Woodstock property for sale


Bloomberg News
August 6, 2007

The homestead once owned by Max Yasgur, the dairy farmer made famous for opening his farm to Jimi Hendrix and thousands of hippies for the Woodstock Music and Art Festival, is on the market for $8 million.

Roy Howard, 73, and his wife Jeryl Abramson are selling the 103-acre property they bought from Yasgur's widow Miriam in 1985, said Brett Joshpe of Joshpe Real Estate Co., who is managing the sale. It includes a 5,000 square-foot farmhouse and a 2,000 square-foot house that was Yasgur's residence.

Howard, a lifelong resident of Bethel, and Abramson have held annual Woodstock reunions on the property, attracting more than 1,000 visitors for the events, Joshpe said. The couple now lives in Arizona for much of the year and plans to reside there full time after the sale, he said. Some prospective buyers have made inquiries, though none has made an offer, he said.

"The historical significance of the property being part of Americana and musical history is definitely something that would be valuable to certain purchasers," Joshpe said.

The 103-acre estate is about two miles from the site of the Woodstock festival and also includes a 7,000 square foot calving barn. Yasgur made the property available after nearby towns Woodstock and Wallkill declined to provide a venue, Joshpe said. The $70 million Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is now located there, Joshpe Real Estate said in a news release.

The farmhouse was built in 1876 and features 22-foot high vaulted ceilings, a master suite with an exercise room and sauna, and two upstairs bedrooms. It was recently renovated.

Yasgur's name will forever be associated with the music festival thanks to the song "Woodstock," by Joni Mitchell.

"I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm, I'm going to join in a rock and roll band," she wrote. "I'm going to camp out on the land; I'm going to try to get my soul free."

The Aug. 15-18, 1969 Woodstock festival drew more than 450,000 revelers to see performers including Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.


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