House of the Week: Set on 52 acres, this Canastota English Tudor provided family their

CANASTOTA, NY – Cindy Wright Kolceski became emotional at the end of the interview for today’s “House of the Week” feature.

That was quite understandable.

The contemporary four-bedroom English Tudor, set inside 52 private acres, at 6620 Nelson Road in Canastota, was where she had her wedding reception, her children’s First Communion parties, and bore witness to many other “wonderful memories” for her family.

Since 1993, it has been “absolutely perfect” for them, she said, a place which provided “so much solace.”

“It was our own retreat,” Kolceski said. “We did staycations here before that was even a thing.”

A well-known Canastota pharmacist, John Marone, was the home’s original owner. He had it built in 1980. The stories about the house during his tenure there are still legendary.

A stone wall on the property was built by rocks collected on the grounds by children hired by Marone himself. He offered them 25 cents per stone.

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The home’s primary bedroom has an elevated sitting room which requires the use of a built-in ladder to access. Marone used the spot to star gaze with a telescope.

A lover of antiques, he visited auctions and sales for unique vintage items. The magnificent bar on the lower-level dates to a 19^th century local saloon. He bought it at a sale at Bouckville and had to cut through the oak floor to drop it into place.

After living there for a while as a bachelor, Marone married. The main level was finished with new dining and living rooms. His new wife was not thrilled with the idea of bringing hot food upstairs from the granite kitchen on the lower level.

“I need a kitchen,” she said. Which explains why the home has two full kitchens.

Kolceski’s husband, Dan, was also a pharmacist, working in Canastota and at Price Chopper supermarkets in DeWitt and Oneida. Dan passed away last year.

“He thought John Marone was the cat’s meow,” she said.

Marone’s house was Dan’s “dream home.”

Cindy and Dan bought it exactly 32 years ago this month.

Besides raising two children there, they could accommodate both his parents and then, later, her mother as they got older.

“We were often in a constant state of flux,” she said. “It was perfect for our needs.”

Each floor has two bedrooms, a full bathroom, and a full kitchen, making it very flexible as a multi-generational home or when you want to entertain.

“It is just a wonderful place to live,” she said.

The main level’s living and dining rooms are accessible from French doors off the main foyer.

The space has two stained glass windows which Marone repurposed from a church in Auburn. There is a window bench between them. The fireplace there has never had a fire in it. The room has access to the deck which runs along the entire length of the back of the house to the primary bedroom.

Cindy used Marone’s elevated loft-like space in the primary as a sewing room. It would make a great reading spot.

The primary has his-and-her closets.

The granite kitchen on the lower level is beautiful and has a brand-new refrigerator. A vintage iron fireplace from Cindy’s home at Harvard Place in Syracuse was brought to this house and is used as a decorative piece in the kitchen.

The pellet stove, surrounded by stones mostly found on the property, can warm the entire lower level.

Cindy jokes that she came from a big and loud family. Her husband was a single child.

So, whenever the house became too boisterous and Dan became “overstimulated,” he could retreat to his man cave, across the driveway, on the second floor of the three-car garage.

“Dan did not like sharing his man cave,” Cindy joked.

He had a bedroom and a living room where he had billiards and ping pong tables. He also kept his hunting gear there for early starts looking for deer and wild turkeys on the property.

The in-ground swimming pool has a new liner. Its heater has rarely been used because the pool gets so much sunlight during the day. The pool house is great for storage, snacks, and getting out of the sun or rain.

If anyone wanted a healthy snack after swimming, the family kept vegetable gardens and berry bushes and pear and apple trees to pick from. There are “flower gardens all over.”

The circular driveway is about a third of a mile long and winds through the woods to the front of the house and then around to the garage. The house cannot be seen from the road.

“In spring and summer, it is just gorgeous here,” Cindy said. “It is a peaceful area.”

A true turnkey, the home has a freshly painted interior and has updated lighting, hardware, flooring and carpeting. The lower level has in-floor heating.

Cindy is having a new house built in Chittenango which will bring her closer to her sister.

“It will not be an English Tudor,” she said. “Unfortunately.”

An open house is scheduled for Sunday, November 30, from noon to 2 p.m.

For more information about this property, please contact Realtor Denise Van Patten of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices CNY Realty. Her contact info is below.

THE DETAILS

Address: 6620 Nelson Road, Canastota, NY 13032

Price: $750,000

Size: 4,507 square feet

Acreage: 52 acres

Monthly Mortgage: $3,698 (based on the national average rate of 6.26%, according to Freddie Mac on November 20, for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 20% down payment. Fees and points not included.)

Taxes: $15,531 (Based on assessed value of $355,000)

Built: 1980

School District: Canastota

Kitchen: Cindy Wright Kolceski’s contemporary English Tudor is perfect for multigenerational living and entertaining. There are two kitchens, one of each level, for big parties, holiday meals, or for older relatives to keep their independence. The granite kitchen on the lower level was the original. The home’s true centerpiece, it features granite counters, abundant storage, and stainless appliances, including a new refrigerator. She and her husband, Dan, brought with them their original vintage iron fireplace from their home at Harvard Place in Syracuse. It is decorative. The kitchen on the top level has electric appliances, a lot of storage, and a peninsula.

Living Areas: The house has over 4,500 square feet of living space. Both levels have open living and dining room areas. The top floor’s living room has access to the back deck which runs along the entire length of the house. The space has two stained glass windows repurposed from a church in Auburn. A window bench runs between them. The lower level’s living area has a pellet stove which can warm the entire level. The stonework features rocks collected from the property. The bar dates to a 19^th century saloon and was bought at Bouckville. There is in-floor heating downstairs. Dan kept a man cave, with a living room and bedroom, on the second floor of the unattached three-car garage. The home’s interior is freshly painted and there is new flooring, lighting and hardware.

Bedrooms: There are four bedrooms in the house, two on each floor. Kolceski says they are each generously sized. The primary has a built-in ladder up to a unique loft space. The earlier owner used it to star gaze with a telescope. Kolceski liked it as a sewing space. It could be a wonderful reading spot. There is a door to an expansive attic. The primary bedroom has access to the deck.

Outdoors: Kolceski laughs when told she lives in her own personal state park. At 52 acres, the property is scenic and great for people who love the outdoors. Dan used to hunt deer and wild turkeys. The driveway winds for a third of a mile before crossing in front of the house and going behind to the garage. The in-ground swimming pool has a new liner. There is a pool heater, but Kolceski has found that it gets enough sunshine. There were extensive vegetable and flower gardens. Healthy snacks are provided by berry bushes and apple and pear trees. The property is about 25 to 30 minutes away from Syracuse.

Agent: Denise Van Patten, Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices CNY Realty

Address: 100 Metropolitan Park Drive, Suite 600, Liverpool, NY 13088

Phone: (315) 436-6992

Email: cnyrealestateconnection@gmail.com

Website: Denise Van Patten

If you know of a beautiful or interesting house currently up for sale, please consider sending a nomination for it to be featured as a future House of the Week. Send an email with the listing to home@syracuse.com.