Your 3-bedroom house with 2 full baths faces the lake and is surrounded by 114 acres of private woods, plus over 600 more acres of adjoining NYS “Forever Wild” Forest Preserve with hiking trails. Peaceful. Beautiful. Soul-restoring. Spend your days swimming, fishing, exploring waterfalls, or hiking through the woods, then gather around a campfire and stargaze at night. There is a separate “playhouse” next door for ping pong, movies, and games. Take the rowboat or kayak out on the lake, wander the property, or simply read and sleep under the trees in a hammock. And while you may feel as though you are as far from civilization as it gets, the supermarket, pharmacy, hospital, and Main Street shops are only 2 miles away.

The lake is the heart of Tree Topp Acres. The house sits approximately 200 feet from the water, where a dock and sandy-bottom swimming area provide easy access without wading through mud. Swim out to the raft, take a boat onto the lake, try your luck fishing, or simply sit by the water and watch the day go by. A rowboat and kayak are available for guests to use.

Yet there is much more to explore beyond the lake. Trails wind through woods, hills, and meadows and connect directly with the adjoining Forest Preserve. A series of gorgeous waterfalls carries the lake’s water down the side of the mountain, while small streams connect two additional ponds, providing entirely different places to wander and explore. One pond is designated as a no-fishing trout pond, where you can feed our pet trout, which have learned to come at the chime of a bell. Walk during the day or take a flashlight out at night and listen to the frogs, crickets, and distant coyote yowls. Tree Topp can be as active or as relaxing as you want it to be.

The house itself has the warm character of original knotty pine throughout, combined with an open, renovated kitchen and modernized bathrooms. The kitchen opens into the main living area, creating a comfortable gathering space, while the stone fireplace makes the house especially inviting on cool Catskills evenings and winter days. A full-length deck with multiple stairs, chairs, and a table with a patio umbrella provides another place to sit outside, eat, talk, or simply look out toward the lake.

Just 20 feet across the driveway is the Trianon, our separate 1,000-square-foot guest playhouse. Heated and air-conditioned for year-round use, it has a large-screen TV with Sonos sound, a fireplace, ping pong, board games, multiple seating areas, a coffee bar, and Wi-Fi. A separate room holds outdoor games, sporting equipment, swimming floats, and fishing gear. It is especially nice on a rainy day—or anytime different members of the group want a little space to do their own thing.

Days here tend to find their own rhythm. Be as active as you like, find a quiet place and do absolutely nothing, or let one turn into the other. At night, look up. Away from city lights, the stars can be remarkable, and sometimes the best entertainment is simply sitting around a fire or taking a quiet walk and listening to the woods.

Despite the feeling of being completely away from everything, Tree Topp is only about 2 miles from the village of Margaretville, with everything from groceries, restaurants, and shops to a pharmacy and hospital. Golf, tennis, skiing, biking, antiquing, and other Catskills attractions are all within an easy drive. There are more possibilities for day trips than we could possibly list, and the journey often takes you through quiet farmland, small hamlets, and Catskills villages along the way. But many of our guests discover what our family has known for generations: once you arrive at Tree Topp, there really isn’t much reason to leave.