Tasteful Friends: 1856 Mansion in Newburgh, NY

Sure it needs a little work but that's a great place for a retiring gay couple from the city. I wonder why they didn't refinish dining room floor.

It sold for 1 million in 2005! Kitchen has been updated but doesn’t fit with the style of house.

the windows are hideous. look like cheap vinyl replacements. Something more upscale and architectural would be tremendous

Other than the complete overuse of dark woodwork and paneling, I don't think the house is that bad. I mean, I wouldn't choose it, but compared to some of the "tasteful" abortions that have graced those pages, this one appears to be fairly normal.

[quote]the windows are hideous. look like cheap vinyl replacements.

I didn't know you had those in The USA. They've ruined half the houses of England.

Newburgh is mostly a no-go zone. It's a big step down from Hudson or Rhinebeck.

Welcome to one of the US's most violent city.

I like the original bathrooms.

But the house is inches from a major freeway.

Vibes not good.

Hard pass.

I like the woodwork, all the fireplaces and the original bathroom fixtures. But something feels very off to me about this house.

The outside looks like people were building McMansions in 1896. Lots of work to do. However, parts of it are lovely.

It looks like they removed the pocket doors from the first floor, heating and cooling that place is a fortune the big unknowns are the condition of the electrical and heating system as well as the pipes and roof.

It's a money pit which is probably why it's selling for less than the 2005 price, no thanks.

Newburgh is actually gentrifying quickly, lots of Brooklyn transplants lured by the grand old houses and opening businesses in the old shops.

Yes it has a ways to go but in ten years people will kick themselves for not buying now.

The lame-ass staging is pretty hilarious.

It’s surrounded by other mansions from the era. Nice size lot (2 acres). I looked it up on Google Maps and it was painted white in the image, so either they sandblasted the white paint off or, more likely, painted over that with brick red paint.

You'll hear the sound of the freeway all day and night.

I don't like the mixture of all those different architectural styles on the inside: I mean, you can't have neo-gothic furniture (which looks very nice, by the way) in one room, quasi-baroque cornices and stuccoed fireplace in the next one and wooden Ionic columns in the dining room. And then you also have the back of the house which vaguely resembles a Swiss cuckoo clock.

That's a lotta house for that kind of money. Needs some minor upkeep. The floor in the dining room desperately need refinishing. And rip down that hideous striped wallpaper in that one room. And it desperately needs to shubbery planted around the house so it won't look so forlorn.

R16 I think those stripes are painted. I kind of like the juxtaposition of contemporary with traditional

I like the 'lame-ass' aka minimal staging. You can actually see the property, flaws and all.

I'd love to host candlelight suppers, then hold shooting parties to hunt down zombie trespassers. It has a very horror film vibe.

Something about the lime bathroom says, "The Shining."

It sold for $300,000 less in 2017. This listing pic shows the former white painted exterior.

[quote]But the house is inches from a major freeway.

The noise from the railroad along the river is probably worse than the highway noise from 84.

[quote]Newburgh is mostly a no-go zone.

It's actually in the town of Newburgh, not the city. The worse thing about the house would be the property taxes. You'd also definitely need a car.

Looks much better painted white.

[quote]I like the 'lame-ass' aka minimal staging. You can actually see the property, flaws and all.

What I meant is that if you're going to do staging you shouldn't be lazy about it. I'm with you, I'd prefer they didn't bother and just left the rooms empty.

Here’s a story on its history, and more pics of interior.

I really love this house and wish I could convince my husband to at least look at it (we live not far, in Westchester).

It's lovely. Beautiful wood paneling. The kitchen could be altered given you already have house buying money. I don't think you'd hear traffic. 84 is .5 miles away. 9W is .3 miles away and only two lanes. Plus the house is set well back from the road.

Nice house, horrible location. But still amazing it’s within 1.5 hours of NYC for that price. The “Newburgh is gentrifying” spiel has been going on for 20 years. Ain’t gonna happen.

