Booking 3 Winter Weekends at the Inn!
Come get your snowy escape on with us!
Yup, those are all holiday weekends, BUT there’s no 3 night minimum, just our usual 2 night policy for any of those 3 nights. As always, you can book online here.
Thank You Artist Residents
Like last year, we had batches of about six folks at a time for five days each during for our Spruceton Inn Artist Residency. The way it worked out was that most Artists didn’t have any professional overlap. Filmmakers were with novelists, photographers were with muralists, kids book illustrators were with journalists… Sure it’s fun and important to schmooze and talk industry sometimes. But it was such a pleasure to watch these people connect with each other as artists first and foremost, not necessarily industry peers. As people who are simply compelled to create.
With this residency we’ve always emphasized that there are zero expectations, that there's no wrong way to do it. Some people were powering through drafts, others were in the more nebulous inspiration/gathering phase. People took walks, had bonfires, made big "family meals" with each other, took freezing cold dips in the creek...! My hope is that each one of them left with something more than they came with.
Congrats to the 2022 Spruceton Inn Artist Residents!
Holy guacamole, the applications this year!! Check out this group!
Kelli Anderson, writer + visual artist / Ruth Chan , writer + illustrator / Joshua Cochran, illustrator + muralist / Gaia Cornwall, writer + illustrator / Angela Garbes, writer / Molly Gillis, filmmaker / Stephanie Gravalese, writer + photographer / Michelle Hart, writer / Jordan Mann, writer + performer / Chanel Miller, writer + visual artist / Jeremy Nguyen, cartoonist + illustrator / Aimee Pokwatka, writer /Jeremy Shellhorn, visual artist + designer / Whitney Sherman, visual artist / Daniel Sitts, documentarian + writer / Leigh Stein, writer / Isvett Verde, writer / Justin J. Wee, photographer
And check out just a tiny sliver of their work!
I am so-many-exclamation-points excited to host everyone this year!!
I’m also particularly excited to announce the recipient of the Tracy Kennard Emerging Writer’s Award. I miss Tracy every day and am so glad that her husband Jamie had the idea to sponsor this in her honor.
Thank you so, so much to everyone who applied. It was truly inspiring and humbling to read through all of your applications.
Congrats again to the 2022 Artist Residents!
Spruceton Inn Artist Residency Applications Are Open
Applications are open August 1st through 14th! Check out more details here.
Suuuuummer
Summer has been absolutely ZOOMING by. Hundred percent thought I’d thrown something up here since we reopened for the season in May but… nope! So here’s a bunch of pictures hopefully doing the job of several thousand words:
I’m much more prolific on Instagram, stories in particular. Especially about what I’ve been reading! I’m just handing it all over to the Metaverse I guess. [slaps forehead… continues on as before]
Steven Weinberg Pop-Up Painting Show
Come on by our barn this Saturday 4/30 from 12-5pm for a pop-up show of Steven’s huuuuuge watercolors from Texas!
He'll have original watercolors and prints for sale. Most of the work will be from our Texas trip this past winter, but he'll also have a few Catskills pieces and prints too. You can preview (and purchase) everything in his online shop if you can't make it in person.
See you there?
Spruceton Inn Reopening in May!
We’re reopening Memorial Day Weekend!
Mailing list members get first dibs on rooms with a secret link that goes out Monday 4/4 7am. We open it up to the rest of the public on Friday 4/8.
P.S. Texas was SO MUCH FUN. I’ve got a whole Highlight on our time in Austin and another in Marfa & Big Bend over on Instagram. It was so dang great to get our sunshine and road-tripping on!
Closing Up for Winter
2021 was a wacky one to say the least, but hosting you all again at the Inn was simply THE BEST. Thank you so much to everyone who stayed with us this year! And an extra special thank you to everyone who bought a drink or three when you were here— this year we donated half of our bar profits to the following social and climate justice groups: Native Women’s Wilderness, Marsha P. Johnson Institute, Lilith Fund, Brown Folks Fishing, and Loveland Foundation.
Mailing list members gets first dibs on rooms when we open the calendar for bookings, so sign up below. You can also follow along on Instagram here for more insider scoops! Gotta warn you though: we’re spending January and February in Austin (woohoo! yes, innkeepers occasionally get to travel too!) so there’s gonna be fewer pics of Spruceton Valley and way more pics of… tacos? Cowboy boots? Armadillos? If you’ve got any recommendations for when we’re there, DM me!
Stay safe out there! Be just. Be joyful. See you in the spring!
Book that Winter Weekend
We are wrapping up our season at the Inn this week with the end of the Artist Residency and are gonna take a nice loooong hibernation until spring. BUT we are gonna reopen briefly for the weekends of xmas and NYE so if you wanna come get your snowy stay on, book that online here and we’ll see you before we know it!
Congrats to our 2021 Spruceton Inn Artist Residents!
More than 500 people applied this year to our Spruceton Inn Artist Residency (!!) and the talent. You guys. The TALENT.
