Large, private property, nestled at the edge of our own forest, a natural pond in our expansive front yard, spectacular valley view. Our isolated location is perfect for social distancing. Our house is great for a family winter vacation, within a short drive of several ski resorts and other winter activities. Our wood stove and fireplace make the house cozy & warm. We welcome everyone: all races, nationalities, LGBTQ, families with children. If we left anyone else out, we welcome you too.
The space
Our house is completely renovated inside; all the carpets, walls and ceilings are new. We have beautiful furniture including antique Vietnamese and African pieces as well as some of the best American designed and made furniture. The whole house is decorated with African and Asian art that we have collected on our travels around the world for the last 46 years.
Close to historic Cazenovia & Chittenango, not far from Syracuse. Close to Chittenango Falls & Cazenovia Lake, a winery, a brewery, a distillery, a zoo, a buffalo ranch & many great restaurants. We welcome everyone: all races, nationalities, LGBTQ, families with children. If we left you out of this list we welcome you too. We speak Spanish, French & Portuguese.
All 3 bathrooms have toilets with washlets (what some call bidets and others call Japanese toilet seats): the seat of each has a washing function, controlled by remote control, next to the toilet. The temperature and other aspects of the spray are all controllable by each user. The seat is heated, if you want; this is controllable too.
We say that our house accommodates 14 people. It is important to note that when we have no guests we occupy the house ourselves; there are only 2 of us. For 2 it's a very large house. With 4 people it is still spacious. We consider that 6 people can stay in our house comfortably for a period of time shorter than indefinite. We ALLOW groups over 6, not because we believe our house is perfect for groups of such a size but because we have had groups as large as 13, including children, which have been happy all to be together in the same house, presuming it's only for a short time. Since we have 4 conventional beds: 3 double and 1 single that would argue that our house would "sleep" 7. We also have 3 sofa beds/sleeper sofas each of which "sleeps" 2. We have 2 sofas, other than the sofa beds. For a large close family our house is perfect for a short stay, but only if you understand in advance what the limitations of that are.
Parties:
It is policy that parties and events are NOT allowed.
Our property is very large: 30 acres (12 hectares). Our house is nestled at the edge of our own private forest and we have a vast green front yard with a small natural pond. There is a fantastic view from our house across the valley.
Although our pond is not a lake, we do live within a very short drive to several lakes. Cazenovia Lake is just 10 minutes from our house. Tuscarora Lake aka Erieville Reservoir is 15 minutes away by car. DeRuyter Lake is a little further away than that, as well as Eaton Brook Reservoir. It takes 30 minutes to get to Oneida Lake; Skaneateles Lake is less than an hour away.
Guest access
When you rent the entire house we welcome you to every part of our house and invite you to use everything including the kitchen and laundry room, the front deck and all the outside space which is very large. We want you to feel as welcome as possible all over our house.
We have a Keurig coffee maker for which we supply coffee capsules. We also provide a Sodastream soda maker for your use, including flavor drops, if this is your preference.
Other things to note
Here's a summary of the more exhaustive list, below:
Just upstream from Chittenango Falls State Park is the Chittenango Creek NY State Public Fishing Stream area. Those are practically in our back yard. Additionally we have other beautiful state parks close by: Green Lakes, Pratts Falls, Highland Forest. Right in Cazenovia, founded in 1793, is Lorenzo, also a state park and fascinating museum, the first major house built in the area in the early 19th Century. The museum focuses on the development of the region immediately after the Revolutionary War and the involvement of the Holland Land Company. The Cazenovia Public Library has a small museum featuring an authentic Egyptian mummy, among other things. New to the Library is a lending service of fishing & other recreational equipment for children.
There are 3 breweries in the area, 2 in Cazenovia & one in Manlius: the newly reopened Meiers Creek Brewing Company just outside of the village of Cazenovia on Route 13 South, & a short distance down Route 13 from there is Critz Farms, a winery/brewery and farm with facilities for children to play as well as tours of the brewery. The Seneca Street Brewery in a remodeled church is in Manlius, 9 miles from Cazenovia, on Route 92. Owera is a winery at the north end of Cazenovia Lake; they also have a very nice, but small, restaurant. The Madison County Distillery makes its own vodka and gin and may, by the time you read this, produce other adult beverages. They also have a small restaurant. There is a kayak rental company, Morse Kayak Rentals; their kayaks can be used on all the many lakes in the immediate vicinity. There are hiking trails all around Cazenovia, including in and around the Stone Quarry Art Park, one of the largest such parks in the US. More information about all there is to do in the Cazenovia can be found online.
