Setting up retreats

You know, there is a house here in Cambridge (MA) - it's a Buddhist center, and it's public - and it's always very clean, even though guest are allowed to use the kitchen. Although as someone pointed out, part of a writing retreat is to set aside all cares except for writing, so I guess you'd still need a staff. But - I guess what I'm saying is take a chance on thinking outside the box, too. Because your house is unique, so you could do something unique with the space. (I totally understand and appreciate your desire to preserve your home and gardens as they are.)

shadowwalker said:

I'm in the US Midwest. I know there's a land conservancy, and various historical organizations, but whether they'd be interested in anything like this, I'm not sure.

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Hard to say whether they'd be interesting in taking it on themselves, but they might be a valuable source on information, point out local pitfalls, regulations, etc.
I think the biggest stumbling block would be the cost of maintainence and upkeep. Unless there's reliable funding, older buildings and elaborate gardens might just be too expensive.
Check out what local heritage houses are doing.

I don't know if you're located in an area where people would typically go to vacation, but we once rented "a cabin in the woods" in a popular mountain destination. It was a private home that the family used whenever they wanted, but on the unscheduled days/weeks, it was managed by a property management company.

We rented it from them (wouldn't know who the owners were but for some materials in the home), and they had a cleaning service who came behind us to ready it for the next visitors. We prepared our own food and were expected to do our own dishes and make sure trash was properly disposed of, but linens were washed, floors and baths cleaned, etc by the service. I would assume the property management company could have handled something like you're proposing. The primary difference would be where to advertise the availability of the place. With the right management firm, it could be done without specifically hiring a staff, I would think.

(And I have several groups of writer-friends who meet yearly for small writer's retreats; I'm not sure how they find the facilities they use, but I'm sure they'd be happy to know of a place dedicated to retreating writers.)

shadowwalker said:

My son has basically said while he wants to be able to come back here for visits, he would have no interest in moving back here to live after my brother and I are gone.
So, he more-or-less wants a time-share?

I don't like the idea of dumping the worry and expense of keeping up the homestead to my son. At the same time, I hate the idea that some stranger may buy the place and destroy the gardens, tear down or totally re-do the house - in essence, destroy what the place has meant to our family.
Which will be a low priority to anyone else (sorry, but it's true, that's what makes it tricky, setting up this arrangement in a way that would limit their actions, while making it attractive to them.)
So I've been thinking of setting up a trust fund with the idea of using the house/grounds for a writer's retreat. Between the house and the outbuildings, there would be room for 4-5 writers at one time.

I know I'll have to consult an attorney at some point (especially for the trust fund part), but any advice on how to set up the retreat (on a continuing basis) would be helpful (including how to ensure that the building and grounds are kept 'safe' with strangers coming in to live here). But I don't know what kind of costs would be involved, insurance issues, or who I should be looking at to run the thing, among other things. So any advice or resources would be greatly appreciated.

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Would it work for you and your family if your son was to retain ownership of the property, and put the day-to-day care into the hands of a property management company and treated like a time-share or rental property? They have cleaning people, gardeners, can keep an eye on the place, and do maintainence as needed.
As long as there's money, they'll do what you want, and your son would be keeping an eye on them, getting progress reports, okaying expenses,etc, so they don't just take the money and let the place rot. Your family could retain full control.
With that taken care of, go to a university writing department, or one of the bigger retreat organizers, and ask them if they'd be interested in arranging, selecting, screening writers who want a 'smaller' retreat.
Half-a-dozen writers, max, doesn't sound like enough for it's own organization, although it might be exactly what someone who actually wants to retreat, and not go to a writerly summer camp, needs.
By separating the maintainence of the buildings and grounds, from the use of the buildings, you get the control you want, the writers get a fully-serviced place to go. And your son can pre-arrange the dates he wants to use the place. Everybody's happy.
The trick would be funding it. You might get the referring-body to make some token payment, considering that people actually using the place will require more services than just keeping-up a empty buildings. Other than that, your trust had better have a pile of money.

The insurance thing is clever! That would provide start-up funds without you're having to put every cent into the retreat fund while you're trying to make a living.

Shadowwalker - what a fabulously generous person you are - what an amazing thing to do.

I'm not sure how things work where you are (I'm from Australia) but does the State you live in have a Writing organisation? If so, perhaps you could bequeast it to them, for use as a Writers' Retreat/Studio (with details stipulated in your will).

Where I live, there is an organisation that supports writers in our State - and they have two houses that are used as writing retreats. One is rooms in an historical home in the capital city, and another is a home in the mountains a couple hours drive from the capital city. This second property sounds very much like your place - a home in a quiet area where 2-3 writers at a time can visit for quiet time to write. Writers can apply to the Writers' Centre for time to stay there in two ways - one is to pay/rent at a very reasonable price, and the other is an annual round of fellowships for a lucky few.

If you have such an organisation where you live, it might be worth meeting with them and discussing your proposal - especially re ongoing funding and maintanence etc. They might be able to provide funding (or by renting out the rooms it becomes self funding) - that way you can leave some $ for your son if you'd like.

All the very best.