Simon Arizpe, visual artist / Pooja Bhatia, writer / Marcus Anthony Brock, writer / Susannah Cahalan, writer / Jesus Ian Kumamoto, writer / Whitney McGuire, writer / Anne Elizabeth Moore, writer / Christine Rai, cartoonist / Daniel Salmieri, children’s book author & illustrator / Liza St. James, writer
I was overwhelmed going through all the applications. It’s always a lot to digest so many people’s creative visions and aspirations, I know this eight years in and yet it still slams me every time. But this year it was also such a necessary, soul-nourishing reminder that there are so many people out there making moving, unique art and hell if that didn’t just get me feeling plain old fashioned inspired and even a little excited about the prospects of humanity. It’s all too easy to get wrapped up in the horrifying and mundane details of life these days in a never-quite-ending pandemic, in a so-systemically-unfair world, ain’t it? I highly recommend inviting more art into your life. Maybe even into your literal backyard ;) I can’t wait to have these folks up this November!
Fall Again
And just like that it’s almost fall. The first leaves are warming to orange and tumbling down in the wind, the sweaters are coming out of their drawers.
I’ve got a lot of feelings about Delta right now as we go into yet ANOTHER season of this pandemic, about how we as a country are just missssserably f*cking failing at keeping each other safe in so many ways. Well, it’s not that many feelings, mostly just mad and sad, mad and sad, back and forth, back and forth. With some gratitude in there too of course because every day I do feel grateful. I hope you get to too.
Spruceton Inn Artist Residency 2022
Applications are officially open for our 2022 Artist Residency at the Inn!
August Already
It’s that time of year where you keep asking yourself, “Wow, is it August already??”
P.S. Steven has a show of oil paintings over at Clove & Creek in Hudson that’s up through September. You can also see ‘em all online here.
Weddings at the Spruceton Inn!
Just officially opened our 2022 calendar to weddings!
We’ve got deets on the website here for the curious.
Summer
We’ve reopened and we’ve seen friends and we’ve gone places and it’s a WHOLE NEW FREAKING WORLD OF SUMMER.
We’re settling into the new rhythm and balance of having the Inn open on the weekends and honestly I LOVE it so much. It’s wonderful to be back behind the bar— even if it’s just a little to-go window for now— and to see so many familiar faces again. Last weekend six of the nine rooms had been here before for a combined total of twenty-five times! My heart. The little ones are growing, we’re seeing friends again, we’re writing and reading and dipping in the creek and digging in the garden and trying to apply all the lessons of the past year and feeling so, SO grateful.
Spruceton Inn is Reopening This Summer!
With widespread vaccinations on the rise, we are so excited to REOPEN THE INN THIS SUMMER!
Want first dibs on a room? Sign up for our mailing list and get *exclusive access* to our booking calendar before we open it up to the general public. Reopening day is May 28th aka Memorial Day Weekend.
We’ve had a lot of time to reflect and consider exactly how we want to reopen. A whole YEAR in fact! And while it has been hard for all the obvious reasons, it’s also been an invaluable opportunity to not only learn as much as we can about COVID safety, but to reassess and realign the nitty gritty of this operation with our big picture values.
So for the sake of everyone’s safety, we’re running things a little differently than before. But don’t worry, all your favorite parts of the Inn— stunning nature! cozy rooms! yummy booze! starry bonfires! — are still very much a part of the experience.
Check out our website for all of policy updates including our COVID safety procedures. Most notable changes include:
We’re reopening for *WEEKEND STAYS ONLY*.
Coffee and bar service in Room One will all be *TO-GO* because it’s too dang tiny in there to safely socially distance.
In the spirit of the *15% PLEDGE*, we are committing at least 15% of our purchasing power—from lightbulbs to booze to toilet paper— to Black owned businesses. We’re also continuing to prioritize supporting eco-friendly and local businesses in this way too.
Bar donations: Drink up when you’re here! This year we’re *DONATING 50% OF OUR BAR PROFITS TO SOCIAL AND CLIMATE JUSTICE* focused nonprofits like @nativewomenswilderness, @thelovelandfoundation, and the @aclu_nationwide.
We’re taking a *PAUSE* in booking groups, weddings, or parties of any kind for this year.
In the meantime, stay safe out there! Wear your mask, keep your distance, get vaccinated… and get ready to visit us again soon!
Recently
Snow, bundling, beer, sledding, stars, borscht, friends, duck, bears, fires, sunsets, and skiing.
Snow, snow, and...
…and a little more snow.
The Difference Between Novels and Banana Bread
The winds are howling with sideways sleet and the lights are flickering so today is probably not the day for a trail adventure—
Instead we built a fort and I blew up balloons so I could sneak a few essays in from Zadie Smith’s “Intimations”.
I’m amazed when people can write about an experience they are still in with such clarity, but can’t say I’m surprised that Zadie Smith is one of the people who is able to do that!
Small Business Saturday at the Inn
The Inn may be closed but our ONLINE SHOP IS OPEN!
We’ve got gear plus some Steven Weinberg paintings and prints just like the ones in the rooms so you can hang ‘em up at your place, pour yourself a Room One (bourbon + lemon + maple syrup) and pretend you’re here at the Inn!