There are golf courses and ski resorts. There are plenty of restaurants including some of the best that can be found anywhere, i.e., The Brewster Inn and The Lincklaen House, among many others. In Syracuse is Syracuse University and Lemoyne College.
Here's my more comprehensive list of activities. Please see photos corresponding to this list in the photo section of this listing.
Of course, Cazenovia is on the southern end of Cazenovia Lake, the most obvious focus for all your waterfront activities. There are several places on this lake where you can enjoy it:
There are two small parks on the southern end of the lake: one is just a parking area where you can launch a kayak and there are tables for a picnic. The other is called Gypsy Bay where you can swim and launch kayaks too. Both are on the other side of the street from Lorenzo, an historical house and museum. Lorenzo is the best place in the area to get a great overview of the history of the immediate area.
In the village of Cazenovia is Lakeland Park where you can swim and just enjoy the sun; it’s a large grassy area to play frisbee, etc.
In Cazenovia there are candy and chocolate shops as well as at least 3 pizza restaurants: Caz Pizza, Owagena Pizza and Due Passi. We especially like Owagena because they have $1 slices before 3 PM on weekdays.
The center of the village is pretty small but there are some nice shops and restaurants to visit as well, including 20 East, where you can get a range of food and Cazenovia themed items. Among the items we like best at 20 East is the fresh bread from Pastabilities, a Syracuse restaurant, fresh every Tuesday and Friday.
There is a small park along a stream behind the library in Cazenovia. The library itself has a small museum featuring a real Egyptian mummy that an earlier Caz resident brought back from Egypt.
Just on the way out of the village going north, on the east side of the lake, is Lakeside Park, primarily for boat launch, picnics and they have baseball diamonds.
Further north along that same east side of the lake is McNitt State Park, another place to launch a boat and I think you can swim there too.
Driving south out of Cazenovia on Route 13 you’ll find Critz Farms. This farm has pick your own blueberries, a playground for kids, cider (I don’t know all they have but I drive by it regularly)
There are several really nice hiking trails all around Caz:
The closest trail to our house, practically in our back yard, is the Gorge Trail, the trailhead for which is at the end of Bingley Road, just before it hits Route 13. Actually the trail crosses Bingley Road there; you can go either way on it. There’s another access point to what I think is the same trail going down Cary Hill Road, just up the street from our house.
Right in the village there is the Carpenter's Pond Trail.
Not far from that trailhead, on Chenango Street, leaving the village, is another called the Link Trail that goes to the Art Park, another beautiful destination, filled with art in nature.
Just south of the village of Cazenovia is another trailhead, the South Trail, on Ballina Road, that goes to New Woodstock, a small village south of Cazenovia.
Very close to that trailhead, on Burlingame Road, are the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation Burlingame Gateway Trails.
Not too far away from that, on Stone Quarry Road, across from the Cazenovia Transfer Station, is the Nelson Swamp Unique Area, another trailhead.
Right outside of Cazenovia, close to these trailheads is a farm that sells raw milk. We love their milk. They have a self-serve milk sales area with a small farm museum. It’s Ju-Vindale Holsteins, on Ballina Road.
Very close to our house is the Chittenango Creek, that ends up going over Chittenango Falls, the centerpiece of Chittenango Falls State Park, practically in our back yard. You can fish in the creek as well as wade or just play in it. There is a parking area along the creek on Route 13, very close to our house. You can picnic in the park and walk down to the base of the falls and all around the park.
Also very close to our house is the Empire Buffalo farm where you can see a small herd of American bison and buy buffalo meat. There is also a goat farm very near our house where you can see goats and buy goat cheese. There are several farms in the area where you can buy beef, pork and lamb. If this interests you I can give you more specific information.
