Stewardship
Leap of Faith/ Call of The Wild!​
We are two women of spirit who became stewards of (Ancient Echoes) at Kelly Place in January of 2021. After a plan to walk The Camino de Santiago in Spain that previous September was interrupted by Covid, we pivoted, packed up our Four Runner with gear, installed a pop up tent on the lid, and headed to the Southwest on a spontaneously unfolding pilgrimage. On our return back home to Bozeman, Montana we stumbled upon this hidden gem with a thought to camp here for one night. The place captivated us, while curiously being up for sale. Hmmm. Weird chills. ​
After sleeping under a blanket of stars the likes of which we had never experienced (even in Big Sky Country!), having our hearts and imaginations captured by the red cliffs, azure skies and a chorus of bird song, a dizzying 18 hours later we decided we would return home to Bozeman, sell everything, pause our vocations and become the stewards of this unusual and magical place. Deep Dive!​​​
check out our personal websites at the links above
Our professional backgrounds are in human potential through both personal and transpersonal modes of therapy, transformation, art , design and creativity.
Celine in the mud
Caretaking
On any given day you may find either one of us all across the land (38 acres) managing this or that repair, up to our elbows in dirt, soil and sand, leaves, weeds and mud, on the tractor (her name is Georgia) or irrigating, mowing, pruning, and pondering how else can we care for our piece of dirt and rock. Challenging, magical, moody, tough and beautiful, the place has her own ideas! We aren't afraid of hard work or learn what we don't know and yes, along the way we have wondered what did we do?! But we return always to the mission that was prescribed to us to caretake and steward this magical place, as humble proprietors. ​
Creativity
We have approached much of our renovation and restoration process with an artists' eye, innovative thinking and problem solving. Our business model is also creative with a willingness to take risks and think outside of the box. We believe creating beauty and harmony is a revelation for our time and art making is a powerful antidote and answer to questions about being human in strange times.
“Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” – Charles Mingus
Allison painting
Horticulture
​Our projects are many as we re-wild the grounds with drought resistant grasses and native plants with aims for xeriscape and a longer term process of eliminating "lawns." We think a lot about water and how to preserve the Great Colorado River and her resources. Soil, so critical to the health of the planet, how to cultivate, amend and support good dirt. Maintaining the horticultural legacy here is an ongoing effort of caretaking the many mature trees. And planting heirloom seeds native to the region such as The Three Sisters ( corn, bean and squash), amaranth and tobacco. ​​​
​We installed a significant solar array in 2023 which provides 100% of our power.
And all of our systems are thoughtful towards efficiency and taking less.​​
sustainability and design
​Our choices in building materials are sustainable whether it is pulling from our scrap pile for reuse and upcycle, or using products that make eco-sense and don't polute our living environs such as marmoleum flooring from Germany, an all-natural material composed of wood flour, jute, linseed oil, with a cork layer for comfort.
We use 0% voc paint and lovely natural clay paint, sustainably harvested cedar for trim, and eco insulation made of renewable and recycled fibers, the majority of which is post-consumer recycled newspaper. We have used hand made Saltilo tile in a few of our rooms (Casitas) with a wonderful patina and some have dog paws that ended up in the wet clay from the maker's yard.
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We decided to pay now for state of the art heating and cooling and have installed heat pumps in all of our buildings. Our cleaning products are natural products, good for you and good for our staff. We really think about how we are impacting our environment, walking our talk instead of greenwashing our context.
Our values
For us the idea of "owning" such a place is unfathomable, and we cherish the notion of gift giving and mutual exchange, where we back away from the grinding system which reduces everything to a commodity, leaving most of us bereft of what we really want: a sense of belonging and relationship. purpose and beauty. The principle of offering a gift is what guides our vision. We look forward to sharing this one with you.
