Karen Asks:
"We're looking for a 1 to 2 bedroom rental property in Northern Westchester. Ideally it would be a private cottage and dog friendly. We're both writers with excellent credit and references. With utilities our ceiling is $1900. Thanks. "
Got any ideas? Share them on the NW Forum.
I recently started posting chats with readers about their moves to the area and their lives here. A few weeks ago, I talked with Lauren, who moved up from Brooklyn. Here is my chat with Heather, a recent transplant from Manhattan.
Where do you live? How long have you lived there?
I live on Lake Katonah. My address is Katonah, but I think it's part of Lewisboro. We moved at the beginning of April of this year.
Why did you pick the Katonah-Lewisboro area?
We were looking for an area that had a good school district and was also affordable with reasonable taxes. Oh—and was also a reasonable commute to the city. In Westchester county, that is hard to come by!
What has been the hardest part of the transition from Manhattan to the rural burbs of Northern Westchester?
I don't know where anything is! There are little shopping areas and stores scattered throughout the area. I had to search to find where to get dog food! We are still learning where to go for things.
What do you miss most about living in Manhattan?
I miss knowing where everything is! I miss being able to get what I want when I want it—even if it is 3:00 am!
What is your favorite thing about living here?
I love how beautiful it is. We have a gorgeous lake view from our living room. We have a balcony that overlooks the lake that we sit on and just soak in the view. We see deer, chipmunks, squirrels, beavers, fox, etc. The nature is just amazing! Haven't seen nature in a long time after living in the city for 12 years!
What do you tell city friends who think you were crazy to move up here?
That I love it up here! I really do! I've met so many of my neighbors up here already—I even joined the area book club! My dog and I take long walks around the beautiful lake. It's so quiet and peaceful—and I feel more quiet and peaceful being up here. I tell my friends to move up here with me!
If you'd like to be interviewed about your experiences moving to, living in, and/or working in Northern Westchester, email me.
It's been almost nine years since the wife and I left the city, where we had both lived our whole lives, and headed north. The transition was both challenging and rewarding in ways that we hadn't foreseen. In the meantime, plenty of people have gone through the same move. I'm going to start posting chats with readers about their moves to the area and their lives here. To kick things off, one reader, Lauren, recently shared her experiences making the move from the city.
Where do you live? How long have you lived there?
We’ve lived in Katonah for about a year now.
Where did you move from?
Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
Why did you pick the area?
We were looking for a place within commutable distance to the City, with natural beauty and open spaces. With a baby on the way, great public schools and relative safety were important. Northern Westchester offers all of this, including a reputation for being more down-to-earth and welcoming than other “commuting” towns, not to mention less congested. We also found a fair selection of housing within our price range here.
What has been the hardest part of the transition from the city to the rural burbs of Northern Westchester?
We don’t even know where to begin with property maintenance! It’s also been challenging to keep in close contact with our city friends.
What do you miss most about living in the city?
Walking…..to neighborhood restaurants, friends’ apartments, parks, etc.
What is your favorite thing about living here?
There are so many favorite things! But the thing I appreciate most is what a beautiful part of the country this is. We love being near so many wonderful parks and nature preserves, not to mention the little stand of woods right behind our house.
What do you tell city friends who think you were crazy to move up here?
Come visit, then tell me who’s crazy.
Thanks for sharing, Lauren!
If you'd like to be interviewed about your experiences moving to, living in, and/or working in Northern Westchester, email me.
If you're looking for something unique and handmade, check out the new Beehive Co-op in Mt. Kisco. The store carries a variety of distinctive items–jewelry, clothing, ceramics, bath and body products, and even locally made baked goods. I asked the store's owner, Petra Geiger, a few questions.
Tell us about Beehive Co-op.
Beehive is a co-operative store in Mt. Kisco that showcases unique, modern, handmade items by local artisans and emerging designers from around the country. Designers rent boutique space for a nominal fee in return for their help running the store. Our goal is to provide new markets for emerging designers, to support creative entrepreneurship and also provide a community through which designers can share ideas and find encouragement.
