Imaginary friends
The Six Bells Hotel, Amagansett listings, Yancey Richardson, Babylonstoren, Sky High Farm, The Drawing Center, best wine shops above 34th St., MORE
GETAWAYS • Upstate
Far, far away
In June, three years after opening her Cobble Hill homewares store of the same name, Audrey Gelman opened The Six Bells Countryside Inn in Rosendale, New York. At the inn, as at the store, quilts are an art piece, cottage-core is a lifestyle, and (almost) everything can be bought.
Rosendale is a tiny Catskills hamlet filled with the makings of a modest hippy town, you know the kind: a well-curated vintage clothing shop, a bookstore, a cafe/market that sells lentil patties and tempeh. The Six Bells offers an almost startling contrast. The lobby (which also functions as the hotel’s store) features a large mural on the ceiling depicting a map of an entirely different hamlet: the fictional place of Barrow’s Green. Whispers of this fake town inform the entire place. Individual rooms are named and decorated for the fictional characters who live there, and a map waiting on our bed called out area landmarks like a psychotherapist and a butcher, which all turned out to be fictional. It’s hard to differentiate the fixtures of Gelman’s imagination from what actually exists in the area, but I suppose that’s the point.
We stayed in Mildred’s Plum, a second-floor room inspired by the “award-winning plums” grown by a “resident” of Barrow’s Green. It’s cutesy to the max, and spacious for an inn. Mixing patterns can be a little dizzying, but charming if this is what you’ve come here for. On the patchwork quilt that dressed our bed was a leather-bound folder containing all the hotel information, a shopping catalog, and a set of stickers with tiny houses on them and below the line: “Take me home.” Practicality takes a back seat to commercial opportunity here. For example, what didn’t the welcome booklet include? The wifi code.
Throughout the hotel, the spaces really do look as good in person as they do on Instagram. Distinctly different in color and character theme, most rooms at The Six Bells have a seating area and writing desk not large enough to do laptop work on (but big enough to write a letter home by candlelight). There are also a couple of two-room suites for those traveling with kids, who are lovingly accommodated in the hotel with a playroom on the main floor.
The playroom and the shop (an adult playroom?) are really the only “amenities” at the hotel. But the surrounding area is filled with walking and hiking trails, plus the slightly larger town of Accord, which has gems like Accord Market, Arrowood Farms, and Skate Time Roller Rink.
The hotel’s restaurant, The Feathers Tavern, takes up most of the downstairs, and is open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday, and brunch Saturday and Sunday. Breakfast is included for overnight guests. The food is meaty, hearty, and delicious, similar to that of the British and Alpine countrysides from which the hotel draws inspiration. Dinner notably featured a showstopping bread basket, with sour cream biscuits, tiny butter shaped like corn on the cob, and a bundt cake.
At bedtime, we heard the music coming up from the downstairs tavern bar and the muffled voices of other guests returning to their rooms, which was one of the only signs we had of them during our 24-hour stay. Otherwise, the surroundings are eerily quiet. We drifted to sleep peacefully on an extremely comfortable mattress, stripped of any consciousness of the town around us. The Six Bells does precisely that: it takes you out of any familiar space and transports you into a “storybook” world. It’s one part genius, one part sad.
On our way out, I was tempted to buy a throw pillow, one with ruffled edges and daisy print. I resisted the urge, until upon check-out, I received an email asking if anything caught my eye, with a link to their webshop. Well played, Gelman. Well played. –Sylvie Florman
→ The Six Bells Countryside Inn (Rosendale, NY) • 435 Main St • wknd from $350/per night.
GETAWAYS LINKS: In Greenwich Village, hotelier Sean MacPherson buys Washington Square Park hotel, plans gentle updates • The Mercer Hotel holds up • JSX plans Florida flights from TEB (Teterboro) starting this fall • The new Hamptons hotspot is a Rivian charging station • Sietsema on where to eat well in the Catskills.
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three for-sale properties South of the Highway in Amagansett that came to market in the last 45 days.
→ 49 Gilberts Path (Amagansett, NY) • 4BR/4.1BA, 3100 SF • Ask: $6.7M • modernist 1968 residence with pool and hot tub in the dunes • Annual taxes: $12,915 • Days on market: 3 • Agents: Dawn and Diana Neway, Douglas Elliman.
→ 106 Meeting House Ln (Amagansett, NY) • 5BR/4.1BA, 3236 SF • Ask: $6.995M • cedar-shingle clad house with pool, close to town • Annual taxes: N/A • Days on market: 45 • Agent: Erin Keneally, Compass.
→ 32 Saint Marys Ln (Amagansett, NY, above) • 7BR/6.3BA, 9024 SF • Ask: $23M • recently built mansion with landscaped grounds and pool, near Indian Wells Beach • Annual taxes: $27,501 • Days on market: 15 • Agents: Ann Ciardullo and Keith Green, Sotheby’s.
REAL ESTATE LINKS: Penthouse at 140 Jane Street in West Village goes to contract for $87.5M, may set new downtown record • In West Village, a redo for Clarkson St • The inexorable rise of Gowanus • How exclusive, really, are the city’s most exclusive co-ops?
CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine
Art safari
YANCEY RICHARDSON • founder & principal • Yancey Richardson Gallery
Neighborhood you work & live in: Chelsea
It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
I’m organizing a large group show co-curated with the gallery’s artists to celebrate the gallery’s 30th anniversary. It’s appropriately named Celebrating 30 Years and features work by all of the artists who exhibited with the gallery since our first show in 1995 at our original space in Soho. We’ve invited each artist to select a piece by another artist on the roster. It’s been pretty fascinating to see which works were selected by whom, and to review the gallery’s history through the works of art.
Any restaurant plans?
I’m flying to Paris tonight so I’ll actually be dining in Delta’s Sky Lounge at JFK. Last Friday was my birthday so my husband, daughter and I tried out the new Café Zaffri, part of the private club Twenty Two off Union Square. The restaurant menu is elevated Lebanese (think Ottolenghi) and the room is romantic with beautiful lighting and furnishings. The food was delicious and the Lebanese red we tried was excellent.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Saturday morning, I was up at 6a to do my annual triathlon race at Alphawin Hudson Valley near Kingston with some of my teammates from Full Throttle Endurance Team out of Chelsea Piers. This race is one of my favorites with a beautiful lakeside setting, country roads and wooded trails for the run. It’s well-run but has a friendly, small town feel. After a shower and lunch, I drove up to Hudson to attend the opening of The Campus’s second annual exhibition featuring installations by over 100 top flight contemporary artists. Organized by a group of NYC galleries, the event has become a destination for the region and with the great art, music and local food vendors, made for a perfect afternoon.
Any weekend getaways?
My weekend getaways are always at 19th century farmhouse in the Hudson Valley. This time of year you can find me cycling the Empire State Rail Trail over the mile long Hudson River Pedestrian Bridge, swimming up at Lake Minnewaska or playing tennis at Mohonk Mountain House. We typically pick up local fruit and vegetables at one of the many local farms like Wallkill View Farms, buy fish from Gadaletos, and have dinner with friends at one house or another.
What was your last great vacation?
South Africa. The first week was devoted to time with my artist Zanele Muholi in Cape Town, after which we visited the winelands where we dined at the fantastic Babylonstoren. The setting, the gardens and the food at this historic abode are not to be believed. Week two was spent on safari at two private reserves adjoining Kruger National Park — Timbavati Reserve and Sabi Sands Game Reserve. Travel between the lodges was by a tiny prop plane, and the wildlife had to be shooed off the runway so we could land. It’s so humbling and awe-inspiring to be amongst these beautiful animals. And for anyone who needs a recharge, it is incredibly restorative to get up before dawn and out in the bush for hours with no cell phones. Yes, we can get by without being tethered to the grid!
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
Mickalene Thomas’s November 1977, 2023. Had to have it!
What product or service do you always recommend?
Another Tomorrow for the best pantsuits, and jewelry by Pamela Farland.
Where are you donating your money?
Planned Parenthood and Aperture.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Galleries
Exhibitions, nonprofit spaces
TREES NEVER END AND HOUSES NEVER END: Sky High Farm — which made a name for itself in recent years through creative brand collaborations, celebrity endorsements, and a mission of addressing food insecurity — has now staged its first biennial a few hours north of the city. Taking over two floors of a historic apple cold storage warehouse along the Hudson River, the ambitious presentation is as captivating in its design as it is in its choice of works and roster of heavy-hitting artist names. Founded by artist Dan Colen, Sky High Farm has held the art world’s attention since its first public-facing activities. With this new chapter of exhibiting, you really get the sense of the artist behind the artist-founded organization.
→ Sky High Farm Biennial (Germantown, NY) • 11 Main St • Fri-Sat, through fall 2025.
IN THE MEDIUM OF LIFE: THE DRAWINGS OF BEAUFORD DELANEY: Every so often, we are graced with an exhibition that brings long overdue attention toward an artist who existed just slightly on the fray of history. Beauford Delaney, whose current show at The Drawing Center is the first major exhibition of the artist’s work in 30 years, falls into that category. Delaney’s life and career took him from the segregated South of the early 20th century to Boston, New York City, and eventually Paris, working alongside his close and better known friends, the novelists James Baldwin and Henry Miller. The body of work presented here is a comprehensive look into five decades of work by an artist who revered experimentation and defied categorization for the entirety of his life. –Maria Vogel
→ The Drawing Center (Soho) • 35 Wooster St • Wed-Sun 12-6p, through 09/15.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Practice Makes Perfect
Jets v Giants • Preseason • MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford) • Sat @ 7p • sec 113, $308 per ($25 lowest avail)
Tony Hinchcliffe with Killers of Tony • MSG (Midtown South) • Fri @ 7p • sec B, $109 per
Dark Star Orchestra • The Rooftop at Pier 17 (Seaport) • Fri @ 6p • Silver Zone, $159 per
CULTURE & LEISURE LINKS: Herzog & de Meuron begin retooling former home to Whitney & Met Breuer for Sotheby’s HQ • Bob Ross market booms • Have cricket balls gone soft?
GETAWAYS • The Nines
Wine Shops, above 34th St
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of the best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@foundny.com.
Crush Wine & Spirits (Midtown East), long-standing East Side staple founded by native New Yorkers, known for extensive selection of limited-production and ageworthy wines