The Upstater: Mid-Mod

Fridays at 11, the Upstater blog brings you a selection of houses for sale or rent within three hours north (and a bit east or west) of NYC. This week: mid-century modern.

Yes, this season of Mad Men is over, but you can keep dreaming of Don Draper in these mid-century maisons.

The listing hints of some neglect at this rather show-stopping spot in Highland. It has Hudson River views, 2.3 acres, a pool, a full basement and a two-car garage. Three bedrooms, two baths, 2,508 square feet: on paper, it all sounds like the perfect country house. The trick is figuring out just what needs to be done and how much that’ll cost.

However, the location can hardly be beat: just across the river from Poughkeepsie, so it’s commutable, right near the water, close to culture in New Paltz and the nearby Gunks and such — it’s dreamy, as long as the roof isn’t going to cave in.

50 Belleview Road, Highland. $369,900. GMAP.

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When we wrote up this Middletown split-level back in March, it was $289,000. Now it’s $269,900, after more than six months on the market. Three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, over 1,800 square feet, but not the world’s best taxes, at more than $8,000 a year.

It sits on .43 acres, and is walking distance to a park, and biking distance to downtown Middletown and Orange County Community College. Now, downtown Middletown has seen better times, but it’s also seen worse times, and if you’ve been there you know that, structurally, it’s got what you need for a walkable urban center. But it needs more jobs, and more businesses, and more folks like you buying up mid-century properties to bolster the town.

8 Randall Heights, Middletown. $269,900. GMAP.

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From the department of almost cool, comes this octagonal pad in Ellenville. It has three bedrooms, two baths and 2,108 square feet, built in 1965 on .61 acres. Taxes are eh: about $6,300 a year.

Its most wow feature is the octagonal living room with the floor-to-ceiling marble fireplace. Beyond that, we’re fond of the stone patio and the chute in the laundry room. But we’re nominating this one for an interior facelift, too — perhaps just a lightening up of those kitchen cabinets to start.

61 Westwood Avenue, Ellenville. $220,000. GMAP