may mean for the environment as a whole. After the film, the director Taggart Siegel, producer Jon Betz, and beekeeper Kerry Grefig discuss the movie. Wednesday, 7:30 pm. Jacob Burns Film Center

Ogling in Ossining

The November issue of Elle Decor sports a feature article on the Ossining home of Doug Turshen and Rochelle Udell.  Located in the Sparta Historic District, part of the house dates to 1789 and part was added in 1921. The owners, both art directors, purchased the place four years ago and then embarked on a six-month renovation—which left the exterior untouched. Inside, they removed woodwork and moldings to pare down the spaces. Their biggest change was in the dining room, which they paneled with quarter-sawn oak. Check out the article for more photos and details. 
Images: Elle Decor

Examining Eastern European Art

What's happening in the art world in Eastern and Central Europe? In conjunction with "After The Fall," an exhibition of emerging contemporary art from East and Central Europe, the US Editor of Flashart, Nicola Trezzi, and Czech painter Daniel Pitin will discuss the current state of art in the former Soviet bloc. Tuesday, 7:00 pm. Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art

From Barenaked Ladies to Bach

Start the week with the Barenaked Ladies performing classics such as "If I had $1,000,000" and "Be My Yoko Ono," as well as new tunes from their 11th album, All In Good Time, which was released in March (Monday, 7:30 pm. Tarrytown Music Hall). Then catch the Bedford Chamber Ensemble playing music for the viola by Bach, Mozart, and Hummel. (Wednesday, 8:00 pm. St. Matthew's Episcopal Church).

Circle in the Square

 

Year Built: 1968
Square Feet: 2,000
Bedrooms: 3 
Property: 0.22 of an acre
Location: Croton, on the hill between the Croton River and Sunset Park.
Best features: A contemporary house in a walkable village setting with a country feel, this abode offers an unusual mix. The open floor plan boasts big, bright spaces and there are some great architectural details (love the stairs). Outside, there's a large deck with winter peeks of the Croton River and the hills beyond, and the back patio is beautifully tucked into the hillside.
Downside: The property is almost all hill, with little or no level green space. Some of the home's design features, like the big bubble window, may seem a tad dated. And the taxes seem pretty high for a mid-size house on a small lot.
Taxes: $16,840
Asking Price: $529,000
Agency: Houlihan Lawrence
Maps: Google Map, bing Map

Save Hilltop Hanover Farm!

We just got this plea from Hilltop Hanover Farm. Please let the County know that the farm is an invaluable resource that must be saved. Help save the farm!

Dear friends,
Today Westchester County released the 2011 budget and slashed the Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center's to just $200,000, resulting in the elimination of half the permanent workforce (two of the four), the entirety of the seasonal staff, and 100 percent of our operating budget. As supporters of Hilltop Hanover Farm, tell the County that this is unacceptable. The Friends of Hilltop Hanover Farm, Inc. has been working with the County on this year's budget to find creative solutions and to ensure the Farm's long-term sustainability over a period of five years. Yet, the County has actually crippled our efforts in this clear move to close the gates of the Farm forever. But you can help keep the gates open in three ways:

1. Email County Executive Astorino here or call him at 914.995.2900. Tell him that Hilltop Hanover Farm is an important to you as a County resident, and provides vital services to Westchester County residents and beyond. Tell him to reinstate funding for Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center.

2. Email and call your Legislator (find them here). Tell him or her that Hilltop Hanover Farm is an important to you as a County resident, and provides vital services to Westchester County residents and beyond. Tell him or her to reinstate funding for Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center.

3. Share this email with friends and ask them to join with us in calling for a reinstatement of Hilltop Hanover Farm's funding. Please call and email your elected officials in Westchester County today and tell them to reinstate Hilltop Hanover Farm's funding, which represents just 0.00022% of the County's overall $1.786 billion dollar budget. If you would like to join the Friends of Hilltop Hanover Farm to help save this county treasure, you can email us here. 

We need your help!

