What constitutes a Woodstock landmark? There are churches scattered across town, some consecrated, many not. Former schools and stores. The old Oddfellows Hall. The Bearsville Center. A few barns that have survived over the years, along with several meadows and fields, open vistas and waterways. The folks at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services are describing their new listing at 491 Glenford-Wittenberg Road, across from Yankeetown Pond, as “a 1930s Woodstock ‘landmark’ on the market now “for the first time since its creation.” It’s the Wittenberg Sportsmen’s Club property, complete with clubhouse, water frontage, mountain views, and even a pair of half baths labeled “Bucks & Does.”
“Re-live the past when you visit this unique Woodstock property…and/or re-imagine the future,” reads the realtors’ c’mon blurb. “The old charm of the era comes into focus as you enter a 30’ x 40’ Great Room with hardwood floors and high ceilings. A classic clubhouse kitchen is expansive and accommodating. Parking provides for 25+ cars on the pond side and at least 15 on the clubhouse side. The 2,100-sq.-ft. clubhouse could possibly be reconfigured into a single family home or other creative applications with permitted uses. Or the property could continue to be enjoyed as it is and use the clubhouse for group activities.” The asking price is $475,000.
According to Sportsmen’s Club officials, their 82-plus year-old home’s sale is based on an even older dream that the club’s founders had when they first organized in 1930. Turns out they had another property up the hill a bit on Montoma Lane, off Yerry Hill Road, near where the Little Beaver Kill that feeds Yankeetown Pond (and below that, the man-made ponds at Kenneth Wilson State Park) originate. “We were going through our archives and saw this dream of our founding fathers and decided that if we could give them what they wanted, we would,” said Bob Bloomer, one of the club’s officials. “We’ve had it for years, even back before Montoma Lane even existed; when it was then called Jupiter Hollow.”
According to a recent series of stories about long-existing controversies surrounding Yankeetown Pond (in what used to be known as South Woodstock), writer Tad Wise quoted a Historical Society of Woodstock author from the 1950s who noted an “impressive budget” grown from “square dancing on Saturday nights, the sale of soft drinks and sandwiches, a .25 cents admission and local talent playing for nothing.” That author, Ruth Oxhandler pointed out that, “In 1937, about 20 men, giving all their spare hours built a 30 by 40 clubhouse facing Yankeetown Pond.” Wise added that “after gradual purchase of additional lands…a robust hunting, trapping, and fishing culture rooted itself around YTP which all but held the modern world at bay.”
The listing reads, “The property consists of two parcels. One parcel has frontage on Yankeetown Pond with mountain and water views. The other, a wooded parcel, supports the clubhouse and ascends to a level plateau halfway up that may qualify as a lovely building site with potential views.” The site is zoned residential, meaning it can’t be reopened as a tavern or restaurant, according to town use regulations.
Have there been bites on the property? The listing agent, Marilyn Heir replied in the affirmative. “There’s been Interest in a 4H club for ‘kids of all ages,’ a social club for active, creative seniors and a live/work property that could provide indoor/outdoor space for performance, exercise or an art collective/workshop/gallery. A soon-to-be retiree liked the idea of kayaking across the road from his home.”
Although the new clubhouse on Montoma Lane has yet to be built, the new Wittenberg Sportsmens’ Club’s premises at 87 Montoma Lane, off Yerry Hill Road has been hosting events for years even before the creation of the pavilion built in 2004. They will be hosting a Youth Ice Fishing Derby, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, February 22. See the Wittenberg Sportsmen’s Club Facebook Page for more information.
For further information on The Wittenberg Sportsmen’s Club at 491 Glenford-Wittenberg Road, contact Marilyn Heir at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, 845-399-0162 or by emailing mheir@bhhshudsonvalley.com.
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