​Joy Farm Writer's Retreat

Accommodations

 

 

Retreat Members (as opposed to Writers-in-Residence) are housed at Steep Acres, a summer home adjacent to Joy Farm. It is a scenic ten minute walk down a gladed grassy road to Joy Farm, which is where all meals and scheduled activities are held.   Steep Acres was built in 1901 by Samuel Crothers from land he purchased from Reverend Edward Cummings (the poet's father). The men were friends and both were Unitarian ministers in Cambridge. A number of outbuildings were erected in the woods behind the house during this time. A study that had been built into the woods succumbed to fire sometime in the 30's (?) and a tree house where guests of the Crothers used to stay has fallen into disrepair. The other buildings however still stand and while they may offer an abundance of "charm" far beyond most cultivated sensibilities. However, they can be opened for exploration and a half-assed tour upon request.  

 

Steep Acres was bought from the Crothers in the 1940s by the McGuiness family, who in turn sold it to the Mattisons. It has never been winterized but during the warm spring, summer, and fall months the cozy sylvan cottage offers a marvelous screened porch for pleasant evenings and a fieldstone studded fire place for cooler nights. Most of this house is in its original and glorious form.  The downstairs offers a pleasing balance of squirrelly nooks and welcoming open spaces where pleasant conversation can quickly close the distance.

 

Sleeping Quarters for Retreat Members: All bedrooms are upstairs. The "master room" affords the most privacy and sleeps 1-2 people, depending on how cozy they are or want to become. Across the hall a second bedroom for 1 boasts views of Mt Chocorua, and a sleeping porch off that bedroom provides a second comfy sleeping room for 2.  The third bedroom off the end of the hallway sleeps 2 or if needed, 3 what with that peculiar little annex extending off the bedroom's far end.  An eclectic array of sleeping beds and day beds downstairs provides additional slumbering options.  Please bear in mind that "bedroom" is more of an aspiration than a label. If you think of Steep Acres as a co-ed dormitory for writers, you will marvel at how much privacy you can find within its rabbit warren halls.  

 

The house's single bathroom is dated but serviceable, offering running hot and cold water, and a genuine claw-foot bathtub with a standing shower head.  If residents aren't smitten with the plumbing at Steep Acres there is a full downstairs bathroom at Joy Farm that they are welcome to avail themselves of for all their personal grooming needs. 

 

Sleeping Quarters for Writers-in-Residence The writers in residence are offered their own bedroom in the new wing ("new house") of Joy Farm. Two of the bedrooms share a full bathroom. The third bedroom, though smaller, offers a private bathroom down a short hall. All bedrooms have ample outlets and access to the house wifi.