This Piece was written for the Chronogram Magazine and has been edited.

It can be accessed via The Web at http://www.chronogram.com/issue/2010/2/Community+Pages/Millbrook

Millbrook
A Charming Tradition
by Jesse Ordansky, January 27, 2010

Known for its acres of farmland, impressive estates and nostalgic, community-oriented citizens, the quaint village of Millbrook is situated almost directly in the center of Dutchess County’s town of Washington.

On any given day the sidewalks of Franklin Avenue are bustling with locals perusing their favorite rustic boutiques while tourists and weekenders enjoy awe-inspiring scenery and perhaps a change of pace.

In a 2003 New York Times article about the village, Ellen Maguire reported on the influx of weekend residents to Millbrook. She primarily credited the pairing of Manhattan “urbanites yearning for touches of small-town life” and the beauty of Millbrook’s “vast estates and hundred-acre horse farms.”

According to town and village historian David Greenwood, weekenders are hardly a recent trend—they are actually a part of Millbrook heritage. “There are a number of estates that have been in the same family or a relative of the original builders since their inception,” says Greenwood. “Having people with multiple homes is really part of the tradition here. As far as the latest arrivals—the community has a real sense of self, which is shared generously by the people who live here full time and supported by the weekenders.”
Many of these weekenders include celebrities whose second homes fall within the 1.9 square-mile village. Actor Liam Neeson, news personality Katie Couric, and singer Faith Hill are just a few. Countercultural icon Timothy Leary also staged his acid tests on an estate in Millbrook in the 1960s.

Plenty of full-time residents also call Millbrook home—families are raised, homes are made, and traditions are carried on with a backdrop left virtually untouched since the 1800s. Local traditions generally focus on an agrarian lifestyle incorporating small town ideals, farming, and equestrian culture.

Horse farms, riding clubs, and competitions have been prominent in Millbrook since the village’s inception in the late 1800s and remain popular today. For over 100 years the Millbrook Hunt has taken place annually during the autumn. A tradition founded in Britain, the event sees men and women on horseback accompanied by hounds setting out to hunt foxes across the hills and through the woods of some of Millbrook’s largest estates. “As we travel the countryside and see the hunt in progress we see a rare image; it captures a time and place that exists in very few locations in this day and age,” says Greenwood. “The landscape and the ‘pinks’—the riders on the horses—over the countryside is just a timeless image.”

While traveling east on Route 44 from Poughkeepsie, strip malls and franchise businesses slowly fade into rolling hills dotted with farmhouses and trees. February in Millbrook is an especially scenic time—green and yellow-tipped grass peaks through melting snow while white picket fences juxtaposed with log cattle fences. Snow and grass alternate in parallel rows on much of Millbrook’s farmland, indicating previous planting patterns. Modest homes and grand estates alike feature stonework dating back to the late 1800s—most of which was built by Italian immigrants.

According to Greenwood, much of the uninhabited land is on family estates and will remain undeveloped. “Most communities have been obliterated because of commercial growth,” he says. “Our hamlet still has the charm that it did 100 years ago.”
Millbrook proper

Settled by Quakers in 1869, the village of Millbrook grew around a newly constructed railroad running parallel to today’s Front Street. According to Greenwood, “as Millbrook grew as a commercial center it eventually absorbed the earlier neighboring hamlets of Harts Village, Washington Four Corners, and Mechanic,” which are still currently parts of “Millbrook proper.”

Early families farmed crops and cattle, due to superlative soil fertility and acres of available land. These practices were ultimately lucrative for settlers—families began calling Millbrook home and cultivating fortunes atop the newly broken ground. These wealthy families did not use the land exclusively for personal financial gains—many early families were very active in community service and philanthropy.

Thorne Memorial School on Franklin Avenue was donated in 1895 by resident Samuel Thorne as an attempt to cultivate an educationally rounded community as well as a legally incorporated village—it is still in use today. According to Greenwood, Thorne “necessitated legal incorporation in order [for the village] to receive the gift; hence, the incorporated Village of Millbrook dates from 1895, despite its earlier origins.”
The Millbrook Free Library was also a gift. It was given to the village in 1908 by the widow of Capt. Richard Hayes in his memory.

According to village Mayor Andrew Ciferri, philanthropy and volunteerism have grown and developed into a Millbrook tradition since the efforts of early community activists like Thorne and Hayes. Ciferri notes the significance of small donations by a multitude of households as opposed to few large donations by a handful of families. “It’s real families that go back generations and generations who help offset the cost of maintaining a village,” he says. “Taxes are high, but how much higher would they be if you didn’t have these families?”

Ciferri also mentioned that the nation’s struggling economy has only effected philanthropic donations marginally. “If [the average home-owner] was giving $25 two or three years ago, maybe they’re giving $15 this year” he said. “It’s a tradition and hopefully it will continue that way.”

