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Inn crowd: The Pine Hill Farm Inn.
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BY
SUSAN DOMINUS
Although it's technically
part of the poconos, Milford, Pennsylvania,
draws a crowd that's much more Yaddo than
Mount Airy Lodge. "It attracts a lot of
artists and writers," says Jerry Beaver,
a New York City casting director who has
owned property here for nearly two decades.
"It's so rustic and pristine -- it's probably
easier for them to be creative someplace
where you can find great peace of mind."
The downtown area -- officially a historic
district -- is lined with landmarked Victorian
homes on almost every street. But many of
the homes in the surrounding area are set
back in the woods, with plenty of wildlife
for company: bears, foxes, or trout in a
stream nearby. "In the Hamptons, you spend
all this money, and then you end up feeling
like you're missing something," says Barbara
De Vries, the original designer for CK.
"In Milford, there's nothing to miss. And
I like it that way."
Familiar Faces: At the turn of the
last century, Milford was briefly a proto-Hollywood
celebrity magnet while D. W. Griffith was
shooting films nearby (bringing Lillian
Gish, Mary Pickford, and Pearl White with
him). Now Milford draws literary types like
Frank McCourt, John Berendt, Eric Bogosian,
and Spartina author John Casey (who likes
to write in a tent he's pitched in the woods
near his home). Todd Oldham has also discovered
Milford, and built a live-in tree house
60 feet off the ground on his ranch. "It's
still the kind of place where no one at
the Milford Diner is even going to know
who Todd Oldham is," says Sean Strub, a
second-home owner in Milford (and founder
of the magazine Poz).
Talk of the Town: "There really
isn't much of a scene," says Deborah DuCharme,
a magazine executive who's been making regular
visits to Milford for fifteen years. "If
you want to know where all the people in
black run into each other, it's at the garden-supply
store." And when they do, it's probably
conservation, not the cable industry, that
they're discussing. Milford's well-organized
advocates have so far managed to successfully
oppose Home Depot and other signs of suburban
sprawl. "The hottest topic last year was
whether to put in Victorian- or Colonial-style
lamps on the main street in town," says
DuCharme. "Colonial won, but there was grumbling
that someone had fixed the votes."
Things To Do: You can hike to the
Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River
and Delaware State Forest, where there's
a nature center and more fishing and hiking
and biking trails than anyone on vacation
should have energy for. On rainy days, there's
always antiquing on Hartford Street or a
visit to the Peters Valley Craft Education
Center on the Jersey side of the river,
where local artisans give courses in photography,
weaving, and ceramics.
What's New: As much as Milford's
New Yorkers say they want to escape, they'll
no doubt welcome the new Brasseria, co-owned
by Scott Morgan, former wine manager of
the Royalton. To complement the formidable
antiques scene in the area, Donna Hamilton,
set decorator for Zoolander (among other
movies), and her husband, Yilmaz Guver,
recently opened Indigo Arts, a store with
all the opulence of ABC Carpet & Home. The
new Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing
Arts is scheduled to open in full glory
in 2003, with the Pittsburgh orchestra committed
to perform. Grey Towers, a restored ch�teau
with landscaped gardens, is launching a
chamber-music series; violinist Anastasia
Khitruk performs in July.
Property Values: Within the town
confines, "we still have MasterCard houses,"
says Strub, citing a twenties three-bedroom
home on postage-stamp-size property that
recently sold for $65,000. On the other
hand, a southern-plantation-style 10,000-square-footer
is currently priced at $995,000. More typically,
the small Victorians in town go for around
$200,000, with houses outside town (on three
or four or more acres) running about the
same. The housing stock ranges from classic
Adirondack-style lodges to airier, modern
structures with an emphasis on glass and
open views. Rentals range from $1,200 a
week in town to $3,000 a week for properties
on Twin Lakes, five miles down the road.
Recommended Realtors: Davis R. Chant
Realtors (800-372-4268) or re/max (570-296-9290;
ask for Vicki LaSpina).
Weekend Visits: Right in town, there's
Muir House Inn and Restaurant (570-296-6373
or muirhouse.com;
doubles start at $85), a former barn turned
boarding house that's been renovated. The
in-house Italian restaurant is fairly upscale,
but also will let you catch your own trout
in the backyard brook. A bit farther out
of town, the Pine Hill Farm bed and breakfast
(570-296-5261 or pinehillfarm.com;
rooms start at $140) has breathtaking views
and sink-into-sleep king-size beds
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