Are all of the goods by local artisans and designers?
We opened our doors with about 8 local designers and the rest of the artisans come from all over the country. Our goal is to be 75-100% local by the middle of next year. We are looking for designers and artisans who have an established product line, are entrepreneurial by nature, and are really looking to grow their businesses.
How did you first hit on the "co-op" concept?
I am a graphic designer by training and five years ago found myself looking for a creative outlet that didn’t involve the computer. This led to all sorts of crafts and finally I started up a fledgling handbag line which I sold at local markets and craft fairs. One day I walked into an antique market and it all clicked – the same co-op idea could work for emerging designers as well. I developed the plan and opened the first Beehive in Atlanta in 2004 which I sold to a new owner last year under a franchise agreement.
You recently moved to Croton. Why did you pick northern Westchester?
I grew up in Toronto and had always wanted to come back to the northeast. Westchester works really well for us because our kids (we have 2 elementary aged kids) get the benefit of great schools, small close-knit communities, and beautiful scenic surroundings--and my husband and I can recharge and get inspired creatively by jetting into the city every once and a while. There is just so much to do in this area it really suits our lifestyle perfectly!
Ossining resident Matko Peckay creates beautiful art--much of which is very comfortable. Peckay's carved wood pieces range from chairs to desks to sculptures. Peckay was kind enough to take a moment to answer a few questions.
How long have you lived in northern Westchester?
9 years, in Ossining.
What attracted you to Ossining?
An 1880's house with enough room for a studio that was affordable. And the diversity of the population.
How does living and working in northern Westchester affect your work?
Westchester offers a surrounding with the perfect mix of sophistication, nature, and relaxation necessary for my work.
Each Spring, you and your wife organize Touched By Design, a group showing of artists. How did that start?
We used part of our house as a showroom and thought we could use it as well to help other regional artists showcase their work in a relaxed environment. It grew from about 75 visitors in our first year, five years ago, to over 350 visitors in the past two years.
To learn more about Matko Peckay's work, check out his website and Touched by Design.
The new owners of a lovely house in Peekskill have started a blog to record the joys and travails of the restoration they're about to embark on. Restoration and Renovation will share the owners' adventure as they bring their home (which I featured as a Hot Property) into the 21st century. A and J (as they call themselves) were kind enough to take a moment to answer a few questions.
Where are you moving from? We're moving from Montclair, NJ. We were there for about a year. Before that we were in Los Angeles (Studio City).
Why did you pick Peekskill? We really liked the feel of Peekskill, all the great older architecture, the artsy downtown, the proximity to the river and the fact that it is not a cookie-cutter community. Every time we visited the area, it seemed like we met friendly people, too.
What are your plans for the house? We are hoping to restore it with a few updates. The exterior needs some serious TLC. We'd like to add another 1.5 bathrooms and update the kitchen (but no granite). Our preference is to try and create classic updates that blend with the style and period of the house.
Have you done this before? We have some experience. We completely gutted and redid the kitchen in our 1926 bungalow in Studio City and did some additional renovations on the rest of the house. This will be our first time creating a bathroom from scratch. Our last house in Montclair didn't need quite the same level of work, but we did a lot of cosmetic work on it.
What's the biggest lesson you've learned from past projects? Plan everything out down to the smallest detail before getting started. On our last project we just jumped in and ended up sort of figuring things out as we went, causing us to have to redo several projects. For example the sink faucet we originally bought didn't end up fitting and we had to buy a new one. If we had realized that before the walls were up, we could have adjusted, but by the time we figured it out, it was too late. You also need to factor into your budget that unexpected issues will arise and that, if you're doing it yourself, you're going to make some mistakes and therefore might need a bit extra in terms of materials. A smaller thing we've learned is that you can never measure too many times or too carefully. Measure twice and cut once.
