That funny photo that just shows a tall wooden fence and gate... Here is a story from 2004:
Estate's buildings on block
By Deborah Medenbach
Times Herald-Record
dmedenbach@th-record.comNapanoch – It's one of the top 10 most expensive parcels on the Sotheby's International Realty associates site.
The listing features a classic mansion with rolling lawns trailing down to a stocked lake. The exclusive 632-acre estate known as Lyons Lodge is priced at $5.9 million and is surrounded by a wilderness preserve. A second listing further down the price scale shows the $1.5 million Moore House estate, comprising another 62 acres with stone manse, numerous barns, kennels and outbuildings.
Neither listing uses the buzzword that would draw the attention of the locals.
After four years in private ownership, the Lundy Estate buildings are back on the block.
The 5,405-acre parcel was purchased in 2000 by the Open Space Institute to protect more than six miles of the Vernooy Kill and preserve the accompanying wilderness from development. The majority of the land was later sold to the state for $5 million to be folded into Catskill Park.
The buildings and surrounding acreage were sold to Douglas Eger and his wife, Cristina Khuly, who had great dreams for the property when they first moved in.
The couple spent the first two years assessing renovation needs at the Moore House buildings and working diligently on restorations at Lyons Lodge.
After two more years, Lyons Lodge is complete and Moore House and its accompanying buildings have been stabilized.
The couple are now ready to move on to other preservation projects.
"We're in a time period where there will be more development pressure in the area. If there's more special property up here that we can work with, we'd love to do it again and again," Douglas Eger said.
"No matter what, you're not going to see 600 split-level ranches up on the mountain. OSI puts conservation restrictions on any property we sell," said Tally Blumberg of the Open Space Institute.
OSI counsel Bob Anderberg explained. "There are serious conservation easements on both properties. Basically, people coming along 100 years from now will see it pretty much as it is now," Anderberg said. "It's a real success story. The DEC pays full taxes on the land transferred to it, and the private owners pay taxes on their land and buildings, too. The land is protected. Everyone wins."
History of the Lundy Estate
1911 – Dr. William Woodend buys 1,500 acres along the Vernooy Kill from the Terwilliger brothers and begins construction of a stone manse, airstrip, kennels, stables and other outbuildings that comprise the core of the estate.
1917 – Woodend sells the property to Edith Crawford Moore, who renames it Tunessa Lodge and lives there until 1929.
1929 – Brooklyn restaurateur F.W. Lundy purchases Moore's property and begins acquiring other contiguous parcels, eventually increasing his holdings to 5,405 acres.
1964 – Lundy purchases Lyons Lodge, an elegant estate with lake frontage that borderes his property.
1977 – Lundy dies in September. The estate is threatened with conflicting claims until his sole heir is located, 50s pop singer Teresa Brewer. The land goes to one of Lundy's employees and eventually is lost in a bankruptcy sale.
1980s – Parc Europe is proposed by French investors for the Lundy Estate. The theme park would recreate 17th and 18th century European villages. The project faces opposition and is eventually dropped.
2000 – The 5,405-acre estate is purchased by the Open Space Institute. OSI is interested in preservation of the land, but not management of the substantial buildings and barns. The buildings and acreage surrounding the Lyons Lodge and Moore House complexes are sold with conservation easements to Douglas Eger and Cristina Khuly for an undisclosed sum. The remainder is transferred to the state for $5 million, to be added to Catskill Park.
Dec. 16, 2004 – Both the Lyons Lodge, with the original 400 acres and 232 additional protected acres, and Moore House estates, with its 62 acres, appear on a Sotheby's International Realty associates Web site. (TH-Record 12/17/04)
