Tuxedo Park, NY was founded in the late 19th century as a private hunting, fishing and social retreat for the Gilded Age elite out of a raw, rugged tract of land in New York’s Lower Hudson Valley. The Village and Town have endured as one of the most beautiful communities to live in the entire country. Spectacular original architecture stands the test of time and has set its key marks in American architectural vernacular. Late 19th century and early 20th century estate homes are artfully sited in a natural landscape. Tuxedo’s natural beauty may be considered on par with exotic global destinations, yet it is just 1 hour from New York City. It offers a delightful mix of amenities and a small community feel.
Why is Tuxedo Park an amazing place to live? Here are 5 great attributes of Tuxedo.
1. Privacy
Tuxedo Park Entry Gatehouse – photo courtesy Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty | Andrea Swenson
Tuxedo Park was the first planned, private, gated community in the Country and to this day has restricted roads and is 24/7 gate guarded. Most homes sit on more than 1 acre of property with many homes of estate size providing ample buffer room between home sites and thereby plenty of privacy. Around the Town of Tuxedo, more recent development pockets such as Maple Brook, Laurel Ridge, and Clinton Woods offer discreet and attractive home siting and thoughtful layouts that afford tremendous amounts of privacy
2. The Lakes and Recreation
Tuxedo Lake – photo courtesy Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty | Andrea Swenson
Tuxedo Lake, the “skating pond” (Pond #3) and the Wee-Wah Lake in the Village of Tuxedo Park are three beautiful lakes set among the rolling Ramapo Mountains. If you enjoy boating, fishing, skating, or swimming in natural lakes, then Tuxedo Park, with 3 shimmering lakes at the center is a little “Shangri-La”. The lakes form a central gathering place for community members. Whether watching migrating waterfowl, fishing for Rainbow Trout, sailing a daysailer, jogging around the lakes, or playing pond hockey, the lakes offer the best in lake-life recreation at the heart of the community.
Beyond the three Village lakes, 75% of the landmass of the Town of Tuxedo is forever preserved state park, and the parks are dotted with amazing lakes, some well-known and some less so, but all beautiful in their own right. In Harriman State Park lakes such as Tiorati and Skannatati are stunningly scenic and offer plenty of recreational opportunities. In Sterling Forest State Park, Sterling Lake is absolutely pristine!
3. Nature
Tuxedo Park Nature Preserve. Photo courtesy Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty | Andrea Swenson
Bald Eagles, Black Bear, and Red Foxes are regular sightings in Tuxedo. Surrounded by the forever preserved 55,000 acre Harriman State Park to the East, and forever preserved 22,000 acre Sterling Forest to the West, Tuxedo is nestled among two of the largest State Parks in NY. This affords residents the opportunity to take advantage of hiking, biking, camping, fishing, and other outdoor activities for substantial immersion in nature and fresh air! It also allows for relaxation, and serenity among a quiet, protected forest.
4. Location and Amenities
View of East River and Brooklyn Bridge from Dumbo Brooklyn Waterfront – Photo Credit Jacob Matthews
Located in New York’s Lower Hudson Valley just about 35 miles north of NYC, Tuxedo offers easy access to the NYC metropolis and to the delightful countryside of New York’s Hudson Valley. Want to go to a Manhattan museum, or a Brooklyn eatery for a day? Tuxedo is approximately 1 hour from NYC by mass transit or car. To the North, want to go to the Village of Woodstock, NY for lunch? Tuxedo is just about an hour from the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. And, it’s just about 10 minutes from bustling and sophisticated Bergen County, NJ with an abundance of major corporation workplaces, shopping, and cultural opportunities.
In a way, Tuxedo is a dream location, ideally situated in a quiet, protected, natural, green, buffer-zone pocket, between, but set apart from the region’s most important, highly developed destinations. Tuxedo offers access to NYC with MTA Train and Shortline Bus and to major roads for local and area shopping, restaurants, entertainment, and world-class art institutions. The Lower Hudson Valley including Orange, Rockland, Westchester, Putnam, Ulster, Sullivan, and Dutchess counties are relatively close. The area is a cultural, gastronomic, and art hotbed with much to see and explore. From Storm King Art Center Sculpture Park to DIA Beacon, to the rich Farmland eateries, distilleries, wineries, and fruit orchards of places like Warwick, NY, many cultural delights are easily accessible from Tuxedo.
5. Community anchored with History
Tuxedo Park Post Office. A historic building in the Hamlet of Tuxedo. Photo Courtesy Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty | Andrea Swenson
Tuxedo has Historical intrigue and enduring institutions. Tuxedo’s hamlet boasts a local public school with iconic buildings and several 19th-century Bruce Price-designed historic structures (examples – Library and Post office). There are many community and cultural institutions such as the St. Mary’s in Tuxedo and St. Mary’s Pre-School, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, The Tuxedo Club, Tuxedo Park Library, Tuxedo Park School, Tuxedo Farmers Market, and the Tuxedo Historical Society. The business community is proud of its vibrant Tuxedo Chamber of Commerce and each of these institutions brings community members together around a variety of causes and activities.
For these reasons and countless others, Tuxedo is a wonderful community in which to live.
If you have any questions about Tuxedo, feel free to contact me, I’m happy to help you learn more about it.
