Getting 12 people to agree on a weekend away is an exercise in logistics. Someone wants to hike ; someone else would rather browse antique shops; a few people are already asking what’s for dinner. My ideal group getaway? One that leaves room for all of it, with a house you're excited to return to in between excursions. On a recent October weekend , my friends and I—a total of six couples—found that combination at Schoonmaker Retreat , tucked in the quaint Hudson Valley hamlet of High Falls.

As a lifelong New Yorker , I’ve made plenty of trips to the Catskills and Hudson Valley, but High Falls, Rosendale, and Accord were towns I hadn’t yet gotten to know. Rosendale had been on my radar thanks to the introduction of Six Bells Countryside Inn , a delightfully whimsical, British-inspired hotel, and the surrounding area seemed ripe for a fall weekend of vintage shopping , cider tasting, and lots of leaf-peeping .…