Deckert Blvd, LaGrange

Ah, Deckert Blvd....This was the street I grew up on, from a baby until I was sixteen years old.

I lived with my mother, father and sister (who was born in 1985, five years younger than I) at 5 Deckert Blvd, which is a two-story house which was red, like a barn, and had a screened-in porch and a built-in garage. Today the house is still there but another family lives in it. I haven’t been there since, but I can imagine (and hope) that there’s still the soft rug covering the lower part of the house (which I called the “basement”), but the 70’s-style wallpaper, with a swirly design that reminded me of flowers, was probably replaced with something else entirely. The house had a modern kitchen with an island where my parents would cook, three bedrooms, a living room/dayroom, and in addition to the big space downstairs (where we watched TV and played as kids) there was also an office and a pot-bellied stove. The living room/dayroom was considered the “music room”. It also had a big bay window. It was here that we celebrated Christmas (looking out that big bay window during a White Christmas, watching the snow fall, was very magical) and we would also hunt for Easter Eggs in this room as well (a clever idea thought up by my wonderful, creative mother). It was a cozy room that I will never forget and we had many wonderful family moments and parties gathered there. The year before we moved, my parents put an addition onto the house, which included extending their bedroom, a bigger bathroom and a jacuzzi. Since the yard was huge, it didn’t make the space outside any smaller, but it did make the master bedroom look great.

One of my most special, favorite parts of this house was its property, which gave the house a lovely, secured feel, as it was surrounded mostly by nature, and trees obscured it partially from the road. The property also had lots of woods in the back (where I would roam for hours) and lots of grassy yard in the front and on the sides (where there was a beautiful, huge Weeping Willow tree with a tire swing attached to it) and to the farther end of the yard, a Dogwood tree (that I loved to climb) and we also had a garden. In addition there was also a small grove of crab apple trees towards the left-hand side of the yard (facing the house) where, behind, you would find more woods. In those days, if you walked through the woods in one part, you would find yourself---eventually---at the untouched fields of a neighboring farm. Today the small town of LaGrangeville (also known as “LaGrange”) of Dutchess County is more highly developed than when I was a kid (back then, it could have been considered “rural”, now, it is considered a “suburb” of NY state). You will probably still however find the streams that I used to walk or bike by as a kid, and Deckert Blvd---while its mouth is by a major backroad, Arthursburg Road (also known as Country Road 33 and Country Highway 42)---is still a type of road that’s known as a “Cul De Sac”, which is, in other words, a dead-end road. It’s short and has a turn-around area in the back. When I was young, my sister and I would bike up and down Deckert (but of course stayed away from the busy Arthursburg Road). At the end of Deckert Blvd is where we caught our bus (and is probably still where kids wait, along with the kids from the road across the street, known as Tom’s Way.

One of the things I liked about Deckert Blvd the most was how safe I felt there. There was a lot of space to play in the woods and yard, and the road felt safe enough to ride bikes on and take short walks. We also lived right near Freedom Lake, the resident lake of LaGrangeville, which is still there, and people go there every year to swim, picnic, play sports and have an overall wonderful time!

Today a five bedroom, three-bathroom house of 2,6000 square feet on Deckert Blvd costs around $335,000 (this one is 15 Deckert Blvd, which is currently for sale). The area is pretty safe and the schools (Arthursburg Central School District) are fantastic (I can say so as someone who went there since grade school into 9th and part of 10th grade!) After all, High School North is where I found Mr. John Clark, my 9th grade English teacher---and if it weren’t for him (and other fabulous teachers I have had throughout the years), I might not be planning on being an English teacher myself today!

All in all, Deckert Blvd is a great choice to buy a home for yourself, your family and your kids. LaGrangeville has a lot to offer as well: a fantastic community and wonderful amenities (Freedom Lake Park, fantastic schools, beautiful scenery, great shops and restaurants). Come see for yourself today what makes LaGrangville and Deckert Blvd the best choice you could make for yourself and those you love!