Living on the waterfront in Garrison

It's crazy to think that Dominick Viola almost missed out on this house with its panoramic view of the Hudson from its riverfront deck.

At the end of a long day house-hunting for a weekend home in Cold Spring two years ago, Viola and Anthony, his partner of 30 years, had decided to call it a day and head back to Manhattan. But their Realtor insisted they see just one more house in a unique neighborhood.

They relented and drove down a winding road to a line of houses that had started off as fishing cottages.

“You can’t beat the view,” says Viola, from the back terrace of his riverside house. The property line extends 145 feet out into the Hudson.

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“And there’s something romantic about the sounds of the freight trains’ horns,” he adds, marveling at a long freight train slowly winding its way along the river’s west bank, which, at one of the river’s narrowest sections, isn’t that far away. “Boats, ships and barges go up and down throughout the year, and the summer brings kayakers, jet-skiers and sailboats, along with sunsets right in front of our dock.”

The calming and inspiring environment at 22 Hudson River Lane was the main feature that attracted Viola, a retired investment banker and Manhattan native, and his partner Anthony, a real estate agent who grew up on Long Island. They share the house with their sweet, devoted pit bull, Dexter, who’s never far from sight. The couple adopted Dexter from a Manhattan “kill shelter” 12 hours before he was to be euthanized.

“There was no question that we wanted this property,” Viola remembers of that first visit two years ago. He told the Realtor to make an immediate offer to the owners, a longtime-married couple who had bought the original house in 2005, tore it down and replaced it with a 2,300-square-foot house with two bedrooms and three full bathrooms.

The couple bought the Garrison house in January 2015 and immediately began renovating. Five months and $200,000 later, the interior and exterior were updated exactly to the duo’s tastes.

The house, on a 9,000-square-foot lot, replaced an East Hampton weekend place the couple had sold earlier. Although they loved the Long Island house and it had more property, the three-hour commute from their Chelsea apartment was becoming a chore. They wanted to buy a place closer to the city.

In the spring and summer, Viola and Anthony spend five days in Garrison and two in their Manhattan apartment, while in the fall and winter months, their schedule is reversed.

Inside, they began renovations with an overhaul of the kitchen. A wall that separated it from the front entrance was removed, creating a new, open space. They replaced all the appliances, adding a double refrigerator, an island with a quartzite top, custom-made cabinets, a chef’s stove and a double sink.

“We like to cook, and it’s a great space for entertaining,” says Viola, who mentions they can pad around barefoot in winter thanks to the radiant floor heating system. The heating and air conditioning thermostats were also updated and are programmable through Viola’s smartphone, leaving the house snugly warm or refreshingly cool before they even arrive.

Elsewhere, the couple replaced a wood-burning fireplace with a 54,000-BTU propane gas fireplace and a new mantel. All three bathrooms got a facelift with new tile; the master's Jacuzzi tub has a picture window view of the water, and the master bedroom has its own private riverfront balcony with seasonal views of the Bear Mountain Bridge.

Lastly, the whole interior was painted, and all the floors were refinished in dark maple.

When the weather is warm, the backyard is the place to be. The couple swim and kayak in the river, unwind around the wood-burning fire pit, put off dinner until 9 p.m. so they can savor the sundown, and host backyard barbecues and cocktail parties for their neighbors on Hudson River Lane and friends from Manhattan. There's a boat launch in addition to the dock.

Outside, their renovations included installing cobblestone around the front garden, more shrubbery, lighting, fencing, a heated driveway and a blue stone patio.

Meanwhile, Dexter loves to run around the property, jump off the dock at high tide and show off his dog-paddling skills. Cadets from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point occasionally swim by during their endurance training. When the sun goes down, passing tug boats of all shapes and sizes are lit up like Christmas trees.

The front yard, which faces away from the river, also has its charms, mainly from the wetlands across Hudson River Lane and a few yards east of the Metro-North train tracks. (Manitou is the closest station.) Says Viola, “I have visited 40 countries around the world and have never seen a firefly display as magnificent as this one. I never knew that many fireflies existed.”

Though Viola describes his house as “magical,” he put it on the market last January, just a year after they bought it. Why sell a home that he and Anthony adore?

So their lives can literally go to the dogs. The duo want to adopt another pound pooch and buy a house, also in Garrison but on up to four acres so the dogs have room to run and play.

Says Viola, “We’re very torn about giving up this house. But if things don’t work out as we would like, we’ll be happy to stay here with just Dexter.”

Like this house?

Address: 22 Hudson River Lane

On the market for: $1,125,000

MLS # 4602250

School district: Garrison

Taxes: $9,260

Contact: Bill Hussung with Robert A. McCaffrey Realty Inc., 917-715-2610