Welcome to Applewood Winery and Orchards, in the heart of the historic Hudson Valley! You have discovered the oldest working farm in Orange County and one of the oldest west of the Hudson River. For more than 10,000 years, Minisink Indians hunted just where you are standing today. Then, in 1700, Samuel G. Staats, acquired about 5000 acres of wilderness from his friend, Governor Bcllomont, of the colonial Province of New York. The Staats family had migrated from the Netherlands to New Amsterdam in 1664. Staats himself was a prominent surgeon, fur trader, and land speculator. He had amassed a small fortune trading in beaver skins around Albany. Now his eyes turned to an area rich in game, called “Wawayanda” by the Indians, which lay closer to markets in New York City and in Europe. Dr Staats sought the land not to farm but to exploit for fur pelts and possibly for iron ore and timber.

To strengthen his new claim, Staats built a simple but solid stone house and inscribed his initials and date “SGS 1700” on a stone just to the right of the front door. You can still see it today! The dwelling was situated over a powerful spring to ensure an internal supply of water in case of an Indian attack The huge slabs of shale for the two-foot thick walls were dragged in from nearby outcroppings while the finely-crafted wooden beams and floor boards were probably brought by Hudson river sloops from New York.