Another tradition carried through generations of Millbrook residents is quality education. The Thorne building was both a school and an educational venue welcoming all community members. Lectures, performances, and community gatherings were held in the enormous auditorium for the primary purpose of educating young, old, rich, and poor alike. Today, a newly built public high school shares a campus with the middle school on Church Street overlooking the public elementary school—all of which are modeled with late 1800s architecture in mind. Millbrook is also home to Dutchess Day School, an independent, coeducational day school for preschool through 8th grade students.
A few miles outside of the village of Millbrook, stands the 600-acre campus of the Millbrook School, a top-tier private preparatory secondary school. Founded by Edward Pulling in 1931, the Millbrook School currently features renowned sports, arts, science, and volunteer programs. The original school complex still stands in its beautiful early 1900s dress, and additions, like the public school’s, were modeled with period-style architecture in mind. Amenities include dormitories; athletic facilities including an ice rink, a basketball court, and a weight room; and a newly constructed science building that is partially powered by solar energy. The campus is also home to the Trevor Zoo, the only zoo in the country located at a high school.

Another aspect of the local learning environment is the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies, founded in 1983 by ecologist Dr. Gene E. Likens. The Institute, situated on 2,000 acres just outside the village, is a world-renowned leader in applying the ecosystem approach to some of society’s most pressing problems, and conducts scientific research that is employed by environmental policymakers at the top most levels in the US and internationally.

Find a need and fill it

Akin to the village’s dedication to education, Millbrook also holds independently owned businesses in high regard. Franklin Avenue is lined with specialty boutiques, colorful shops, and even more colorful shopkeepers.
Eighty-two-year-old John E. Kading has lived in Millbrook for the past 78 years. He purchased the Corner News Store when he was 18 and sold it when he retired 10 years ago. His business advice rings true for many business owners in Millbrook: “Find a need and fill it,” he says. “I tell everybody that, and I hope for God’s sake they put it on my tombstone.”

Carl Giovannini, owner of Village Wine & Spirit on Front Street believes he has done just what Kading suggested. “We have regular customers who look for value wines and customers who are looking for collectors wine, maybe from certain vineyards,” he says. “We have a wide array of things on hand in order to make everyone happy.”

Owning a shop or boutique can be difficult given today’s economic climate. However, Millbrook’s businesses are almost exclusively independently owned, making it a refuge of small-town entrepreneurial vigor.

Lifelong resident Scott Meyer founded Merritt Bookstore on Front Street 25 years ago, and its inventory has featured bestsellers, classics, children’s books and toys, and some personal selections by Meyer ever since. The store also hosts regular events for community members, such as booksignings and the annual Millbrook Book Festival, which features author meet-and-greets, lectures, tours, and food. Much like Giovannini, Meyer appreciates his customers’ diversity and tries to cater to needs as they arise. “We always try to go for whatever the needs of the community are,” he says. “We tailor our inventory to what our customers want and need and also throw in some things I like.”
Meyer and Giovannini are both advocates for the success of fellow small business owners as well as the village itself. “We try to promote the community as a whole. We know peoples’ products and we can send people to other stores,” says Meyer.

“We’re trying to get people to shop local and think about shopping local first, then going elsewhere if they need anything else,” Giovannini adds. “We’re just trying to keep the town vibrant.”

An important aspect of the vibrancy Giovannini cites are the local restaurants, specialty food shops, and wineries. Described by the New York Times as “the Hudson Valley’s flagship winery,” Millbrook Vineyards has been producing some of the region’s finest tipple on 184 acres since 1984, and is open daily for tours and tastings. The area is rich with a wide variety of cuisine from the French bistro fare of Café Les Baux and the Italian/Mediterranean bent of Aurelia, both located in the heart of the village, to fine dining at Charlotte’s Restaurant and upscale Mexican at La Puerta Azul on the outskirts of town. Babette’s Kitchen is a gourmet market right on Franklin Avenue serving breakfast, lunch, and dinners to go, and a wide selection of gourmet retail items.

Everybody knows everybody
Considering ideals like supporting local businesses, quality education, and philanthropy, the people of Millbrook are very community-oriented. Greenwood chuckled while casually driving through roads marked “Private.” “It’s the nature of a small community,” he says. “Everyone knows each other.”

Twenty-year-old Emily Atkin has lived in Millbrook for the past 15 years. She agrees with Greenwood’s opinion, but to an even greater extent. “It’s not even that you know everyone’s name—you know everyone’s dog’s name,” she says. “My dog is the dog that runs away the most. We don’t even have to call him to come home—if someone sees my dog running around town they know where to bring him: ‘Oh, there’s Archie, better put him on the Atkins’ front porch.’”

She values growing up in Millbrook and believes that its tranquility and quaintness make it a great place to raise a family. Mayor Ciferri, a third-generation Millbrook resident, agrees “100 percent.” He raised his son and daughter in Millbrook and they are now raising their children in the village.

Although Giovannini is not currently a resident of Millbrook, he looks forward to moving to the village with his wife and two children. “[Millbrook] has a sense of community, as far as people helping each other out,” he says. “The people who live and work in town are very good and have a good work ethic, and it’s good to see that and show the kids that. Mainly, the classic small town aspect is what I like about it—everybody knows everybody.”

Ray Rhodes, a waiter at the Millbrook Diner, a ‘50s-style, 10-table retro eatery, spends three nights a week serving regulars and strangers. When asked why he enjoyed working at the diner he hesitates and says, “My clientele. I’ve been here 13 years and it’s a small town, know what I mean?”
Immediately after making that comment he shouts, “Hey John, how are ya?” as one of his favorite regulars sits down at the counter.