The Tate House, Historical and Spacious, 5 miles to downtown
Renovated 5 bedroom home built in 1856 and a reputed stop on the Underground Railroad. Just a 5 mile drive or Uber to downtown Ithaca.
Spacious, light filled house with adjoining apartment. Apartment is included in bedroom count. Wrap around porch, large decks, screened in porch and large yard allows for large groups to relax and enjoy without a concern for noise or neighbors. Perfect for large group trips, with plenty of private and common areas to relax and enjoy.
While the house is quite old, it was well kept up with a lot of character. Modern appliances, plenty of coffee, hot chocolate. Entrance is on the side, which took us a few minutes to figure out. Very spacious eating area. Easy access to laundry room. We didn't realize that the 5th bedroom is a loft, the steps to get up are steep. Thankfully we didn't need to use that bedroom. Nice to have 3 full bathrooms.
We are a group of active adults ages 50-65 who visited the Finger Lakes to hike, site see, and wine taste. We enjoyed our stay! The house is beautiful, the kitchen functional, outside porch is lovely. There are small misses - The bathrooms are meh. The tub in the downstairs bathroom drains slowly and needs to be snaked. There was only one dish towel and should have at least 3 - we cooked dinner for our group of 8 nightly. The house is on a fairly major road where cars drive past at 50 mph, so dog walking on the road is not possible. Although the house is set back from the street, I did not understand when I booked how busy the road would be. The grill was not clean - not an issue for us - we just used the oven. Some of the bedrooms are tight - the king size beds take up most of the space.The owner is incredibly responsive. We had some issues - not the fault of the house - with lack of power and internet due to storm damage, and she kept on top of things and supplied updates.The house is well priced for the space. I highly recommend it without hesitation.
In general, we were very comfortable and the kitchen, though small, was very well equipped. Beds very comfortable. The main bath downstairs was difficult to use for showering b/c you have to step over and into a claw foot tub to use the shower, and getting out was a little tricky as well. Nothing to really hang onto for balance, but I'm in my late sixties, so maybe age was a factor in my disappointment in the main bath. This was very convenient to a family wedding location, and we enjoyed being all together and everyone having a room to themselves. The hostess was very responsive to anything we wanted or needed, and graciously allowed us an early check if needed, and an extra hour to get checked out.
The property photos and descriptions are mostly accurate. The 4 main house bedrooms are all good size and the beds were extremely comfortable. The annex apartment was nicely appointed, the only issue is that everyone in our family is tall, and the loft bed with its low ceiling was a bit challenging. The kitchen has been modernized and well appointed. Overall the house is spacious with several "living areas" allowing a family to spread out. The bathrooms have been somewhat updated but the 2 tub/showers in the main house could use some attention and further updating.
We loved spending time on the screened porch visiting with our extended family, watching the birds and squirrels at the feeder with our morning coffee and the fire flies at night. The house is close to so many beautiful state parks for lots of hiking and swimming. Also close to Cornellâs botanical garden and ornithology lab. And near great breweries and wineries. The Finger Lakes are a wonderful vacation spot and our family really enjoyed having the Tate house as our home base.
Ten person family returning to Ithaca as an extended weekend getaway-looking to re-connect and spend time with aging parents. Such a great decision to stay at the Tate House. Location is easy in and out of both Ithaca and Watkins Glen. We lived here almost 50 years ago so we spent a great deal of the days travelling around the area but the best parts of out stay were the mornings and evenings. At those times we were in the house eating, drinking, remembering, telling stories, and laughing together. Tate House is PERFECT for these activities. Kitchen is large and open, dining room is just the same-plenty of room to hang out, cook, and eat. We particularly enjoyed being together on the well appointed screened in porch overlooking the garden area and woods. Anyone that needed a little quiet time could retire easily to a bedroom or the parlor/library (which, such a cool little cozy space.) Of course, the place is old so it needs a little loving care here and there (some of the decking in the front of the house has soggy boards or nail pops,) and the flooring and stairs (as is to be expected) is uneven in spots-none of this is likely to be problematic for most guests but we had a few elderly folks with us and they had to be mindful.
Overall, a stellar, well appointed property that could not have been easier to inhabit.
Thank you!
This house was just right. It has 5 well spaced big bedrooms, and important to note a king bedroom and bath on the ground floor. The house was spotless and uncluttered. Each room had a fan and plenty of extra blankets and towels. One of the bedrooms is an apartment right off the kitchen. My son enjoyed this having this be very private. The outdoor porch was peaceful. All around great house