In the market for a new vacation spot now that Fort Tilden’s gone this summer? Well, you could spend July sunning yourself outside the new Coney Island Red Mango franchise. Or if you’re looking for a little pre-Vietnam War getaway (or new permanent home!), why not buy a nice little bungalow upstate? Apparently, a bungalow colony in the Catskills is selling vacation homes for a mere $12,000 or less, and they’re looking for new shareholders to join what looks suspiciously from the photographs like 1950s summer camp for grown-ups.
Lansmans, a 70-year-old bungalow colony in Woodbourne, NY, has a few units available for sale this summer, and for under 15,000 bucks you get tennis courts, a basketball court, a swimming pool, paddleball courts (???!!!!), a clubhouse and softball fields. And while you might not have the funds to cash in on a second home, this sounds like a nice move to make, considering how much you probably pay per month for a walk-up apartment to which you lost the keys to the fire escape. And they’re also selling single-bedroom units for $4,000, which is also a pretty good deal if you and your buddies don’t mind getting thisclose. Plus, they promise “high quality weekend evening entertainment from around the country,” which, as we all know, means DANCE COMPETITIONS with instructors who may or may not look like Patrick Swayze.
But of course, you don’t have to head all the way upstate to get a taste of the countryside—you could just, you know, move to Boerum Hill.
[h/t Upstater]
View Comments (3)
Buyer beware though--A lot of these colonies have fire hazard electricity and nasty, nasty plumbing/antiquated septic systems that basically backs up into the grass by the end of the summer each year. And then it has all fall/winter/spring to subside again so it doesn't seem like awful raw sewage in the yard in early summer...until the cycle happens again...
where do you think you were conceived?
hola! thanks for covering a subject so near and dear to our hearts. we're preparing our annual roundup of bungalow sales and rentals ourselves. laura d is incorrect--the functioning colonies like lansman's are all up to snuff. if you buy one in an abandoned colony, yep, you're in for some renovating. most are three-season resorts, so you only have summer for the grass to grow, and then, well, it won't. and, by the way: it's upstater, not upstarter!