Find It!
in the Warwick Valley!
in the Warwick Valley!
The original stone house was built in 1773 by John Hathorn and his wife Elizabeth Welling Hathorn. Their initials are set in brick in the roof gable wall. He was Colonel of the 4th Orange County Militia during the Revolutionary War, and a Founding Father of New York State and the Nation. He served on the first NY Legislature and the 1st and 4th Congresses of the United States.
In 1834 the farm was purchased by Ezra Sanford, Jr., a veteran of the War of 1812. His son Pierson Ezra Sanford created an innovative and successful dairy business here. The Sanfords enlarged the house.
In 1926 Wilfred L. Raynor, Sr. purchased and continued farming. The Raynors placed the property on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. They owned for 85 years.
Domar Homestead LLC bought the property in 2009, reselling to the Raynors in 2013.
By 2016, the house was deteriorating and endangered. In that year Arek Kwapinski and Sylwia Kubasiak rescued this historic landmark. Over the next five years at great cost and hard work fixed and updated it to become the Old Stone House Restaurant in 2021.
Warwick and Vernon Valleys – at a Glance . . .
Warwick NY & Vernon NJ
Warwick NY (pop. 32,027 Township of Warwick, according to the 2020 US Census) is the second largest township in New York State and has a total area of 104.9 square miles, of which, 101.7 square miles is land and 3.2 square miles (3.04%) is water. It includes three unique villages (Florida, Greenwood Lake, and Warwick) and eight hamlets (including Amity, Bellvale, Edenville, Greenwood Forest Farms, Little York, New Milford, Pine Island, and Sterling Forest). Greenwood Lake nine miles long and the largest lake in Orange County, NY, straddles the New York/New Jersey border. Glenmere Lake, an extremely critical habitat for endangered species forms the border between the Town of Chester and Village of Florida.
The Appalachian Trail runs from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, a distance of about 2,160 miles. In the New York-New Jersey region, however, it courses through Vernon and Warwick NY where it includes some of the most famous sections, like the “Stairway to Heaven,” the “Boardwalk,” and the magnificent view of the valley from Bellvale Creamery, atop Mt. Peter. Both Warwick and Vernon have been recognized as official Appalachian Trail Communities, which recognizes communities that promote and protect the Appalachian Trail (A.T.), and those along the A.T.’s corridor are considered assets by all that use the A.T. and many of these towns act as good friends and neighbors to the Trail.
Warwick NY & Vernon NJ
“The beautiful Warwick Valley,” according to NJ Skylands, “is a destination renowned for its Victorian charm, sense of community, sophisticated culture, and distinctly rural character. Just 55 miles from New York City, Warwick NY and its New Jersey neighbor Vernon Township, once a tiny village tucked in a crease at the base of a ripple of mountains, has, for decades, defined itself as a four-season resort destination.”
Pine Island and Florida’s fertile Black Dirt region produce about five percent of the nation’s onion crop as well as organic vegetables, sod, and flower crops. Residents and visitors alike enjoy fresh local produce in full bloom from May through November at The Warwick Valley Farmers’ Market, the Florida’s Farmers Market, and the Lakeside Farmers Market in Greenwood Lake. Warwick’s natural beauty extends beyond its farmland to mountains, streams, and lakes throughout the Hudson Valley. Warwick’s agricultural richness and talented, local nursery owners and gardeners collaborated to compete (and win) in the America in Bloom Community competition, and later, became a Communities in Bloom International winner!
There are exciting events, fairs and festivals in Warwick (the Hudson Valley Jazz Festival in summer, Pine Island’s Black Dirt Feast in August, Applefest and Oktoberfest in the fall, and Holiday Festival in Greenwood Lake in February), all attract tens of thousands of visitors annually to the Warwick Valley, as do its splendid horse trails, orchards, wineries, and distilleries.