HillHouse Farms: A typical stay at HillHouse Writer’s retreat

We send out our survey in preparation of a new guest's arrival about a week before their date. The last few times we received these surveys back they were missing critical information (intense food dislikes, allergies, etc.) so I am revising it, on Karen's suggestion, to make the questions more open ended. Instead of asking which types of meat protein you prefer with a multiple choice we will just ask if there are favorites, and some that you wish to avoid.

Once I get the completed survey back I can start creating the menu. I will send that back for comments and make the final revision a day or so prior to arrival. I was joking when I said it but I have realized that it rings true; the biggest task of running this retreat is shopping. Morgan (who is visiting from Portland Oregon this week) said we should get suppliers to deliver to us. That's a great idea, if I can get my head above water this week I may begin arranging some of those relationships.

One thing that complicates this is timing and the other competing complication is the fact that Pulaski, our nearest town, is devoid of shopping. In short, I have to drive 45 minutes on the interstate to get to a decent (read: non-Wal-Mart) grocery store.

We strive to offer local-organic ingredients whenever possible. That includes the surrounding farms for meats and produce in season. But for little things, like let's say, organic Valencia oranges or Organic Valley heavy cream, we have to plan the trip with the menus. And for perishable supplies like Dover sole or free range chickens the trip can be extended as much as 30 minutes farther into the Green Hills section of Nashville (for the bigger, more urban Whole Foods Market). This was the case yesterday afternoon. The complete round trip took almost four hours.

But let's get back to the present; the guest's arrival day.

Many of our guests fly in to Nashville. We include pickup and drop off from/to the airport (with a minimum 3 day stay). Often on the trip back we stop off at the store to get last minute supplies, like wine, meats, etc (we have a refrigerator in the car so the one hour trip home does not lessen the freshness of what we buy in the city). This gives our guests the opportunity to get forgotten items and make final suggestions regarding the menu.

Arrival at the farm is a big deal for the dogs, which have to freak out when they hear the alerting tones from the electric gate opener. The local Mocking Birds have learned the pitch and rhythm of this beeping as well and will occasionally confuse the dogs and the humans about approaching visitors. This gives support to my assertion that most animals have a finely tuned and extremely dry sense of humor. This irony seems to be built in to the universe!

We pull up on the lawn at the front door so that we do not have to climb too many steps with luggage or boxes and enter the house through the front door. The Blue Room, which is most often the residency lodging of choice, is located directly to the left of the entry. We will either have lunch or dinner a short time later. This first meal gives everyone a chance to meet. So if there are other guests we generally all sit together at this first meal. We go over wakeup times and meals times, specific needs and such. The conversation eventually rolls around to projects and then generally finishes up with a tour of the house and the property.

After that our guests usually disappear. The point of a stay at HillHouse is, after all, to get some quality work time in with no distractions. We give a 30 min advance call for meals, which can be taken anywhere on the property, with or without others. For expended stays, the rooms are cleaned once per week, sheets and towels washed and hung on the line in good weather, and the rooms aired out for an hour or so.

A note about your sense of time at HillHouse; you will lose it. This is the effect that most impressed us when we first visited this property. It is not so much that time stops but more that it matters less and less as you fall into the rhythms of the sunrise and set, the birds and breezes and the cycles of the cows, sheep, horses and other animals. There are broad shaded porches in the front and back of the house to facilitate meditation at any time of the day. You can search the surrounding fields for local fauna or drift to the sound of song birds and wind chimes. There is a constant breeze up here on the hill.

Meals at HillHouse are made to order, from scratch every day (except when we have leftovers – making all this food creates a bit of a surplus by the end of the week). Meal times are agreed upon by all guests in advance but are flexible depending upon need. We will go out of our way to accommodate any special whims. We strive to pamper. Guests are encouraged to help or stay away from the kitchen as suits them. We are flexible and can alter a menu or a meal on a moment's notice.

Since the point of attending HillHouse is to work (and there is an artist's studio available for painting and sculpting) most attendees do not seek attractions off the property. We understand the obsessive nature of the creation of arts and so we can plan trips into Pulaski (or into Nashville or Huntsville) for a movie or a short diversion. There are also several nearby attractions to take up attention like the Tennessee walking Horse Museum Amish country in Lawrenceburg or the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg. Additionally, there are hundreds of miles of country roads through the surrounding hills, valleys, shaded glens and fields. Giles County is situated in rolling hills, host to hundreds of thousands of acres of Fox Hunting and Cattle farming. We liken it to Ireland with warmer temperatures. And if you want to stay closer to home, our property is honeycombed with trails and our animals are all very socialized.

Oh yes, a note about animals. Most of our animals are outdoors. The cats do not come in the house. Although we have four dogs only two of them (three if my daughter is visiting with her teacup Chihuahua, Munchkin) come inside. Nevertheless, we are animal people and they are very present in and around HillHouse. If you have allergies or are afraid of animals we suggest you reconsider visiting. This property belongs to them, we are just visiting.

At the end of a stay at HillHouse we ask our guests to please write a recommendation (or a journal entry describing their visit). We make these testimonials available to potential guests. We like to take pictures and hang out together at the last meal before heading off to the airport. Many of our guests stay in touch and send gifts and cards. Once you attend HillHouse you become part of our extended family.