Indholdsfortegnelse for Adirondack Homes & Camps 2024 i Adirondack Life

The sweep of Lake Placid is a rare beauty, and so is the hue named for it. Cadillac Paint Code 122, styled Lake Placid Blue, was only available in 1957–1958, and only on the Eldorado Brougham, an aspirational model limited to a run of 704 uber-luxe rides. Just 41 of those were coated in Lake Placid Blue. Although originally priced at more than $13,000—the most expensive American car of its era—it was rumored that Cadillac lost $10,000 for every one sold. The car was meant to burnish the Cadillac brand, and Fender soon wanted some of that shine. In 1960, the king of electric guitars offered the same DuPont-manufactured Lake Placid Blue as a custom finish; Fender discontinued the color in 1973, though it resurfaced in slightly different shades over…

Farmers are an endangered species in the Adirondacks for lots of reasons. Cleared acreage is limited. Growing seasons are short. Rocks permeate the soil. Deadly frosts are a year-round threat. In the 1800s, southern Adirondack towns like Hope and Wells had dozens of farms. Now there’s half a handful. So it’s easy to root for Century Gap Farm, a small operation that’s beating the odds in Hope Falls, a hamlet in southeastern Hamilton County. Century Gap’s owner, John Stortecky, has invested in greenhouse-like tunnels to extend the growing season and opened a farm store that’s stocked with prime beef, pasture-raised chicken, a variety of local vegetables, artisanal cheeses and more. His Creekside Farm Store offers premium meats and cheeses at premium prices, and the region’s many weekenders account for the…

When photographer Nancie Battaglia saw this adorable potting shed tucked into a garden near Bloomingdale, she knew she wanted to take a closer look. It was built by Leisa Almekinder, founder of AG Construction, and there’s a reason it looks like it sprang from the soil: Leisa says she was “going for the hobbit house look,” leaning on cordwood and repurposed fence posts for a natural feel. Her husband, Ed Courter, contributed the round-top doors for an extra touch of whimsy.…

Because white settlement came late to the Adirondacks, and because the dwellings used by the region’s longstanding Indigenous inhabitants weren’t designed to last, it’s hard to find structures in the park built before 1800. Earlier buildings survive in surrounding communities, but only a few lie within the Blue Line. The earliest structures in the park tend to be connected to the wars fought in the region—the French and Indian War (in which France lost Canada to Britain), the Revolution, and its replay, the War of 1812. Of these, the ruins at Crown Point are probably the most revealing. Crown Point State Historic Site, run by New York’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, includes the ruins of two forts, one French, one British, illustrating how the maritime corridor stretching…

The mushrooms scattered throughout these pages were foraged by Melanie Sawyer, of Moriah. Sawyer is a historical forager—she studies 18th-century practices of how to find, harvest and eat from the Adirondack landscape—incorporating her knowledge into survival skills classes, historical reenactment events, and a line of teas called Wild Foods & Wilderness. She says the health benefits from the natural world are bottomless, and she “wants to make people fall in love with the idea of taking care of themselves.” Learn more about Sawyer (especially her time as a contestant on the HISTORY Channel’s reality TV show Alone), sign up for one of her workshops, buy her tea, or download her Guide to Wild Food at www.melanie-sawyer.com. FANTASTIC FUNGI Below are some of our region’s finest edible wild mushrooms, and when…

From Camp Rush’s boathouse, Nick Politi looks out over Upper St. Regis Lake, the water still, an iconic Idem sailboat anchored nearby, motionless. Politi loves this spot. The view probably hasn’t changed much over the course of 134 years, when the Great Camp was built. Water, forest and peaks in the distance—it’s the complete Adirondack package. Politi brokered Camp Rush’s sale two years ago, and he can point out other showstoppers hugging the shoreline that he’s also sold: Camp Dancing Bear and Camp Woodmere. He just finalized the sale of another nearby camp for more than $13 million, the highest price ever for a boat-access-only property in the Adirondack Park. Politi grew up in Lake Placid, so he knows this region’s waters and history. He also grew up in a…

When Jim and Ann Schoff were young, they spent part of each summer driving from Ohio to the Adirondacks and backpacking with their children to an off-grid cabin near Bear Pond. There they roughed it: hauling water, hiking the woods, enjoying meals by candlelight. “It was really an adventure,” says Ann. Later in their marriage, an opportunity arose for a different kind of adventure: preserving a Great Camp. The couple reveled in the history of Camp Wenonah, on Upper Saranac Lake—built by financier and arts patron Jules Bache—and loved that their three children and 10 grandchildren could sleep under one roof. The woodsy nine-bedroom home offered uncluttered days of relaxation and revelry. Says Ann, “Camp Wenonah truly became our second home.” The Legacy Wenonah Lodge was among a handful of…

We love Lake George. Tom grew up coming here in the winter from Vermont. I grew up coming in the summer from Kentucky and my family has been coming up since the 1930s with steamer trunks. We purchased property with a 1970s horse barn in 2016–2017. We loved the view of the mountain behind the house and in the winter when the trees thin, you can see the lake. Tom’s a longtime builder whose Mountain and Lake Design Build business has worked on a lot of creative projects. I went to art school and studied sculpture and photography. I did installation and performance work and slowly moved into commercial photography. We designed the house together. As we were designing, we leaned toward a minimalistic design aesthetic but we both love color…

Before moving to the Adirondacks I lived for 15 years in New York City, in a tiny one-bedroom apartment five flights above the street. I slept in the day and at night worked as a paramedic, living from check to check, always a month behind in the rent. My wife was in college, and we ordered takeout every night, the noodle house around the corner, dining in our bed that filled the room—the best meals of our lives. Then I wrote a book, Bringing Out the Dead. It was adapted for a film, giving me more money than I earned in 11 years as a paramedic. I quit my job to write full time, moved to a high-rise with an elevator and laundry, a doorman to carry my groceries. We…