atHome with Monadnock Table Crafting Home and Community in the Woods of Gilsum

COVER IMAGE TEXT: BANNER: atHome with Monadnock Table TEXT: Crafting Home and Community in the Woods of Gilsum Valerie Piedmont blends Together Art, an Airbnb, and Sustainable Living Atop a winding dirt road in Gilsum, New Hampshire, there's a timber-frame sanctuary set back in the forest, the kind you might stumble upon in a fable. This striking space in the woods is the home of a local nonprofit, The Sustainability Project (TSP). After decades of envisioning its creation, the 1,200-square-foot educational and community center has finally come to life. &emsp;"All of these forces just came together," Executive Director Valerie Piedmont says. &emsp;With a combination of existing organizational funds — grant money from the Putnam Foundation, community donations, and generous support from numerous local businesses — the project progressed step-by-step over many months and was completed in 2024. It is a striking structure with its soft, natural wood, openness, and intentional simplicity. &emsp;"Every community should have a beautiful place in nature that's totally accessible," says Piedmont. "This particular one looks like this, but the same kind of organization can happen anywhere." &emsp;The Sustainability Project, a volunteer-driven organization, "promotes a love of nature, environmental stewardship, caring communities and ways of living that deepen our understanding of the interconnected web of life." &emsp;They've been fostering these key focus areas for more than 25 years. In their brand-new space, they've already hosted art exhibitions, retreats, and other gatherings with the aim of continuing that momentum. &emsp;"When I sit here, I can imagine a circle of people and a centerpiece that everybody's made a contribution to," Piedmont describes. &emsp;She has a background in non-hierarchical ways of collaborating and trusts that many groups will use this space in the future to explore new ways of thinking, build connections, and solve problems collectively. &emsp;An element that makes stepping through the doors even more unique is the presence of dozens of Clay Heads, all works created by artist, Susan O'Hara, Piedmont's mother-in-law. &emsp;"I have always had this sense that I wanted people to see the body of her work," Piedmont explains. &emsp;Throughout O'Hara's lifetime, Piedmont would gather a few extra or sometimes imperfect pieces each time she visited. &emsp;They range from long, thoughtful faces to tiny round portraits with pursed lips and chests with miniature openings and intricate living rooms inside. Their bodies — smooth or textured, flowing or concise — each has a unique feel. Piedmont has stored these many iterations in her home, which rests just down the road from the TSP Center. &emsp;"What I love is when people see all the sculptures in my house, and then they say, 'Oh, that's the one that speaks to me!'" she says. &emsp;Once someone has found a sculpture they're drawn to, Piedmont photographs them with it and invites them to carry it over the threshold into the TSP building, where it can find a new home. Some of these people are TSP visitors, and many others are guests in Piedmont's nearby home, where she offers Airbnb and retreat accommodations. &emsp;Pulling into her house's driveway, one sees rambling gardens, a greenhouse where her grandkids play, fruit trees, a wood-fired hot tub and outdoor shower, and a kitchen for volunteer workers. Up the hill in the back, there's a peaceful dormitory building with its own small woodstove, several sleeping spaces, and a dedicated privy. &emsp;The main home features multiple cozy guest bedrooms on the first floor, where people from around the world have stayed since Piedmont began hosting in 2011. &emsp;"I really like having other people in my world," she says, noting that this can be hard in modern times, especially for homeowners because our society isn't really set up for living in community. &emsp;On the kitchen table, there's a stack of guest books sprawled with artwork and filled from cover to cover with writing. &emsp;"Everybody signs in their mother tongue," Piedmont explains. &emsp;Many guests travel alone or with family. Others stay while participating in programs at Kroka Expeditions, MorningSun Mindfulness Center, or The Heartwood School for Timber Framing. &emsp;Whatever the reason behind their visit, each gets to experience how warm, inviting and alive this home is, with light streaming in from the expansive glass windows. &emsp; &emsp;But it certainly wasn't this way from the start. In July 1981, Piedmont first moved to this land with her newborn son, Ariel, and set up home in a 10 by 12 canvas tent. She knew this was the place simply because "it felt familiar," she says. &emsp;She had a small home constructed and paid the carpenter $1,000. &emsp;"This house was built on a foundation of telephone poles, two-by-fours and two-by-sixes from Marlow Lumber in exchange for trees harvested," she recalls. &emsp;Initially, it was a cabin with a shed roof and windows facing the sun. &emsp;There was no running water or electricity, and at first, its rooms had minimal or no insulation. Piedmont even remembers playing games with her young son underneath a sleeping bag during those early winters. &emsp;"Energy conservation wasn't a thing then," she notes. &emsp;Slowly, the house began to evolve as finances allowed. One of the most significant milestones was increasing the depth of the walls to allow for dense-pack cellulose insulation. &emsp;By 1991, Piedmont and a friend laid the block to build the front portion of the current home, all while her daughter Bodie was nine months old. This development meant they could have running water. Slowly but surely, the changes occurred, though the house remained off-grid until only the last several years. &emsp;Most recently, Piedmont has poured love and funds into her home to ensure its sustainability for the future. She's created a plan for the property to be part of her legacy and TSP's future. &emsp;The goal is for the organization to continue having space for community members to stay when they're engaging in retreats and events led by the nonprofit. &emsp;To that end, cement piers have replaced those old telephone poles, and Piedmont's home is now tied into the grid, enabling her to install air-source heat pumps, "which reduced my use of wood by 50%," she shares. &emsp;In addition, the change eliminated her reliance on a noisy propane generator she'd previously needed for at least six months of the year. Now, she has the opportunity to store electricity generated by her solar panels in a battery backup system, so even when New England serves up its worst weather, she still has power. &emsp;"For six to seven months of the year, my electric bill reflects that I'm making more electricity than I'm using," she says. &emsp;While much has taken place indoors, Piedmont has also worked outside on the paths to make them more accessible, easy to shovel, and navigable all year round. And though these changes have direct benefits for her, her grander vision remains TSP. &emsp;"Finishing the cabin, creating more meeting and sleeping spaces, porches with built-in seats that invite people to sit out in the beauty of nature … and then there's the dishwasher!" she says with a laugh. &emsp;It's certainly a far cry from the canvas tent that marked the beginning of her tale in these woods. &emsp;"You can't see the whole future. You don't exactly know everything about how it's going to turn out," Piedmont says. "But just like Susan, the sculptor, would say —s he would work the clay until it told her what to be." &emsp;Find more about TSP at emersonbrookforest.org or contact Piedmont directly at valerie@emersonbrookforest.org.