Using our commercially certified kitchen, many Sable Artists have proven that food is art you can eat! Our running (and heated) water is sourced from a dug well on the land. We ice-chilled coolers to keep our food cool and use our propane-powered stove and oven to cook all kinds of masterpieces. We gather around the kitchen table each night for community dinners.

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Access: The Kitchen can be entered via either a six-step flight of stairs, or a ramp which is up a moderate packed-dirt hill.

The construction of our kitchen is a testament to many years of community -- the list is too long! It is the vision of Otto Pierce, and the love and labor of artists in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th seasons; the generosity of Jennifer and Thorton Hayslett for our windows; MaryBeth Bachman for our granite countertop and stainless steel sinks; Nan and Bump for most of the wood; and many friends who have filled it with their love, care, and recipes.

Photos by Otto Pierce, Matthew Paul Corley, and Emily White, 2019.

Our stage sits at the bottom of our earthen amphitheater. It has been home to many plays, dances, performances, poetry nights, and spontaneous dance parties, and is now the focal point for our Food & Art Fridays Performance Series and Water in the Wood showcases. It has undergone multiple renovations over the years.

The current iteration of the Sable stage was constructed in 2020 and now has an arching tin roof and side/back walls. It is made entirely of trees felled and milled with a chainsaw mill within just a few miles of Sable. No machinery was used and every piece was put in place by hand! Most of the lumber is spruce and hemlock except for the cherry braces.

The new floor (2023) is made of hemlock milled from the remnants of the pillars of The Studio (2014-2022), Sable’s original iconic structure. The hemlock tree once stood just below where The Stage sits today.

Dimensions: 32’ wide and 20’ deep. Height: the front beam is at 13’ from the floor, the middle beam at 10’, and the back goes down to 6’ at the edges (closer to 10’+ in the middle).

Take a look at all the photos to see how the stage has grown over the years!

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Access: At the bottom of a hill with a consistent but moderate slope. It has steps up to it, but not yet a ramp.

Original built by Season 1 artists - Otto, Jessica, Kern, Anna, Annie, Rebecca, Emma, and Ella - with a rebuild in 2016 by Otto, Sofie Rose Seymour, and Hanna Satterlee. Update built by Otto with help from Jim Labadie, Everett Renderer, Jeremy Cline, and community in 2020. Walls built by 2022 Carpentry Workshop crew: Otto, Melissa MacDonald, Miles Schelling, Gal, and Kyla Ohayon, as well as Jessica Lee and Sofie Rose. Top floor installed by Otto and Jim in 2023.

Photos by Jessica Lee, 2022; Ella Floyd, 2023; Berto Guido, 2022; Jessica Lee & Kyla Ohayon, 2021; Otto Pierce, 2020; Kyla Ohayon & Otto Pierce, 2018; unknown, 2019; Annie McRay, 2014.

Up the hill from the kitchen and overlooking the entirety of the Sable field, The Delectable Studio is named after the gorgeous view of the Delectable Mountains.

Currently the Delectable Studio is a wooden frame with a greenhouse roof, allowing for lots of natural light and fresh air. The completed project will have a front wall of windows, side walls and screens for cross breeze.

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Access: The Delectable Studio is up a rather steep and narrow dirt path from the far side of the Kitchen.

Frame built during a Build Workshop in 2023 by Otto Pierce and Ellen Rutt, with support from Bex Love. Continued construction support from Sable Alumni at the 2023 Sable Alumni Reunion, including Kern, Marcus, Jessica, Berto, Jealyn, Ray, and Jeremy.

The Stump Hut began life as a treehouse atop a 12-foot high hemlock stump. After many seasons as a spot for getting creative and gazing out over the gardens, the eponymous stump had to be cut out from underneath, making room for the downstairs to be built. It’s the longest-lasting structure built by Sable Artists.

In 2020 the Stump Hut was renovated with a more permanent roof, improved siding, and beautifully sanded floors.

Today, the 2nd floor has a futon couch and space to work and stretch; the 1st floor houses a writing desk and comfy armchair.

