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A handsome renovated former hotel at midblock is home to the
Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, the arts council for Sullivan County
and its year-round gallery. Exhibitions feature the work of artists
from New York City and the surrounding region, while a full calendar
of events includes performances by the Delaware Valley Opera and the
Delaware Valley Chamber Orchestra at the 160-seat Tusten Theater,
readings by authors and playwrights, jazz concerts and the yearly
Digital Media Festival, which gives a cash prize for the best
digital art entry.
Each January, the EagleFest draws a thousand or more visitors and
in summer, the local dance card is chockablock, said Elaine Giguere,
the arts alliance's executive director. "There are about 10 events
every weekend," she said.
Heaving nightspots are absent from the scene in Narrowsburg, and
no one misses them, said Pedro Boregaard, a New York jeweler who
began coming for weekends in 1999 and became a full-time resident
last year. "That's why people who come here like it," he said.
THE PROS
Just two and a half hours from Midtown Manhattan, Narrowsburg and
its surroundings have a kind of woodsy ordinariness to them that is
an antidote to urban life for many. The forests are dense thatches
scattered with lakes, ponds and hidden waterfalls that sluice down
rocky cliffs in the middle of nowhere. There are no street lamps
outside the village, and for the uninitiated, the extraordinary
quiet can be daunting until the calm of it all takes effect.
"You're looking at green and light and trees, and all it does is
bring your blood pressure down," said one weekend resident, Barry
Becker, a sales executive for a women's clothing company whose
1,500-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bathroom farm house on eight
acres cost him and his partner, Tony Coscia, $125,000 in November
2001.
He has only good things to say about the people he has met,
particularly the neighbor who's teaching him and Mr. Coscia, general
manager of the Gianni Versace boutique on Madison Avenue in
Manhattan, to use things like chain saws and tractors. "He's
impressed by how much we've picked up, but that's a reflection on
him," Mr. Becker said.
One weekend resident, Klaus Diestel, spends his afternoons in
antiques shops. "The prices are terrific," said Mr. Diestel. who
last year paid $100,000 for a three-bedroom farmhouse on 14 acres
with a lake.
THE CONS
The Big Eddy diner's hours, which are considered too short, are
one thing Narrowsburg people grumble about, but it's also pretty
hard to get to the town except by car. Trains only go as far as Port
Jervis, a half-hour drive away. Buses from Manhattan go only to
Monticello, likewise a half hour away by car or by hard-to-predict
bus service. And you'll need a sport utility vehicle or you're stuck
in the snow for most of the winter. One major complaint is that
there's no cellphone tower, and none is on the horizon. Most
residents would welcome the service but providers are not obliging,
said Ben Johnson, Tusten's administrator.
Taxes in the area are also double what Pennsylvanians pay across
the river in Pike County or Wayne County.
THE REAL ESTATE MARKET
The news of five casinos planned for Sullivan County as a land
settlement deal with Indian tribes has helped quicken the pace of
the construction of new homes with record prices for the area.
Ground will be broken this spring on Eagle's Nest Estates, whose 14
units, on parcels that will range from 5.5 to 23 acres, will cost
about $1.2 million each. All have river views.
Prices like the $334,000 and $375,000 paid recently for new
replicas of old farmhouses on three- to-four acre parcels, or the
1893 six-bedroom Victorian on 10 acres for $382,000 are more the
norm, although even those are steep compared to just four years ago.
"Prices have gone up 35 percent to 40 percent since 9/11," Mr. Euker
said.
On the market are a 1,250-square-foot, three-bedroom,
one-bathroom Cape Cod built in 1948, on a half-acre property in the
Flats, within walking distance of Main Street, for $184,500. It has
a fireplace, a breezeway and an outbuilding that could become a
studio or an office. On an acre with views of the Delaware River
Valley is a 1,981-square-foot, four-bedroom, one-bathroom Queen
Anne-style house for $349,000. It has a wrap-around porch, the
original woodwork and a Vulcan stove.
Good, used double-wide trailers can be had for a song, but houses
for sale are scarce in Narrowsburg, and tight inventory with record
demand is driving prices even higher, said Bill Payne, associate
broker with McKean Real Estate, who said he closed eight deals in
the area between Christmas and mid-January.
Although some sellers are not getting their asking price, the
market is strong and active. "On a great listing, you could have
three people bidding, all of them from the city," Mr. Payne said.
"It's booming."
