Fall 2026

Among the trees at Welcome Hill Studios

It’s fall on the Hill, and the trees are putting on a show. For the past few weeks, leaves of bright red, orange, and yellow have transformed the backdrop of our lives. The relationship with trees and Welcome Hill began long before the space was converted into a retreat center.

Ann Stokes chose this hilltop setting for its forested wilderness and expansive views. A painter who loved to hike, she found peace and possibility in the woods. She preferred walking the path to her house, and the landscape that drew her here remains an essential part of the Welcome Hill experience today.

Three marked loop trails on the property connect each building, inviting guests to walk under a canopy of utter perfection. Hardwoods and pines, magnificent white oaks, and a hemlock forest lined with a soft floor of pine needles are only the beginning. Along the way are distinctive rock formations, a gravesite, a treehouse, and the sculpture garden, where art and landscape meet.

Ferns and hardwoods dot the landscape along stone walls that open up to pastureland. Six old sugar maples stand in a striking row overlooking the fields, their majestic forms keeping watch over the land. A bridge across a ravine, built in 2022, offers another perspective on the terrain.

These woods tell a story. Much of the forest is second-growth woodland, characteristic of southern New Hampshire. The stone walls that thread through the property are remnants of history, when the woods were cleared for pasture, including land used in the region’s Merino sheep industry.

Some of the oldest trees now grow near these walls. Where the forest floor shifts from dry pine needles to mossy earth, granite outcroppings, lush green ferns, and colorful mushrooms appear along the way. Sugar maples, oaks, beech, birch, and American black cherry contribute their different shapes, textures, and seasonal colors.

The forest has been shaped by weather, time, and the cycles of growth and decay. Fallen trees have become wild homes for burrowing mammals, insects, and new soil; they return nutrients to the Earth and make room for new life. Allowing the woods to remain as wild as possible reflects Ann’s wishes, and a belief that the forest has value beyond its usefulness to humans. It is a living community deserving of care and respect.

Perhaps the most moving expression of the connection between people and trees comes from a memory of Ann in her later years. When she could no longer walk the trails herself, longtime board member Lynne Borofsky would hike through the woods and then visit her. Stokes would ask, “Tell me what you saw, what you heard.” Borofsky would describe birdsong, wind whistling in the trees, water running, branches cracking, and creatures encountered along the way. They shared the essence of deep listening, smiles, and delight.

Through these conversations, the woods remained accessible to Ann. She could still travel their paths through another person’s words, imagination, and careful attention. The experience speaks to something fundamental about art, friendship, and relationship with nature. We do not always need to possess an experience to be moved by it. Sometimes, noticing and sharing are enough to bring us close.

Resident Spotlight

In many ways, Ann Stokes is Welcome Hill’s longest resident artist. Writing was part of her everyday life, a way of paying attention to the world around her. One of her poems was published in Ms. magazine, but most of what she wrote stayed close to home. It was about her land: its trees, its paths and how they changed with the seasons. Later in life she began to paint, and her abstract paintings also drew on the land she loved.