Wellspring House Writers Retreat, Ashfield, Massachusetts

At less than $250 per week for a private bedroom, shared bathroom, kitchen, and living areas, Wellspring House in the Berkshires is a writers’ dream come true. Proprietor, Preston Browning, a prolific writer and retired university English professor, is the heart and soul of the place.

With residencies from a couple of days to several months or longer, Wellspring House offers protected time in the company of other writers in a bucolic setting that is a short drive to cultural enclaves like Amherst (Emily Dickinson Museum), North Adams (Mass MOCA), and Northampton (Smith College).

The historical novelists seem to spend less time than we poets do museum hopping, bookstore browsing, hiking, and swimming in Lake Ashfield, but the magic of Wellspring House is being able to fashion your own unique retreat experience. I’ve stayed in winter, spring, summer and fall. Every season is my favorite time of year to visit Wellspring House.