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Access: The Stump Hut is down a brief but moderate sloped wood-chipped path from the Kitchen, Bathhouse, and Dragon Oven. The downstairs has a ramp leading in; the upstairs is reached via a vertical ladder.

Renovation by Otto Pierce with help from community. Initially built in 2013 by Annie McRay and Otto with Season 1 artists Anna, Jessica, Kern, Emma, and Rebecca. The downstairs & ongoing transformations are by Otto with help from Sara and Sofie Rose.

Photos by Otto Pierce & Jessica Lee, 2021, 2020 & 2014.

The Kern Shack (also known as the Kernservatory) is a small artist studio named after Sable 2014 Artist Kern Samuel who designed, built and lived in it during Sable’s 1st season.

The Kern Shack houses most of our general art supplies, a plethora of fabrics, and a well-stocked bookshelf. It has a writing desk in front of an open window that looks out across the gardens.

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Access: The Kern Shack is down a mild slope on packed dirt and grass from The Kitchen. It has a ramp entrance.

Built in 2013 by Kern Samuel and Otto with assistance from fellow Season 1 Artists. Revamped in 2019 by Season 6 Artists.

Photos by Emily White and Matthew Paul Corley, 2019.

Sometimes a painter’s studio, other times a writer’s room, most recently a printing studio, the Eugene Shack is a comfy place to get cozy and creative.

This studio is named after Sable 2015 Artist Eugene McKeown, who painted the whimsical mural on the back wall after designing and building the shack in Sable’s 2nd season.

This structure currently has a couch and desk. It also holds some extra sheets, blankets, clothes, potential costumes, and camping supplies that Artists in Residence may use during their time at Sable.

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Access: The Eugene Shack is next to the Kern Shack, with the door up a slight hill. It requires one large step to get in.

Built in 2015 by Eugene McKeown, with Otto. Mural by Eugene, 2015. Renovated with fire-treated half walls in 2022 by Otto, Jake, Emma, Jessica, Audrey, and Sofie Rose.

Photos by Jessica Lee, 2018; Matthew Paul Corley, 2019; Masum Rumi, 2015.

Our wood-fired cob oven is shaped like a dragon! Since 2014 it has cooked many hundreds of pizzas in its belly. Come get one at Food & Art Fridays!

After 10 full seasons of breathing fire, the Dragon Oven needs a rebuild. We will be hosting a Cob Oven Building Workshop in May 2024. Learn more & sign up here!

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Access: The Pizza Oven is located along a moderate woodchipped slope from our main parking, and up the hill from our [more] accessible parking.

The oven was built collaboratively by Season 1 Artists and sculpted by Otto in 2014. A beautiful new hut (with sculptures) was built by Otto in 2019.

Photos by Ben DeFlorio, 2014; Matthew Paul Corley, 2019; Jessica Lee, 2015.

Our bathhouse has running water from our on-site well that powers our flush toilet, sink, and shower. It even has a stained glass window! Though we love to enjoy the luxury of water (even heated water!), we try to be sustainable by limiting shower lengths and frequency, and by being mindful of water use in the sink and toilet.

Please note: The Bathhouse is for residents only. Visitors may use the regularly cleaned portapotty and handwash station just down the path.

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Access: The Bathhouse has a ramp entrance and a large wooden door that swings out. The shower has a lip in the floor, and has a shallow bench in it.

Built in 2017 by Otto and Kember Vanderblue with help from Jessica, Kate, Anna, and Kathryn. Stained glass window was made by Sofie Rose in 2016.

Photos by Matthew Paul Corley, 2019; unknown, 2018.

The gardens are at the [he]art of growing a nourishing community here at Sable. The hillside of circular gardens are run by Fat Dragon Farm, with the love and labor of all who have passed through Sable. They contain veggies, fruit trees, a grape arbor, a berry patch, and lots of herbs and medicinals.

