Nestled in a leafy nook overlooking the Hudson River in the Ulster County hamlet of Milton, Buttermilk Falls Inn & Spa breathes history and tradition: the main house, a 1764 homestead with wide plank floors and low beams, was shelled by a British warship as it made its way up river before the famous siege on Kingston in 1777. Besides the inn, which has 10 guest rooms, the complex includes two charming carriage houses, which also offer accommodation, and a secluded cottage. The cozy, intimate scale of these buildings is reinforced by the parklike setting, complete with ponds, lush plantings and winding walkways.
A large organic garden and an orchard provide much of the produce served at the table, and fresh eggs are collected from the elaborate and colorful henhouse each day. Llamas and angora goats, their mops of fur hiding their delicate narrow faces, graze in a field. Down a woodland path visitors can see the falls that once powered a mill on the property.
Given all this bucolic bliss, the new, $3 million spa is a bit of an aesthetic shock: it”™s a geometric building of stone, metal and glass, a modernist vision of stark simplicity. Small in scale ”” 6,000 square feet ”” and perched dramatically on a bluff overlooking the river, the structure nonetheless relates subtly to its surroundings. Inside, natural light streams down from an oculus-like skylight encased in a silver cone. The spacious room housing the mineral-salts pool is paved with slate and has a panoramic river view, while each of the five treatment rooms and the sauna has a single square window, conjuring up the cloistered quietude of monks”™ quarters. The quasi-ritualistic aspect of such facilities is underlined by the spareness of the space and the pre-eminence of nature, which is stunningly framed on all sides and echoed in the stone and wood detailing.
The spa is also an eco-friendly building completely reliant on a geothermal system and solar panels for its energy needs. For overnight guests, spa treatments are available on a la carte basis, with an hour-long Swedish massage costing $85 and facials starting at $55; a 70-minute hot-stone massage, a particular specialty, is $125. All treatments utilize natural and organic materials, and the theme is marine-based, with photosynthetic algae used to rejuvenate and invigorate the body.
With Poughkeepsie only 15 minutes away, Buttermilk Falls Inn & Spa is also targeting luxury-seeking day-trippers. It offers a half-day spa package for $250 that includes a healthy spa lunch, prepared by executive chef and general manager Jodi Cummings and assistant chef Jessica Frech, both graduates of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.
“I expect we”™ll draw people from Poughkeepsie and Fishkill ”” maybe five to six people at once who”™ll go the spa, have lunch together, and then walk around the grounds,” Cummings said.
In an interview on a sparkling September morning in the elegant, comfortably furnished living room of the main house, Cummings said owner Robert Pollock, who originally bought the 70-acre property as a weekend house, owns Great Jones Spa in downtown Manhattan, so the new facility was a natural outgrowth of his interests. The businessman also owns Acme, a Cajun-style restaurant across the street that has catering to downtown New Yorkers since the 1980s.
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Pollock opened the resort four years ago, after a major refurbishment of the property. Room rates, which include a full gourmet breakfast, a spa lunch, and afternoon tea, range from $225 to $450 a night, depending on the size of the room and whether it has a river view. The two-bedroom cottage is available at the rate of $650 a night. All rooms are traditionally outfitted and have a gas fireplace, bath and TV, and all but one ”” the spacious bridal suite, which has a cathedral ceiling and enormous canopied bed ”” have a private balcony or patio. Wireless Internet access is also available.
Cummings said 75 percent of guests are from New York City, which is an hour and a half drive away. Europeans and increasingly, tourists from Asia have also stayed at the inn. Some of them head for the Hudson Valley right after disembarking from their plane, bypassing New York City, she said.
Though ads are run in The New York Times and other print media, the vast majority of visitors discover the property through the Internet ”” coming upon the Web site after using the key words “B&Bs in the Hudson Valley,” through various B&B online directories or links with chambers of commerce Web sites. Buttermilk Falls Inn & Spa also belongs to the Meet Me in Marlborough group, which promotes local agriculture and businesses, and features jams and other products from neighboring farms. Cummings said the resort is considering working with attractions like the Bardavon, the historic theater in Poughkeepsie, in putting together packages.
Most visitors stay for the weekend while visiting wineries or historic and cultural attractions, with Storm King and the historic mansions across the river particularly popular. It offers a special midweek package, designed to attract empty nesters, which features dinner Wednesday night and two massages, in addition to the standard breakfasts and lunches, for $595 to $1,100 per couple. On weekends, most visitors head to New Paltz for dinner. Children are allowed in accommodations outside the main house.
“Our biggest challenge is that some people arrive without a car,” taking the train to Poughkeepsie, Cummings said. “They”™re used to taking taxis and don”™t realize the distances. They think they can just catch a cab to go to dinner in New Paltz,” which is about 20 miles away.
The resort has developed a niche with small corporate groups. Lufthansa, for example, held a two-day event at Buttermilk to welcome its new president. Tiffany and Self Magazine are two other corporate clients, though the group business isn”™t limited to businesses: Harvard College”™s Class of 1954, for example, took over the resort for four days for a reunion.
Buttermilk Falls also does a bustling business in weddings, as was evidenced by the big tent in the yard and the arrival of guests for a wedding party for the upcoming weekend. The cost for the entire property, including the cottage, is at least $30,000, which includes breakfasts and lunches and the rehearsal dinner. Buttermilk contracts with a catering company to take care of other details, such as the tent and the wedding itself. The resort does about 11 weddings a year. Demand is such that it could schedule more, but chooses not to because the property during such events is off limits to other prospective guests.)
Next on the planning board is installation of a working kitchen in one of the carriage houses, which will be used for cooking classes conducted by Cummings. She plans to focus on baking, with students enjoying the fruits of their labors after the class, of course.
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