Located in one of the most beautiful spots in the region, Griffin Creek, our Oregon Woodland Cottage is the perfect place from which to explore the wonders of Southern Oregon and the Rogue Valley. Also a dreamy private meditation retreat space. Bring your entire family, and your dogs, or come alone, and enjoy a vacation in nature with all the modern conveniences.
Oregon Woodland Cottage is a spacious (1150 sq ft), modern bungalow (built in 2000) nestled on 60-acres of private property in the Griffin Creek area between Ashland and Jacksonville. It’s at the end of a country road (now paved), with property borders on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) watershed land, so the surrounding trees are old and tall. It feels and sounds like you are the wilderness, yet driving 8 minutes northeast takes you into downtown Medford, 7 minutes northwest and you arrive in the charming historical gold rush town of Jacksonville, or 23 minutes southeast and you find yourself in Ashland’s downtown plaza and the bricks in front of Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Angus Bowmer Theater.
Oregon Woodland Cottage is spacious and modern, built in 2000 and lived in on and off for 6 years while we cruised the Pacific Ocean in our 35-foot sailboat. When it came time to settle down permanently, we built a two-story house, which is next to the cottage (see photos).
The kitchen in Oregon Woodland Cottage is large and well-appointed with a gas stove and oven, new fridge, microwave, toaster, dishwasher, garbage disposal, and a good selection of pots, pans, dishes, and cutlery. You'll find everything you need to prepare a holiday feast for your family.
The private bedroom has a new king bed, a pillow-top queen bed, a wardrobe, several dressers and chairs, plus lots of leg room. There's a pantry closet here with extra linen, bedding, and paper supplies for your use.
The living room is large and open, the walls lined with books. You’ll be comfortable sitting upon one of the 2 IKEA queen sofabeds (they become queen beds for sleeping upon) and a good selection of arm-chairs.
The living room also has a desk with large work space, The mini-split HVAC, a free-standing fireplace, and a lovely round kitchen table with chairs. You'll find a 52” plasma screen TV with cable, HBO, Showtime, Netflix, and a selection of DVDs.
Expect fairly good wi-fi for all your computer connections. Expect also that you are so remote your cell phone won’t work inside (there’s a cell phone “sweet spot” in front of the cottage, though). You can set your phone to "wi-fi calling" and it will function normally.
Oregon Woodland Cottage’s bathroom has a deep stainless steel sink and plenty of hooks for towels. The large, custom, cultured marble shower features a bench and a pair of shower faucets so you can shower together with a friend or lover. We supply scent-free soap, shampoo and conditioner, as well as a hair dryer.
There's a washer and dryer easily available in the main house. The laundry room is just inside by our front door so your coming and going to do your laundry is not a problem for us. However, we don't expect you to wash and dry the plentiful and luxurious linens and towels we provide for your use. And we supply scent-free laundry detergent (both powdered and liquid, as you prefer) and white vinegar as a fabric softener.
Oregon Woodland Cottage has great versatility of sleeping options, so it’s terrific for a family get-away adventure. There’s a comfortable king bed in the bedroom, plus a pillow top queen bed. There’s a pair of comfortable convertible queen futon sofa beds in the living room. We also have two large, comfortable cots you can request as extra beds. And the land offers several lovely, level spaces for tent or RV camping (small additional fee).
Oregon Woodland Cottage is about 1000 feet higher elevation than the floor of the Rogue Valley, so in summer it’s about 10 degrees cooler (we're at 2300 feet elevation). The cottage is well insulated, and even on the hottest days (rarely 100+), the air temperature inside never rises about 79. Plus, we've now installed a Dacon mini-split HVAC to ensure comfort as the planet wars. In the winter, there’s a gas wall furnace to take the edge off and a free-standing fireplace that heats the interior so well that when there’s snow on the ground (which happens a couple times a year at our 2300 foot elevation) we often have to crack the windows to cool us down. We'll supply you with all the firewood you need.
You can expect a peaceful experience when you stay at Oregon Woodland Cottage. The nearest neighbor is more than 0.3 miles distant. A car might pass along the nearby easement road once every day or two (going to or from our quiet neighbor's home). You’ll not listen to cars at night, but instead enjoy the cackle of hens and the occasional rooster crow, our alpaca singing, our three friendly dogs barking at pesky squirrels (and our new puppy teasing them to play with her), a nearby family of night owls hooting, or the gaggle of wild turkey as they cross the front yard.
There are several hiking adventures for you to explore right on our 60 acres. Exploring up either of our large meadows you'll discover "favorite track" where you can hike to the Shaman Tree (a spectacular multi-trunk ancient madrone tree). If you don't mind a bit of steep, you can hike up to our upper10acres and see views of the table rocks and Mt Thielsen while you relax on our upper deck. Wind your way even higher and come out onto BLM land, public access to miles of equestrian trails. We've met every sort of wildlife on these hiking adventures.
You are welcome to bring your dog when you vacation with us. Our flock of chicken is homed in a fenced paddock (we used to keep alpaca), so you needn't worry about that. We also have a 12'x12' kennel with doghouse if you want to corral your beasts outside. And our two unleashed, friendly canine companions, Ruby Tuesday and Copper, are adaptable to all visitors.
You can hang in a hammock, swing in our sky chair and find plenty of shady spots to read a book or just be with the natural world, dine at our tree-canopied picnic table, and generally enjoy peace and quiet between expeditions into the Rogue Valley. See plays, dine or shop in Ashland; wander historic Jacksonville; go wine-tasting in the Applegate Valley; play or raft in the Rogue River; dawdle at a swimming hole along the Applegate River, ski Mt. Ashland in the winter or hike Crater Lake in the summer. All the wonders of Southern Oregon are near to your vacation pleasure spot, Oregon Woodland Cottage.
