Lost River Valley West Virginia is the setting for a story of how many gay households from Washington DC found, inhabited and meshed with a rural agricultural community. While the beauty of the place combined with the affordability and proximity to the city cannot be dismissed as causes for the new arrivals, a major contributor to the relocation of these urban dwellers can be largely attributed to networking.
landscape | culture by jeff schnabel
social cultures community uses of nature engagement retreat
shared territory rural life with urban networks
About twenty years ago two brothers, one gay, converted a rustic resort into a high-end retreat known as the Guest House. It featured a full spectrum of amenities that appealed to gay couples from DC. As the reputation of the retreat grew the brothers saw an opportunity to develop single family properties in the valley expanding the living options. Among the visitors to Lost River was a lesbian couple who then established a bed and breakfast primarily for gay clientele. With the continued popularity of the area they too began building and selling cabins. Back in DC friends started to realise that they had more social commitments on the mountain than in the city. A pattern emerged of households hosting guests, the guests becoming enamoured with the valley, purchasing a house and becoming hosts themselves. In this way Lost River became a destination for a social network that had been formed elsewhere.
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and work the land. Their house was made from rough-hewn timbers, galvanised metal and stones they collected from the creek bed. Rooms are relatively small because most of the time is spent out of doors. They chose a site in the trees, leaving the open agricultural land and orchard available for future garden projects. Theirs is a cultural appreciation of the rural.
As new households began to inhabit the valley, they did so in significantly different ways. This can be illustrated through two new houses built in Lost River. The first, a co-housing project commissioned by six friends, was built on sixty acres and they saw themselves as eventually living full-time in the valley. To them the valley gave them an opportunity to put on coveralls
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