Procedure for reserving a hermitage

Hello and glad you have found our page. There are a few things you should know prior to making a reservation for one of our hermitages. First please scroll down and check out our photos and the story behind the hermitages to see if they are right for you.

Please remember our hermitages are for private retreats and are not intended as vacation cabins. There are no pets allowed and there is no smoking anywhere on the site.

Next look at your calendar and pick out the dates you wish. Then email Tom at vccc@highsouth.com and ask him to check on your dates. Once you agree on the correct dates he will send you an application and either request a deposit of $40 if you are booking more than 30 days prior to your retreat or payment in full if less than 30 days. Your reservation will not be confirmed until we receive your completed application form and requested payment. If for some reason you are unable to make your retreat we will consider your payment as a donation to our ongoing ministries.

The cost is $40 per night for the first 2 nights and $30 per night for the next 4 and then $20 a night after that. The cost for a one night stay is $60. The cost for an additional person sharing the same hermitage is $20 per night.

If you plan to have another person sharing a hermitage please keep that in mind as you plan your retreat as there may be other people on retreat who are in silence.

There is wifi on the site but we cannot guarantee that it will always be working and is compatible with your computer or phone.

Photos of Hermitages, St. Anthony's Chapel and some interior shots October 2009

Clay artist Becky Gray from Celo NC created a one of a kind sculpture for St. Anthony's Chapel which she deliverd on November 5th. St. Anthony of Padua is often thought of as the finder of lost things and is often depicted in art holding lilies to symbolize Christ. He is also often holding a baby Jesus which symbolizes bringing the light of Christ to the world. In this unique sculpture she has St. Anthony, a disciple of St. Francis, sitting on a tree stump holding a bunch of lilies and a lost beagle. The Christ child is sitting on his lap and is shown as an older child. They are looking into each other eyes.


St. Anthony and the young Jesus are sitting on a cherry shelf to the left of and behind the altar in the chapel.



Bedroom in The Thomas Merton hermitage


View of cliffs next to The Thomas Merton hermitage

Typical front porch on each hermitage

Fall colors on tree above The Thomas Merton hermitage

A typical kitchen area with washer/dryer (only in 3 hermitages) at far end, refrigerator with ice maker, sink and counter area, gas stove and storage cabinets.

Typical living room area with dining room table and chair, rocking chair, book shelves with books appropriate to each hermitage, oversized love seat, and a writing desk (not pictured to the right).

There is a queen bed in each hermitage with different quilts in each.

Interior of St. Anthony's chapel with cherry chairs for 8, altar made out of local catalpa tree and local ash, interior walls are cherry cut and milled from our property, hickory floors also cut and milled on the property. Perfect for meditation and reflection or spiritual direction. Also has a kneeler and icons, finger labyrinth, CD player and reflective CD's, hymnals, prayer books and accessible restroom with sacristy. Supplies are included for Eucharist if you have a priest in your group.

Front of Bishop G. Porter Taylor hermitage

St. Anthony's Chapel is wheelchair accessible as is The Evelyn Underhill hermitage.

New trails and wireless update!

Thanks to the good folks at Skyline Telephone we now have wireless DSL service in all of the hermitages.

Thanks to Jeremy Early and all the good folks at Early Trailworks we now have a series of loop trails above the hermitages. We will be marking these trails for your use and as we receive donations will place benches along the trails. $125 buys a beautiful bench with a plaque in honor or memory of someone or maybe just a beautiful quote you love.

Typical Inventory - August 2009

Friday, Auust 7, 2009

Typical Inventory for Hermitages
In our research we found that most retreatants change their daily habits while on retreat. These changes may or may not include changes to your normal sleeping and eating habits. While retreatants are welcome to come down the mountain for meals at the conference (if we are serving other groups at an additional charge per meal. Please check with the office regarding availability and times of meals) it was also found that most people on retreat do not want to be surrounded with noise and the other distractions of our main campus.

We have tried to stock each hermitage with the following list of items so that you will know what you might need to bring with you in terms of food and other supplies. If you should use the last of some item we stock in the kitchen please let us know in your evaluation so we can be sure to purchase another before the next retreatant arrives.

We would ask that you please do not leave left over food items in the hermitages upon your departure.We have put a lot of thought into the placement of the furniture in each hermitages and in that regard we would ask that you not move our larger items of furniture around in the hermitages. If you should have suggestions on furniture placement please let us know on your evaluation so we can consider your suggestion.

We have also carefully considered the books in each hermitage and would love your suggestions but we would ask you to please not leave any books without first consulting the office.The following is the inventory for the Thomas Merton hermitage but would be typical of each of the hermitages except for the books, icons and other art work specific to Thomas Merton


Bedroom
Bedside clock
Flashlight
1coaster on each bedside table
1 Icon
Wooden handmade Cross
Queen bed with quilt
Stool
1 wooden basket
10 plastic hangers in closet
4 pillows on bed - 2 in pillow cases and 2 in quilted shams
2 extra pillows in closet (for pull out love seat)
1 king blanket on bed with 2 extra in closet
3 single bed blankets (for pull out love seat)
1 ceiling fan
1 supplemental heater

Bathroom
1 plastic trash basket
Assorted housekeeping supplies in closet and under sink
1 bin under sink for cleaners etc.
1 towel rod
1 toilet paper holder
1 nightlight
Assorted bed linens
Towels, wash cloths and bath mats
Basket for individual soaps
Toilet bowl brush
Toilet bowl plunger

