Volunteer Guests
Guest accommodations are available for creative collaborators. Wanna make art, theatre, or sawdust with us?
Guest Rooms
Our guest rooms are shared, with hostel-style bunks, and a private changing booth. Guest bathrooms are shared with other guests.
You're also welcome to bring your own sleeping accommodations, in the form of camping gear or a vehicle.
COMMON SPACES
We have common spaces in multiple buildings. In the dormitory, there is a shared kitchen where communal food and meals are stored, prepared, and served. It overlooks a gathering space we call "the Disco", which has diner seating, gym equipment, board games, and a movie projector. The dorm also features communal laundry facilities, and a business and crafting room with office supplies, printers and photocopiers for communal use. The manor first floor common spaces (photos) are accessible to residents when there are not private events or film shoots.
COST TO GUESTS
Our pricing scheme for overnight volunteer guests is a concept that is radical to many - it's pay-what-you-can (PWYC).
We ask visiting volunteers to contribute about 15 directed volunteer hours per week (more on this below).
At least 3 of those hours should be from our list of upkeep tasks.
If you stay longer than 1 month, you must contribute at least $200/month toward the communal food & utilities budgets.
If you want to opt-out of volunteer hours during your stay here, we instead ask for a suggested minimum donation of $30/night.
DIRECTED VOLUNTEER HOURS
Directed volunteer hours are structured and assigned top-down from community leadership. You are welcome to contribute in self-directed ways, but those don't count toward your directed volunteer hours. Here are some examples.
✅ ✅ ✅
EXAMPLE: DIRECTED VOLUNTEER HOURS
you talk to a community manager and say you love doing outdoor tasks and would be happy to contribute doing things like raking leaves, shovelling show, or pulling up weeds
a community manager asks you to spend 2 hours pulling up weeds in the garden
you spend 2 hours pulling up weeds in the garden and report back to the community manager to check your work
ARE THESE DIRECTED VOLUNTEER HOURS?
✅ YES! This counts as 2 directed volunteer hours!
We will work with you to help find directed volunteer hours for you that fit your strengths and areas of interest. We want you to be contributing in ways you find rewarding and fun. We need such a wide variety of contributions that we can probably find a way to focus your enthusiasm toward one of our most pressing immediate goals.
❌ ❌ ❌
EXAMPLE: SELF-DIRECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
you think that it would be nice for community morale if someone baked a cake for all the residents
the community manager says although that sounds nice, it's not one of our priorities right now, so would encourage you to spend your time elsewhere
you want to bake a cake anyway, so you spend several hours baking and frosting a cake, and your cake is so epic it could win gourmet culinary awards, and the residents love it and community morale is better than ever - and you were so right that your amazing cake improved morale
ARE THESE DIRECTED VOLUNTEER HOURS?
❌ NO! This does not count toward your directed volunteer hours.
This is a really nice thing, and we collectively value your skill and contributions, but the time spent making contributions like these unfortunately does not count as directed volunteer hours.
WHY IS IT LIKE THIS? WHY CAN'T I JUST VOLUNTEER HOWEVER I WANT WHENEVER I WANT?
We are a volunteer-run community with limited bandwidth, trying to create something everyone can enjoy. This means:
To maximize our combined efforts, we have to set priorities. These become our areas of focus which inform our next steps. We have found things are more harmonious and go much more smoothly when we work in sync toward common goals. This sometimes means starting new projects needs to wait. Even if we all agree that having those projects done would be great, sometimes we have to finish current projects before starting new ones.
Sometimes starting a project creates work for other people. Perhaps we really want to bake an elaborate cake, and there is value in having a cake, but the act of doing so might take up the space in the kitchen during a time that it's needed to make dinner. This might create friction, or leave a lot of people hungry. The baking process might also leave the kitchen in a state where every dish is dirty, the floors are covered in flour and sugar, or you're so exhausted after spending all day making a cake that it means other volunteers who are already stretched thin have to tidy up after you. Some times are more strategically-appropriate than others to make cakes, so that's why we can't always support making cakes, even if we love cake.
BEFORE YOU ARRIVE, PLEASE HAVE A BACKUP PLAN
Guest accommodations are intended for short-term volunteers. Please arrive with a departure date planned. Please do not arrive as a guest with the expectation that you can then stay indefinitely. We are not in a position to extend the stays of guests who arrive with no where else to go. Though we have empathy for people in need, we must balance it against the needs of our community, so we are not able to act as a need-based shelter.
You also might not like it here. We like it, and that's why we're here, but it's definitely not for everyone. We don't want anyone to feel trapped or unable to leave. A space in an isolated town, with dozens of artists and volunteers coming and going, can feel overwhelming. Please have other places you can go if you end up not wanting to stay.
JOIN OUR DISCORD TO GET STARTED
Want to visit? Join and introduce yourself on our Discord and let us know which dates you'd like to arrive and depart. One of us will confirm - there is no one person in charge of guests. Anyone who reads your introduction can step up and offer to meet you when you arrive and show you around.
WHAT ABOUT MY CREATURES?
Q: Can MY PET COME WITH ME WHEN I STAY OVERNIGHT AS A VOLUNTEER?
Unfortunately, no. Due to allergies, we can't have pets in the building with the guest rooms.
Q: Can MY CHILDREN or TEENAGERS COME WITH ME WHEN I STAY OVERNIGHT AS A VOLUNTEER?
Unfortunately no. We do not have any guest accommodations appropriate for minors. Your children can visit during the day with some advance notice. We will provide guidelines about where and how children are allowed to interact with the spaces here, but we are not equipped to house the children of overnight volunteer guests. If your child is over 18, they may also apply as a volunteer guest.