Homestead Retreat offers healing programs for personal transformation, rejuvenation, a deep connection to Nature, and nurturing for Body, Mind, and Soul.
Homestead Retreat is sheltered in the arms of the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains - the ancestral home of the Cherokee People. There is a deep sense of peace and quiet here: a sense of The Sacred - of refuge and sanctuary. The land, like an ancient Grandmother, is filled with layers upon layers of history, healing, and wisdom.
The heart of Homestead Retreat is a 4,500 square foot Lodge that captures the imagination with its rustic and soaring beauty. Built from re-salvaged timbers from historic buildings across the country, the Lodge transports one back to days gone by. Each room provides a feeling of being tucked away where the hustle and bustle of the modern world does not intrude.
The original part of the home is a 150 year old, historic Log Cabin where pioneer families once lived. The cabin was carefully restored to maintain its integrity and to honor its special place on the mountain. The connected Lodge was designed by an award-winning architect, creating a unique, one of a kind retreat.
Ceilings in the great room of the Lodge rise up twenty-five feet, while wall to wall windows offer an inspiring vista of natural beauty.
The rushing sound of the creek can easily be heard year 'round, as it's nourishing water's flow directly beneath the great room of the lodge.
The Kiva, or seminar room, is a welcoming, open space where classes are held, teachings are shared, and music, dance, yoga, meditation, and healing can be experienced.
Located amidst the flower gardens, Creekside Cabin offers a private place to meditate, write, or relax while listening to the creek below.
The Log Cabin Library offers an opportunity to relax while reading, writing, or conversing with a friend. Wi-Fi is available throughout the house. An extensive collection of books, CD's, & healing-card decks, on a wide variety of subjects, are available for use.
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Near the lodge, a twenty five-year old organic garden produces nutritious food for healthy and delicious meals. Blueberry and raspberry bushes abound, and the kitchen is often filled with baskets of berries just waiting to be turned into pies.
Several trails run throughout the property: some head high up the rugged mountains to amazing vistas; others traverse thin lines through the grassy meadows and apple orchard, while some follow the gentle meander of the creeks. Which trails will you take?
Flowing streams surround Homestead Retreat. Nestled along the creek bed are little coves where one can sit and wonder. Here, you are able to watch the water sing its way down the mountain, cascading in waterfalls and rivulets of liquid light. There are woods to walk in, huge boulders to nestle against, and flat, grassy knolls to lie down upon and watch the clouds soar by.
For over thirty years the owners and founder's of the Homestead retreat, Ayal and Hawk Hurst, have been committed to offering wisdom teachings in a natural, healing environment to those who come to live, study, or work with them.
Ayal is an accredited Reiki Master, Spiritual Counselor, Intuitive Healer, and Shamanic Practitioner. For over 38 years, she has offered personal healing sessions, seminars, classes, and workshops, in order to bring the knowledge she has gathered and integrated to others.
Ayal specializes in tracking, releasing, and transforming dysfunctional emotional and mental patterns, unworkable situations, and negative energy blocks that limit development and no longer serve one's highest good.
Since 1993 Hawk has offered a wide range of cultural arts performances, artist-in-residency programs, and professional development workshops focusing on storytelling and ancient living skills, such as river cane flute making, drum making, and gourd-instrument making.
He visits schools, libraries, museums, and festivals sharing the songs and stories from ancient cultures across the globe, while teaching students how to create Native American-style flutes, African-style gourd drums, and their very own stories.
