10 Coolest Small Towns, Pa.

Rocking out at the Fauchère (Lauren Keenan) [enlarge photo] ONLINE EXCLUSIVE If our story on the coolest small towns in the U.S.A. doesn't already make you want to move, just wait until you see how much house you can buy in them. Check out this slide show featuring photos of houses currently on the market, as well as ones that have recently been snapped up. • Launch the slide show 10 COOLEST SMALL TOWNS • Millerton, N.Y. • Milford, Pa. • Yachats, Ore. • Waitsburg, Wash. • Paia, Hawaii • Parkville, Mo. • Silver City, N.M. • Peterborough, N.H. • Tuscumbia, Ala. • Collinsville, Conn.

Milford, Pa.
Population: 1,292
Nearest City: New York, 71 miles
A resort town since the Gilded Age, Milford is popular with newcomers interested in its Victorian houses. Sean Strub (a direct-mail and publishing entrepreneur who moved here in 1997) and retired executive Richard Snyder spearheaded the town beautification effort, launched Milford Magazine, and in 2001 bought the 1880s-era Hotel Fauchère. Five years and $6.5 million later, it reopened with heated slate bathroom floors, Frette sheets, and a price point that's ritzy for such a small town, not to mention Budget Travel (401 Broad St., 570/409-1212, hotelfauchere.com, from $275). The 70,000-acre Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is nearby (nps.gov/dewa); buy picnic supplies at Fretta's (223 Broad St., 570/296-7863). Kitchen and bath designer Derek Roberts moved to Milford in 1991. "My mountain bike is well used," he says. "After work, I like to go swimming in a waterfall." He has become such a civic booster that he began organizing Fluviarchy dance parties--named for the network of waterfalls--at The Emerson House (call the Fauchère for info). "Find me for free-drink tickets," he says.