REGIONAL – Something's up when long-dormant properties seem to suddenly spring to life sporting new "For Sale" signs, and rising asking prices. And local realtors start listing old bungalow colonies for new millennial buyers, and the same get mentions in upscale magazines and The New York Times as up-and-coming options for folks looking to leave Brooklyn, or accessorize their new Upstate digs in Beacon, Hudson or Kingston with a more rural getaway that speaks to an older Catskills.

Take the Willows Bungalows, a former summer camp in Kerhonkson, on Route 209 just up from Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church and the Indian Valley Little League field. The place has been closed since 2011, when former operators Wolodymyr and Stephania Dutka passed away. Now their son Gene Dutka is seeking a buyer for the 73-acre property with almost 1,200 feet of road frontage, various cabins, barns and a pool, plus back acreage including a meandering stream and wetlands that many around see as a detriment, but could be seen differently.

"The front part of the property is zoned for business, that's the first 500 feet back from 209. The balance is in the AR3 zone. The business portion is in line with existing businesses on other nearby properties," said Rochester planning board chair Mike Baden of what was being offered. "We didn't want to make the entire property business zoned because of the wetlands in the back part. It is not in an ag district, however. The part in the business district has quite a wide range of permitted uses — restaurant possibilities exist, or a strip mall. Tourism comes to mind, of course."

Baden, who also sits on the Ulster County planning board, added how eco-tourism has become the flavor du jour, accounting for a growing number of applications coming forth on a county basis, if not in all of the Rondout Valley and environs yet.

Gene Dutka talked about how The Willows became a summer camp in the early years of World War II, after the buildings were constructed in 1940.

"My parents bought it in 1966 and it was already a well established business then," he said. "We came up at weekends and in the summer and we moved here permanently in 1973."

Dutka went on to describe twenty seasonal bungalows, a huge in-ground swimming pool, a main house and former boarding house beside it, complete with kitchen facilities, a barn and various other outbuildings. The front part of the property is level ground; at the rear it slopes down through woods to a stream that meanders through the back part.

"It's a beautiful piece of property, the gateway to the Rondout Valley. So much more could be done with it, and it could be enjoyed by so many people," he added. "We'd like to see something done that would be welcoming, possibly in the eco-tourism area. The possibilities are endless, maybe agri-tourism that goes back to where we were, back to our cultural roots on the land."

Meanwhile, as we were putting this story together, we received an email from a new subscriber — a Stone Ridge realtor — who was listing a bungalow colony in Ulster Heights that had been recently highlighted in a magazine for New York City residents interested in our region.

"We've gotten a fair amount of interest already, but I think it's the kind of thing that a lot of readers dream about... 75 acres, architect-designed new bungalows, pond, historic buildings (that may be beyond renovation but there's still a full soda fountain in one of them and furniture and fixtures and things...)," wrote Megan Brenn-White of Habitat Real Estate Group. "We are really, really hoping that it goes to someone who can bring new life into the property, get the owner (who has put his heart and soul into this place for over a decade) a great price, and hopefully add something that can bring some new jobs and energy to the area."

This sparked deeper story searches that revealed a revival of bungalow colonies in Sullivan County by young, hipster Brooklynites, some newer colonies going up in the central Catskills and both Columbia and Greene counties. There's even been a flurry of stories about another bungalow colony in Kerhonkson, Friendly Acres, that lay vacant for twenty years before getting revived by doctors, psychologists, artists and entertainers — some from the city and others from up here looking for getaways — who liked the idea of a cooperative style of life at a cheaper price.

And that was back before AirBnb and other short-term rentals, along with Zipcars, Uber and Lyft, started revolutionizing the region's tourism and attractiveness to city dwellers.

So how much is Dutka's Willows, listed now by Kingston-based Murphy Realty Group? $1,200,000 may sound high for some who've not seen how other places are reviving, but not for anyone with an eye to new economics.

We'll be letting you know what happens next.