While accomplished landscape painter Frederic Church had a hand in designing a property located a stone’s throw from the Hudson River in upstate New York, the brokers marketing it say that’s not its biggest selling point.
Brokers Paul Barrett and Christine Jones of Houlihan Lawrence Inc. told CoStar News that at 100 acres, the property’s size is unusual given it is just three miles from downtown Hudson, a city of about 6,000 residents. It’s been used as a vacation rental for the past two decades; the brokers see value in keeping the acreage whole as an inn or for another public destination use such as a glamping resort. But they added a buyer might also choose to subdivide it for private home sites.
Hudson, a 40-minute drive south of the state capital of Albany, and 2.5 hours north of New York City, has a lively art and farm-to-table restaurant scene, according to the city’s economic development website.
“It’s really going to need a buyer who can appreciate the value of the size of the property, the proximity to the town, and also the historic component,” Jones told CoStar News in an interview about Mount Merino Manor, as the site is now known.
Church, who made a name for himself as part of the 19th century Hudson River School of landscape painting, built his own mansion with Persian architectural features outside the city of Hudson in the 1870s. Olana, as he called that property, is now a state historical site.
While it was under construction, Church convinced his New York City-based doctor to build a house — the one currently for sale on 100 acres — just across the road and helped him plan its siting and construction. The three-story, 6,000-square-foot house has seven bedrooms and commanding views of the Catskill Mountains.
Currently listed at $7.3 million, the property comes with a 2,100-square-foot guest cottage built by the current owners in 2002 and a 7,000-square-foot pole barn.
Jones described the cottage as having “whimsical, storybook” qualities; she and Barrett see a variety of potential uses for the barn, such as an art gallery or a space to store a vintage car collection.
Aside from the large lawn immediately adjacent to the house and around the cottage and barn, much of the 100 acres has been left relatively untended. The brokers point out there are several paths through the woods that are wide enough for all-terrain vehicles; Jones said she thinks Church intended them to be used as carriage roads similar to ones he had built around Olana.
“The 100 acres is what makes this property special,” Barrett said in the interview. “Right now, this is a turnkey hospitality venue, but it really could be brought to another level. It could be a perfect family compound for some captain of industry, a very private, secluded estate for somebody who really needs that,” Barrett said in the interview.
The current owners commissioned plans for at least two house sites, Barrett said, but haven’t obtained permits.