After parking his car in the lots across the street from the old picker house Mr. Farnsworth from the Space4U cooperation gathers his luggage for a weekend retreat with the rest of his heads of office. As he walks up a winding wooden ramp he notices the signs that point to the main lobby and the ones that point to the lodging area.
He follows the ramp down to the lodging where he views a kiosk like gazebo area and checks in to the lodging and picks up his key to his room. Continuing down the ramp he sees the Haw River to his right (about 50 feet down and 100 feet away) flowing tranquilly through the wooded area. To his left is his room the several doors to the multiple lodging spaces. Above the dark wood framed frosted glass doors he notices room numbers hanging away from the brick façade of the building like the sign he saw on the old general store when he came in.
Mr. Farnsworth finds his room and enters the space. When first entering the space he notices the naturally finished board and baton lining the hallway space. This space is nicely lit with trace lighting to feature picture on the right side of the surrounding village and pendent lighting that creates ambient lighting through out the space. He notices an additional signs hanging in the hall area that corresponds to letter of his room. When entering the room the left, Mr. Farnsworth is immediately washed with sunlight from a skylight the length of the two twin beds on the left and the right of the still board and baton wall. He notices at the end of the bed a space to hang his clothes on the wall and drawers and shelves above and below where he can store his shoes, toiletries and non-hang able clothes. At the end of the space he sees what looks like a garden wall. Walking closer to discover more he discovers that the room is a shower area. Circling around he feels the pebbled walls and notices the sliding wooden door for the area. Walking out of the area and to the right he discovers the toilet set into a room as well as the sink. After placing he belongings on the bed he walks back out on the ramp and back to the main lobby area. As he is making his way up the ramp he notices the green roof and deck area that he will explore after he checks in with the rest of the group.
Once through the frosted glass door he is immediately in the main lobby space with the greeting/secretary’s desk to his right. The original wooden floor ties the dark wooden beamed roof and the mid-century modern furnishings together. The secretary tells Mr. Farnsworth that his party is waiting for him in the small conference room to the left. Walking past the clear glassed room he realizes that the space is unusually quiet and wants to explore more to take back to his office for implementation but instead reminds himself to ask the secretary or manager before he leaves.
Once in the conference area he notices a large oval conference table with several Herman Miller office chairs around it and a projection screen on the brick wall at the end of the space. The colors with in the space are variations of greens and browns placed on the two sidewalls and accents within the space including the pendant lighting with the glass shading system.
After a brief run through of the goals of the retreat as well as the several actives that they will participate in over the next two days the group leaves the conference area and walks to the end of the hall were a catered meals from the restaurant next door were prepared. The dining area floors are in a blond wood floor with a vast span of windows that open the rest of the wall up to a balcony area outside while creating a space the engages the user with the surrounding nature. Mr. Farnsworth knows that he will be spending much of his time in this space.
After eating his finely prepared lunch he returned again down the hall but this time going into the larger conference area. This space featured separate desks to allow for break out groups to collaborate their ideas as well as a projection surface at the end of the space and to the left and right of the room. The head speaker had a tablet in their hand that helped guide discussions while not grounding the speaker to one space in the room. Mr. Farnsworth liked the fact that the room could become so versatile with the lack of screens and podium, this too was added on his things to inquire about.
After the very informative first day a group of colleges decided to go down stairs and investigate the history museum and recreational space down stairs that was mentioned in their meeting earlier that day. The space although with few windows was nicely lit with pendant and track lighting. The wood beams that held the area up created spacious nooks that were studies recreation areas library spaces and gathering areas. Mr. Farnsworth after finding a book about mill villages found himself talking to a homeowner of one of the mill houses up the road. Mrs. Piedmont talked about how nice the area was and how they rent out their house during the time that the in Pennsylvania, but they are getting ready to retire and are planning on permanently moving to Glencoe. She loves that they now have a place where all of the village can meet and gather as well as a place where her grandchildren can play while she quietly reads a book. Mr. Farnsworth learns a lot about the history of the mill village from Mrs. Piedmont and decided to meet again tomorrow to talk further along with some of his other colleges.
Mr. Farnsworth excited about the nature hike planned for tomorrow, exited the recreation area and returned to his room up the well lit walkway where he retired for the night.