Helen Brady
President, Friends of Hilltop Hanover Farm

Fuzzy Realism

The exhibition of works by Leonardo Silaghi, the Summer 2010 Artist-in-Residence at the HVCCA, features the painter's large scale works. Through December 19, at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art

We'll Always Have Bogart

Now is your chance to catch
nine Humphrey Bogart classics
on the big screen. The series 
at the Jacob Burns Film Center
runs through November 23 and
includes: Casablanca, Key 
Largo, The African Queen,
In a Lonely Place, Treasures
of the Sierra Madre, The Big
Sleep, To Have and Have Not, 
and The Maltese Falcon.

Weekend Picks

My picks for what to do this weekend in Northern Westchester

Steve Frieder Quintet The award-winning Steve Frieder Quintet provides an  evening of jazz standards and improvisations. Friday, 7:30 pm. Bean Runner Cafe

Hike to the Leatherman's Cave Come hear the lore of the Old Leatherman on this 2.5 mile hike with renowned storyteller Jonathan Kruk. Saturday, 2:00 pm. Ward Pound Ridge Reservation

Seeing Stories Kids ages 4 to 5 can listen to stories from around the world and use their imaginations to create, tell, and act out their own tales. Saturday, 10:00 am. Jacob Burns Film Center

Pack Chat Kids will learn about the mythology surrounding wolves and the important role of wolves in the natural world. Saturday, 11:00 am. Wolf Conservation Center

Movie and Discussion Enjoy a screening of Harvest, which tells the story of three generations of a family coming together to spend one last summer with its grand patriarch, followed by a discussion with Director Marc Meyers and Producer Jody Girgenti. Saturday, 8:00 pm. Paramount Center for the Performing Arts

Mozart's Requiem The Croton Chorale perfrom Mozart's Requiem. Saturday, 8:00 pm. Croton Chorale

Hawk Watching Come and catch a glimpse of the hawks. Sunday, 11:00 am. Westmoreland Sanctuary

Farm to Table: Fall Harvest Learn how to celebrate and enjoy the bountiful fall harvest. Sunday, 3:00 pm. Hilltop Hanover Farm

Our Ancestor's Muse Music from Copland House's Derek Bernel joins the world-renowned Borromeo String Quartet for two modern classics: Bermel's Soul Garden, and Osvaldo Golijov's The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind. Sunday, 3:00 pm. Merestead

Poetry Reading Poets Julie Sheehan and Steve Huff read from their works. Sunday, 4:30 pm. Hudson Valley Writers Center

October Sales and Deals

The local market continues to look pretty slow. The number of homes going to contract in the area this blog covers remained flat in October, and just one previously-featured Hot Property went to contract. Not a single one sold.

Contracts signed on single-family homes

September: 63
October: 62

Hot Properties That Went to Contract

Location: Peekskill
Featured:  July 27, 2010
Asking Price When Featured: $375,000
Last Asking Price: $350,000

The Beetle Battle

Teatown’s monthly environmental discussion group continues with Frank Lowenstein, the  director of the Nature Conservancy’s Forest Health Program, giving the lecture “Lurking in the trees: one community’s battle against the Asian long-horned beetle.” Thursday, 7:30 pm, at Teatown Lake Reservation.

More (Better) Bike Racks

The Yorktown Patch reported last week that new bike racks have been installed in a number of Yorktown locales to make it easier for residents to get around on two wheels. The bike racks were created by students at the Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES Tech Center at the request of the Yorktown Energy Advisory Committee. The new racks include Alexa Picone's sculptural "Chain Reaction."
Image: Yorktown Patch

Most Beautiful Homes Around?

You know what they say about beauty. Well, Westchester Home magazine published a list of "The 10 Most Beautiful Homes in Westchester," and I can't say I behold things as they do. But some of their picks sure are beauties. Of the ten, four are in the area this blog covers: in (clockwise, from top left) Bedford, Croton, Yorktown, and Katonah. These are nice indeed (love the Croton place!), but I can think of some others that I prefer. Check out the article for details.
Images: Westchester Home