Symbol of Saugerties
Patrick Landewe is well-acquainted with the particular peace of lighthouse living. For five and a half years, he has been the year-round live-in keeper of the Saugerties Lighthouse. He was recruited for the job while working as an environmental educator on the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.
“Living and working at the lighthouse is very similar to living and working on a boat,” said Landewe. “You deal with a lot of the same issues in terms of the water. It requires knowing a bit about carpentry, electricity, plumbing — the whole works — and then the remoteness of it, trying to live independently from the mainland, so to speak, and hospitality skills.”
The Saugerties Lighthouse has been a functional bed and breakfast for nearly 15 years. A true icon, its image has been found on letterheads, government buildings, in photographs and paintings at the library and post office — even emblazoned on municipal trash cans downtown. Wooden lighthouse replicas will be decorated by professional artists as part of this year’s Village of Saugerties bicentennial celebration.
It’s now hard to imagine Saugerties without its lighthouse though, like Esopus Meadows, it was close to condemnation. Its incarnation is a result of tireless fundraising and restoration by a group of concerned local citizens, the Saugerties Lighthouse Conservancy (SLC). An automated light arrived in 1954; the keeper left; the house fell into extreme disrepair. The Saugerties Lighthouse Conservancy formed in 1985 and, one year later purchased the lighthouse property from New York State for a dollar. In four years, the lighthouse was restored. A new, solar-powered light was placed in the tower and re-commissioned by the Coast Guard on August 4, 1990.
Saugerties’ is the only mid-Hudson lighthouse that can be reached by land — except for twice daily during high tide, when water covers the long marshland path that leads to it. Beloved by birders and joggers alike, the walkway wends through the Ruth Reynolds Glunt Nature Preserve, named in honor of the woman who helped secure a spot for the lighthouse on the National Register of Historic Places. Guests who stay in the two second-floor rooms for rent must travel the path with their suitcases; and Landewe must carry tools, supplies, groceries and laundry to and fro.
“I feel like I’m in that keeper role, having the same sensations and doing the same work that was done years ago,” he said. “I often think of it as doing ordinary things in an extraordinary place. Household chores, things people do in their daily lives, done in a unique environment, adds a little element of adventure to it and, sometimes, added challenges. ‘How am I going to get those supplies out here?’ ‘I guess I’m going to have to wait until low tide.’”
There have been times when visits with friends have run over, time-wise, and Landewe has returned to knee-deep water on the trail. With or without boots, he braves the walk home, and relishes the adventure of it. “Where else in the world do you have to wade through water to get home? At least I know I can take off my wet socks when I get home,” said Landewe.
Others are eager for the experience. The bed-and-breakfast is booked solid through November, and cancellations are infrequent. Every season offers something different: swimming and picnicking in summer; a panoramic view of fall foliage; the cozy safety of the thick lighthouse walls in winter; and the watching the earth awaken each spring.
“To some people the lighthouse is a quiet place to go and sit and enjoy a quiet sunset,” said Landewe. “To others it’s a place to go fishing or it’s a place to have fun and swim. For those who enjoy wildlife, it’s a nice way to get out and observe birds, see them traveling along the Hudson River flyway or waterfowl enjoying the wetlands. It certainly is a great vantage point for people to experience and tour the Hudson River without having to get into a boat. It’s so many different things to different people. We’ve got all the elements out here. It’s where they all converge, in a way,”
