Bedrooms: 3 | Bathrooms: 3
Interior: 3,552 ft² (330 m²)
Land: 155.44 acres (62.9 hectares)
Features: Converted 18th-century artist’s studio, flower gardens, orchard, cedar hot tub, creek frontage and adjoining protected wilderness.
In 2015, New York photographer Anne Hall discovered a stone farmhouse dating to 1783 in the Catskill Mountains. Together with her partner, artist Kate Steciw, she spent the following years restoring the historic house and transforming part of its 155-acre landscape into a working flower farm. The property, which includes an 18th-century barn converted into an artist’s studio, is now for sale.
Located in Lexington, New York, the estate is listed for $2.8 million with Annabel Taylor Homes. The 3-bedroom residence encompasses 3,552 ft² (330 m²), surrounded by meadows, woodland and more than a quarter-mile of frontage along Schoharie Creek. Beyond the property's boundaries lie thousands of acres of protected New York State land.
The original farmhouse was built in 1783 by French Huguenot settlers, reportedly members of the Crespell family, whose name Hall would later adopt for her flower farm. Constructed from local bluestone and timber, the house retains much of its early character, including thick stone and plaster walls, wide-plank wooden floors, hand-hewn ceiling beams and two substantial original fireplaces.
Hall, who had previously lived and taught photography in New York City, approached the restoration with a particular interest in traditional craftsmanship. Working alongside Steciw, she preserved the original rooms wherever possible, repairing historic plasterwork and restoring the building's structural elements. The pair even attended workshops in traditional early American building techniques to learn how to work with the original materials.
Completed in 2016, the extensive renovation also introduced contemporary infrastructure, including updated plumbing and electrical systems, radiant floor heating, modernized heating and cooling systems, and a new standing-seam metal roof. The interiors incorporate details drawn from Hall's travels, including Moroccan tiles, handcrafted ceramics and a kitchen with cobalt-blue cabinetry and marble countertops.
One of the property's most distinctive architectural features is the adjoining artist's studio. Originally an 18th-century timber-framed barn, the structure was relocated to the property by previous owners in the 1970s and connected to the stone farmhouse. Hall and Steciw subsequently refurbished the building, creating a shared creative workspace beneath its soaring timber ceilings.
The studio retains monumental wooden beams and expansive windows that bring natural light into the interior. A mezzanine provides additional sleeping accommodation and an exercise area, while a woodstove and heat pumps allow the space to be used throughout the year.
The surrounding land became another creative project. Inspired by her interest in colour, horticulture and the gardens of Claude Monet at Giverny, Hall established Crespell, a specialty cut-flower farm supplying florists, designers and customers throughout the Hudson Valley.
By 2022, the operation cultivated approximately 3 acres of flowers, including an acre of peonies and two acres of annual varieties. Its seasonal harvests ranged from specialty tulips, ranunculus and anemones to dahlias, delphiniums and unusual varieties of sunflowers.
Thousands of peonies remain on the property today, alongside mature magnolias, specimen trees and a fruit and nut orchard. Old farm tracks and walking trails extend through the fields and woodland towards the mountainside, while a cedar hot tub provides an outdoor retreat beside the house.
The estate also includes a small solar array, a whole-house backup generator and access to Schoharie Creek, where the property's frontage extends for more than a quarter-mile (400 metres). A conservation easement protects portions of the landscape while allowing for certain future development under its provisions.
All photographs belong to the listing agency. See more on Annabel Taylor.
