I’ve been in residence at Yaddo since April 10. Here’s my live-work space:

It overlooks one of the four ponds on the northish side of the property, and is home to ducks, geese, and a big heron. I can watch the sun play over the lake from my writing desk. I have a large living room with a kitchenette, a big bathroom, and a bedroom that also overlooks the lake. This week has been cold–we had snow flurries yesterday and a few flakes are coming down now–and I’m delighted that the cabin has underfloor heat and is bright and sunny during the day.

One of my first days here, I got to tour the Mansion, the enormous, 55-room edifice built by the Trask family in 1893. It replaced two previous buildings that were destroyed in fires. But it took a literal ton of coal everyday to heat, and so after the death of Spencer Trask, his wife Katrina moved into the caretakers’ house (now known as West House and home to a fantastic common space and writers’ bedrooms and studios; I’m in a separate residence because West House has loads of steep stairs which aren’t easy for me). For more info about the Trasks and Yaddo, this source from the New York Public Library is good.

The Mansion opens to residents in May, but right now it’s closed up, with sheets covering most of the furniture. I’m hoping I’ll get to go on another tour of it before I leave. All of the residents do have dinner every night together in the Mansion’s dining room. I’ll try to take some photos of it.