Everyone keeps saying that upstate New York is having a moment. I would put it differently. Covid and inflation caused a large group of creatives who had previously lived in places like Brooklyn and Queens to flock upstate, where living expenses are lower and creative opportunities lie in the eyes of the beholder. Many artists and makers created new workshops and studios. Others opened shops or restaurants or hotels. Upstate is flourishing and it’s going to be for far longer than a moment.
A sleeping nook in Kostas’s and Jesse’s home (see the before shots below).
If you’re Jesse James—founder of the edited home trade show Shoppe Object, lifestyle showroom Aesthetic Movement, and home brand Sir/Madam—and his life-and-business partner Kostas Anagnopoulos, a poet and proprietor of the popular antiques shop Pidgin and the new home gallery Norman Hasselriis (also, check out his new book Night Painting), you set your sights on an entire 19th-century village and help rejuvenate it, building by building. No spoilers here. Read on!
Yours in house village snooping,
Amanda
Over the past couple of years, our home upstate has morphed from a mad-dash weekend getaway into our primary residence. We first arrived in Rensselaerville in 2016, when the drive from our place in Jackson Heights, Queens took at least three hours each way—we were strictly Friday-to-Sunday, joining the great exodus out of the city and back again. Now we head into the city when we need to, flowing against the current, and the same drive takes closer to two-and-a-half hours.
Our home upstate. ...
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