Colonyhouse - 2014


Colonyhouse is in Rockaway Beach, Oregon, and it's a wonderful retreat lodge for the Oregon Writer's Colony. The pictures below will give you an idea of the accommodations and how the house is laid out.

The main floor features a large common room, a dining area, a full bath, a fully-outfitted kitchen with plenty of prep space, and an enclosed porch-like room. There is a bedroom on the main floor, two bedrooms upstairs, and one bedroom in the lower level near a tiny bathroom with a shower. The house will sleep eight to nine people.

Note the stairs on the left......I thought they were a lot easier to traverse than the old rock ones on the right would have been.

This angle above shows the view from Pacific Avenue. The ocean is behind me here, and the wide window in the second story leads to the front bedroom. (More on that below.)
Hearth with a working fireplace and you will note that there's printer there. (The TV is no longer on-site.) In addition, Colonyhouse is outfitted with Wi-Fi for guests' convenience.
"Don't let the bastards get you down" --- translated into Writerese:
Don't let Creative Anxiety affect you at Colonyhouse!
View of the front door and living room. Seats 7 or 8 people, plus I am standing in the dining area while taking this photo where there's also a large table that will seat more writers. There are additional lightweight chairs on hand, and a variety of office chairs here and there in the place. Plenty of room - and seats - for meeting and discussing our work, hearing presentations, and doing our writing. Also, the blinds can be pulled open to let lots more light in . . . or they can be kept closed as they are now, which makes for easy use of a Powerpoint projector.
View of the living room from the upper walkway to the two rooms on the second floor. I sat on the gold chairs and the couch below. Not bad! Everything's pretty comfy. I know it *looks* dark, but I closed all the blinds to get the photo. It's actually quite bright and cheery when the light comes in the windows.
Lots of books in cases, on shelves, and in the buffet here. If you are published, this buffet is the place to leave a copy of your book for future house occupants to read. The fireplace is behind me now, and the kitchen, dining area, and porch to my right. The doorway with the white curtain in the background is the main bathroom. Fixtures work great, and the tub is spacious with a shower.
The kitchen is wide, so I'll have to show it in two pictures. Humongus fridge (with poetry magnets for your inspirational pleasure), regular stove, dishwasher, lots of dishes and supplies, and all the odds and ends needed for making meals and storing leftovers. The water tastes fine as well.
Now I've stepped into the kitchen and turned right. There's an open area there and the counters that run on two sides. When the blinds aren't down, this is a sunny place to pull a chair into, look out the windows, and write!
This is an enclosed porch that leads out to the front entrance. The window there looks into the kitchen.
Here is another angle of the enclosed porch. You can see the ocean from the window, though this picture doesn't show the best vantage point.
Now I'm in the dining area. Straight ahead from me is the buffet, and to my left is the living room. Through the "window," you can see the enclosed porch. "Window" is a relative term. I reached out to touch it, and there is no glass there. So two sets of people - probably 10 or 12 - can sit at those two tables and all be close enough to talk to each other.
To the left of the buffet (before the hallway to the main bath) are the stairs to the lower level. We've gone down the wooden stairs, and this is the downstairs room with two twin beds. There is also a small writing table next to the doorway I'm standing in. A little chilly here during the winter, but I bet it's extremely comfy during the hot spring, summer, and autumn. There are plenty of blankets to be had.
One of the benefits of the basement room is that the bathroom is right outside the door. Here's the shower and sink, and there's also a toilet to the left of the shower which is impossible to take a picture of. The room is small and narrow, but everything works right and it's accessible to all.
Back up on the main floor, this small bedroom is at the foot of the stairs that lead up to the upper level. Sleeps two.
The big bedroom at the top of the stairs is wide. Here is a queen-size bed from the Left View.
This is the Center View from the doorway of the big bedroom, with the queen bed to the left.
This is the Right View of the big bedroom with a bed slightly bigger than a twin - full-size, I guess it is. This room could sleep three if two were good enough friends to share the queen-size bed.
This is the Left View of the front bedroom at the end of the hall. The window to the right looks out to the street below and the ocean beyond. This is the cherry room for writers who would want to sit in the window and periodically enjoy looking at the ocean while writing.
This is the Right View of the front bedroom at the end of the hall. The two twin beds look pretty much the same on either side.
This is the view from the front bedroom. The backyard is very green, and you can hear the ocean. Unfortunately, at this time, the Colonyhouse is not accessible if you're not able-bodied. There is a campaign going on to raise money for an elevator.You have to be able to hike along those flagstones in the yard below, then take the wooden stairs up. Once inside, the house has three levels with regular stairs.
 

So that's the tour of Colonyhouse!
Updated August 22, 2021