Kitchen
1 coffee maker
1 toaster
1 microwave
1 refrigerator with freezer and ice maker
2 magnetic chip clips on refrigerator
1 gas range
1 combo washer/dryer (not in accessible hermitage)
1 magnetic knife strip with 5 kitchen knives
1 hook with cutting board and pot holders
1 LED emergency flashlight
1 strainer
1 colander
1 cheese grater
1 baking sheet
3 mixing bowls - red
1 glass baking dish
1 cooking pot with glass lid small
1 cooking pot with glass lid medium
1 cooking pot with glass lid large
1 small fry pan
1 medium fry pan
1 whistling tea kettle
4 sets silverware - regular and salad forks, regular and soup spoons, knives
1 silverware basket with compartments
1 silverware basket plain
4 steak knives
1 whisk
1 set of measuring cups
1 set of measuring spoons
1 corkscrew
1 vegetable peeler
1 manual can opener
3 wooden spoons in mason jar
3 plastic cooking utensils (extra set in top of cupboard) in mason jar
1 large box of salt
1 salt grinder
1 pepper grinder
1 bottle olive oil
1 bottle regular oil
1 bottle balsamic vinegar
1 bottle soy sauce
1 honey bear
1 jar cinnamon
5 glad plastic food storage containers
1 box saran wrap
1 box aluminum foil
4 wine glasses
4 pottery mugs
4 pottery dinner plates
4 pottery bowls
4 pottery glasses
2 small glasses
2 large glasses
Assortment of Celestial Seasoning Teas in individual packets
1 regular Folgers coffee
1 decaffeinated Folgers coffee
1 box coffee filters
dish towels
dish rags
1 in sink disk drainer
2 dish brushes
1 bottle of dish soap
1 fire extinguisher under the sink
1 under sink revolving lid trash receptacle
1 under sink bin for housekeeping supplies
1 swifter with extra swifter cloths in cabinet over refrigerator
1 box trash bags in cabinet over refrigerator
1 box of laundry soap
1 box of dryer fabric softener sheets
1 mop
1 broom
1 dustpan
1 flyswatter
2 brown cloth placements
4 brown cloth napkins
1 basket with extra batteries, matches etc. in closet
1 basket with packets of white sugar, raw sugar, Splenda and Equal
1 extra basket in closet
1 plastic folder with all instruction manuals for cabins

Living Room
1 A/C heater unit with remote control
1 rocking chair
1 pull out love seat with 2 cushions
1 reed trash basket
1 writing desk
1 lamp on writing desk
1 coaster on writing desk
1 chair for writing desk
1 dining room table will fold up leaves
1 dining room table chair
2 floor lamps
1 area rug with non-slip pad
1 side table with bookshelves w/2 coaster
1 photo of Thomas Merton
1 ceiling fan
1 reed footstool with pillow
1 step stool to use to reach high shelves
1 plastic shoe and boot holder for wet shoes and boots
2 walking sticks behind door - please return after use
1 vent less propane gas heater with thermostat

Porch
2 rocking chairs
1 side table
1 set wind chimes (on Merton and Julian)

Books - Each Hermitage has books appropriate for that Hermitage
Year with Thomas Merton - Thomas Merton
Seeds (selections from his work) - Thomas Merton
Becoming Who You Are - James Martin, SJ
Thoughts in Solitude - Thomas Merton
Dialogues with Silence - Thomas Merton
Seven Storey Mountain - Thomas Merton
Good Poems - Garrison Keillor
The Lotus Flowers - Ellen Bryant VoigtThe Book of Common Prayer
The Holy Bible with Apocrypha
Hymnal - 1982
Lift Every Voice and Sing
Voices Found
Wonder, Love and Praise - Supplement to 1982 Hymnal
The First Valle Crucis - Ruby Clark Demyen
Dobie ‘n’ Me in Hoot Owl Holler - Doris Smith Bliss
Echoes From Hoot Owl Holler - Doris Smith Bliss
Valle Crucis - David Yates and William Bake
Missionary Life at Valle Crucis - Susan Fennimore Cooper
Valle Crucis A History of an Uncommon Place - I. Harding Hughes, Jr.
My Valle Crucis: the 1930's - I. Harding Hughes, Jr.

July 26 2009 Dedication Service

John and Faye Cooper, Bishop Taylor, David Finck, Mike Galleher and Tom Eshelman


One of the Sisters of The Transfiguration from Cincinnati Ohio who happened to be at their Chapter House in Bat Cave and drove up for the service. Bishop Weinhauer was their spiritual director for many years

Bishop Taylor gave some wonderful remarks. He likened the people who have stayed and will stay at the hermitages to the Butterfly Effect in that the ripples of what they learn on their time in this special place will ripple out into the universe.

Bishop Taylor has knocked on the door with his crozier and then made the sign of the cross on the threshold of St. Anthony's Chapel

Pipe Major Sandy Jones played the bagpipes for the service. He opened with Highland Cathedral and closed with Amazing Grace

The crowd gathers in a semi circle

July 2009

Sign at entrance to Hermitage Site installed on July 21, 2009

July 2009

David Finck master woodworker inspects his altar creation in the chapel


Jack Weisman plants a few more Rhodos

Jack Weisman and crew including the dog

Freeman Gas installs the heater for the chapel and acessible cabin

Rock work is finished around the chapel

Doesn't this look great!

Mixing the mortar for the stonework

It is hard work making all the stones fit in place

Thanks to John and Faye Cooper we were able to have rockwork put around the base of the chapel

The rockwork