Getting 12 people to agree on a weekend away is an exercise in logistics. Someone wants to hike; someone else would rather browse antique shops; a few people are already asking what’s for dinner. My ideal group getaway? One that leaves room for all of it, with a house you’re excited to return to in between excursions. On a recent October weekend, my friends and I—a total of six couples—found that combination at Schoonmaker Retreat, tucked in the quaint Hudson Valley hamlet of High Falls.
As a lifelong New Yorker, I’ve made plenty of trips to the Catskills and Hudson Valley, but High Falls, Rosendale, and Accord were towns I hadn’t yet gotten to know. Rosendale had been on my radar thanks to the introduction of Six Bells Countryside Inn, a delightfully whimsical, British-inspired hotel, and the surrounding area seemed ripe for a fall weekend of vintage shopping, cider tasting, and lots of leaf-peeping. We lucked into a real Goldilocks window, with timing just right for trees to stand ablaze with reds, yellows, and the last bits of green. The weather was crisp, but still sunny enough to sit outside for hours, from long orchard lunches to cozy s’more nights.
The Schoonmaker Retreat is in Ulster County, which straddles the towns of Rosendale and Marbletown. With two separate houses, a rushing creek running through the grounds, and a sauna and a cedar barrel hot tub beside the water, the sprawling estate gave our group a place to gather (or rather, frolic) between outings.
We arrived on a Friday, trickling in at different times before tackling the first order of business: choosing bedrooms. The property has two historic buildings—the main, more contemporary Schoonmaker House and the slightly smaller, rustic-chic, and creekside Coach House. The latter is the property’s original base, used as a fort used for Mr. Schoonmaker himself during the Revolutionary War.
With six couples, having two separate houses gave us space to spread out while keeping everyone close enough to gather for dinner, drinks, and games. It was an ideal size, too, with a bedroom for each couple, all filled with vintage finds, modern-rustic finishes, and loads of cottagecore design. There was no fussing over rooms—everyone agreed their bed was ultra-cozy. Since I’d found the house, my friends let me claim the primary bedroom in the main house. (How could I say no?) It had a vaulted, beamed ceiling; cloud-like king bed; and bathtub-and-rain-shower combination straight out of my dreams.
