"The best-kept secret in New York" is how Good Day New York described Sugar Loaf, an artists colony in southern Orange County. It's an apt description for the charming, 250-year-old village, sometimes referred to as a mini-Woodstock, where over 50 artists sell handmade works in small shops and stores.

While "best-kept secret" is prominently displayed in tourism brochures, it's a phrase that shopkeepers both embrace and try to play down. Says Rachel Bertoni, artist, business owner, and VP of the Chamber of Commerce, says, "We're still a secret since we're not on the way to anywhere, and get most of our business from word-of-mouth," she says, adding, "There's no mass marketing going on here."

Sugar Loaf, part of the town of Chester, began as a colonial village in the 1730s, and for the next two centuries prospered as a major supplier of crafts, provisions, and services to neighboring farmers. The village doubled in size during the craft-hungry 1960s, and the tradition of artists' living, working, and selling their goods in the same building remains. Today, almost 50 percent of the shops operate this way, and most artists have a wholesale trade as well.

One new entry on the strip is The Gourd Gallery, which had its grand opening in early April. Says owner Devon Cameron, "I've received such a warm welcome from the other artists.... Sugar Loaf has a wonderful free-spirited atmosphere." Her gift items are sold around the world and in art museum gift shops. Up the block, Matt Kannon, owner of the Barnsider Restaurant, is building a new shop that will feature retail space and two apartments.

The Gourd Gallery

Few Sugar Loaf residents commute to city jobs. Linda Ross, owner/broker of her own real estate office in Chester, says that there's little turnover of homes, and a quick check on available listings came up with just a handful. Plus, she says, the selection of homes is minimal, "either restored or renovated farmhouses in the village, or within the couple of new developments" that are just beginning to dot the landscape. Bertoni, who lives and works in her store, The Bertoni Gallery, says, "The new homes are affecting the views in some areas, but I can truly say that there hasn't been an increase in noise or traffic. Sugar Loaf, to me, is a state of mind, and so far, nothing has taken that away."

The Sugar Loaf Community Foundation, a group of artists and residents, has been instrumental in obtaining federal funding for sidewalk improvements, including new streetlamps, fire hydrants, and sewers. Recently, the Town of Chester agreed to purchase a tract of nearby land that was slated for development. Kids now sled there in winter, and it's being preserved as a public park.

Photos by Linda Bell Hall