19th Century Farm, 90 Acres (and maybe antiques) in Walton, $635,000

(here's my post from Upstater on Sean Scherer's lovely farmhouse...)

I once looked at a place that was covered in the New York Times. Owned by the artist Rob Pruitt and covered not just once but twice in the paper (first in the Home section then panned in the Arts), the articles and provenance were both selling points and failings. The house was painted black, had fake headstones in the yard, fake silicone water drips down the walls, and at that very moment I was checking it out, a flooding basement. Here’s another covered in the Times, owned by artist and antiques dealer Sean Scherer, who last week, the very week his place went on the market, was moving Anderson Cooper into his new home. (Scherer is in charge of the interiors in Cooper’s former firehouse turned actual house).

Scherer has one of those reverse Catskills’ success tales: Moves to the sticks (full-time) opens a business, gets covered in the Times and then is hired by the likes of Cooper and opens a shop in the city and now is moving back down (where the shop is covered in the Times again). The story isn’t quite that simple and includes a breakup (hence the move and sale). The place in Treadwell is a sweet 19^th Century farmhouse with a great addition (I personally have a huge love for those reclaimed wood floors in the studio and also the school lockers in the pantry used for the china). It comes with nearly 3500 square feet, four bedrooms, studio, two living rooms and a Dutch bed in the dining room (good for reclining after a heavy meal). And a wet bar. More gossip (including the goodies that come with the house) and stats on the jump.

He’s willing to sell it with his collection of 19^th century prints, charts, shells, mercury glass and exotic stuffed animals (not the Paddington Bear sort but taxidermy). Though I imagine the more high-end artwork (Roxy Paine pieces etc) aren’t up for grabs here. The other thing the house includes? Ninety acres. Ninety loggable acres. Scherer and his former partner joined a forestry management program that includes tax breaks for good stewardship and the right to log every few years. So, next year when the timber can be harvested again, that alone is worth somewhere in the range of $50k. After the gallery here, check out the New York Timesshots which do the home far more justice.