Residents are welcome to harvest, heal, & cook with food from the garden, make art there, and get plenty of dirt under their fingernails. We share this bounty with our broader community via pizza toppings at our Food & Art Fridays. Resident Artists participate in work-trade on the Sable Land, as part of our values of Land & Community.

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Access: The gardens are located on a hillside with a range of slopes, and can be navigated via packed dirt pathways.

The gardens are currently overseen by Otto & Sara, and have been worked on, weeded, and maintained by too many members of the Sable community to name here. Folks who especially shaped them include Otto, Sara Bachman, Kate Truini, Lilly O’Hara, Michelle Sanders, and Anna Ready-Campbell.

Photos by Matthew Paul Corley, 2019.

Sprinkled across the Sable landscape, these 8x8-foot platforms provide a flat and level place to pitch tents. (Or write, dance, make art, hang-out!)

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Access: Varies by location. Some are down a mild slope on packed dirt and grass from The Kitchen, on the far side of The Eugene Shack. Others are up a steep hill, overlooking the field. “Tent City” (AKA “The District”) is further in the woods, reached via a dirt path with slight inclines. All platforms are raised about a foot from the ground.

Tent platforms were originally built by Sable Artists on Day 1 - “Welcome to Sable, here’s a hammer and some nails!” They’ve since been built and rebuilt many times by The Sable Team and Sable Artists over the years.

Photos by Rose Kim, 2018; Matthew Paul Corley, 2019; Jasmine Huaimin Yeh, 2018.

Meandering through The Sable Land, the Trails go deep into the woods, past rock walls, around magnificent hemlock and yellow birch trees, and across fern meadows.

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Access: Trails reached by a wide packed dirt path and vary in width, gradient, and grooming. A couple of sections are steep and narrow. One section has stone steps with a hand-railing, another a wooden bridge.

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Trails made and maintained by Sable Artists throughout the years, most notably in 2014 (across the Sable land), and 2019 (the new loop).

Photos by Matthew Paul Corley, 2019; Kyla Ohayon, 2018.

Taggart Hill is packed dirt and gravel 4th class road (meaning it’s not plowed in the winter!).

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Access: Shared road with cars of neighbors, ATVs, and occasional logging trucks. Slight incline alongside edge of The Sable Land. Very steep incline down the hill near junction with Ranney Road. Please drive slowly and yield to uphill vehicles.

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Thanks to the town of Stockbridge, the North side of Taggart Hill Road has improved in quality since our beginning days in 2014.

Photo by Matthew Paul Corley, 2019.

Sable’s original iconic structure. A place for gathering, dancing, poetry reading, singing, writing. A trellis for hops, a gallery space, a stage.

Our “Studio” was designed by Otto Pierce and built collaboratively by Sable Artists and community members in August 2014. A decahedron (10-sided shape) that was 30 feet in diameter, it was built entirely with logs (no milled lumber), and with a massive self-supporting roof. Except for the nails, all of the materials came directly from the Sable Land.

The Studio became the central hub for Sable activity for many years. With a reciprocal roof, open beams, and surrounding circular gardens, it was at once inviting and curious.

(Did you ever spin around and look up through the middle?! Mesmerizing.)

To many, it became synonymous with Sable.

After eight long Vermont winters, The Studio suffered from extremely brittle beams and disconnected joints. It was on the verge of collapse at any moment and was no longer safe.

So in Spring 2022, we said goodbye to our beloved Studio. Otto dismantled the structure, clearing the pieces by excavator.

[Fun fact: The hemlock pillars were still in good shape so Otto milled them into boards to make a finished floor for the new Stage. The original tree that transformed into such a wonderful space has a new home at Sable, providing artists with a pretty snazzy performance space down the hill.]

We celebrate the many years of this beautiful structure, honor the trees who became it, the people who helped to build it, and all the ways we enjoyed it.

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The Studio was designed in 2014 by Otto and built with timber harvested from The Sable Land with Season 1 artists - Anna, Jess, Kern, Rebecca, Emma, Annie, Scotty, Elias, Ruth, and Ella - and lots of love and labor from our local community!

Photos by Matthew Paul Corley, 2019.