I really like a lot of things about the house - I think the eclectic mix of styles on the first floor is great - better than everything being gothic or baroque. And I actually like the entry fixture and the striped walls in the library - I love mixing in some modern aesthetics within period rooms; but realize that most people don't. The kitchen is dated, but if you change out the counters and tile and give the cabinets and woodwork a really first rate paint job you can leave most of it as is. I like the current trend for dark blue kitchen cabinets, but grey, dark olive or even boring white would work.

That pink-painted attic room is enticingly vulvar.

The outside needs hydrangeas.

The two acres is a blank palette, perfect for formal gardens.

It’s been updated with central air conditioning, and the electrical and plumbing have been updated.

I gotta stop looking at it, it’s making me heartsick.

It’s a shame someone ripped out the original windows and replaced with vinyl ones. I’m sure it was well-intentioned and an attempt to make it more energy efficient, but they sorely stick out.

And that’s a lot of windows, so even cheap vinyl ones must have cost several thousand dollars.

I would be constantly terrified of being burglarized or a home invasion — it’s adjacent to a high crime area and there are so many windows and doors that could be easily breached. Invest in a home security system for sure.

[quote]The “Newburgh is gentrifying” spiel has been going on for 20 years. Ain’t gonna happen.

It's going slow but it'll happen. Forty years ago you'd say that the East Village would never improve. Just need a more brave gay men and lesbians to move into the crappy sections.

Is upstate all opioids and meth?

Broadway doesn’t go for booze and dope, R32

[quote] That pink-painted attic room is enticingly vulvar.

I would never buy a house with an attic loaded with enticing vulvas. That's nasty.

I has nice frontage from the street.

One thing I see that desperately needs done is some serious paint removal inside. There are more layers of paint on some of those wood surfaces, especially the mantels that anyone could count.

What are you talking about R36? The only mantel that isn’t natural wood is MARBLE

So many desperate opioid addicts in that area. I'd be too frightened. Sort of like Last House on the Left.

You can have it. It looks like an Amtrak station.

I'd add an electric fence. Zap the zombies.

R7- Newburgh is in the east. We DON'T say FREEWAY. We say HIGHWAY.

It does look better painted a lighter color. The natural brick is rather depressing looking.

R42 it’s not the natural brick, it’s paint to look like natural brick.

The sink in the kitchen is on the wrong side of the island. Anyone who really cooks would have to get that switched. And the sink is too small also

Newburgh is "gentrifying" at a snail's pace.

It's Kingston that has become super hot, especially in the past 5 years. The Stockade District is like "Little Brooklyn" and the rents and food/drink prices match Brooklyn as well.

Balmville was the location of the smallest New York State Forest - 1 tree

They shouldn't have torn out all the greenery in front of it. I like how it looked in R19 more than how it looks now. It's too austere now.

R47 those shrubs were overgrown to the point that no amount of pruning or trimming could have benefited them. They were completely blocking out the first floor windows.

The new owner can add foundation plantings to his liking.

It might be OK for noise. 9W isn't that bad and the thruway is blocks away. But in the end, you don't want to live in Newburgh.

It's on the wrong side of the river. People of quality only live on the east side of the Hudson.

Isn`t Tuxedo Park west of the Hudson?

[quote]It's on the wrong side of the river. People of quality only live on the east side of the Hudson.

True, the old money have their estates east of the Hudson. Tuxedo Park is east of the Hudson.

Yes R51. And the town of Hudson is on the East. So that blows away R50 s argument.

Huh? Tuxedo Park is in Orange County, very much west of the Hudson River.

Tuxedo Park was never really top drawer when estates were estates. It's more a very old luxury housing development.

There is a massive stone and marble gilded age estate that nobody knows about, somewhere in Ulster or Greene county. There were some articles about it a couple years ago but now its name escapes me. Private owner. Maybe a conference centre now.

I found it! Payne mansion - ulster country. Top drawer on all counts. Almost completely unknown.

Massive gilded age pile:

That fucker has to be HAUNTED like crazy, no way I would live in that thing. Spooks coming out of the woodwork and trying to kill you.