SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT
AUGUST, 2013
HOME IN THE COUNTRY
7H
Paradise found ... inside a train station alifornia’s Napa Valley or the sun-drenched slopes of the Mediterranean spring to mind when Joe and Maureen Darmetko’s home comes into view. But the vine-covered concrete walls and terra cotta roof enclose a building which once served as thousands of visitors’ first impression of Sullivan County’s Catskills. Built by the New York, Ontario and Western Railway (O&W) in 1898 to replace a wooden station that had burned, this 3,200-square-foot Sullivan County Mission-style structure spent more than half a century welcoming rail passengers to “the mountains.” Sitting above Bloomingburg on the eastern slope of the Shawangunk Ridge, this is indeed where “the mountains” began for many a New York City resident, even if they were continuing on through the adjacent High View Tunnel (an engineering marvel when it opened in the 1870s) up into the Catskills proper. But in 1957, the O&W shuddered its last breath, the victim of a changing economy and transportation methods. Nearby Route
C By Dan Hust Maureen and Joe Darmetko (right) turned a derelict train station (above) into a dazzling home they’ve enjoyed for the past 15 years (top right). Considered the most beautiful station on the former New York, Ontario and Western Railway, the 1898 High View station has become one of the most stunning private homes in Sullivan County, NY. The Darmetkos took their mutual love of design – and their skill in implementing that design – then blended it with original aspects of the building (like the O&W logo, top left) to create a livable home where history is appropriately honored but also where style and aesthetics are warmly embraced.
17, “the Quickway,” was in fact on the verge of offering a new high-speed route through the area. The High View Station, once the busy hub of the Village of Bloomingburg, fell into disuse, save for poultry and pig housing. Visitors still came – but in the form of vandals who stole, defaced or otherwise mutilated every last furnishing. It’s in that state the Darmetkos stumbled across what was simply advertised in 1988 as a “handyman’s special.” “The roof looked like meteors had fallen through it,” Maureen recalled. “This was obviously a little more than a handyman’s special,” Joe added with a laugh. Joe and Maureen were living in Brooklyn then. They had no idea of the property’s history, of its importance to the community, but they did recognize something special – enough to buy it and spend the next decade pouring their hearts (and wallets) into every inch. By the time they moved in circa 1998, the Darmetkos hadn’t just restored the station to its original splendor ... they had