i got my wife to sign off on a once-a-year writer's retreat for a week at a time. basically, i hole up in some isolated place with a notebook and 75 pens, plus liquor and cigars, and do a creative brain dump for a whole week. i did one earlier this year in a rundown property in beverly hills, but i want to go further and do some cabin fever on the prairie shit for next year. or what have you.

you guys all live in cool places, do you know of anybody who would rent such stuff as, but not limited to,:

-old houseboat, or a boat with a sleeping area
-remote prairie house
-barely habitable island/sandbar (i have a tent)
-dutch barn in rural PA
-sketchy urban property in detroit or chicago
-trailer in west texas



no hardship too big. no living space too cramped. east coast/west coast/plains/mountains/northwest/northeast, i will travel anywhere.

i can't find any of this on craigslist, and airbnb is hit or miss

i guess the barn doesn't have to be dutch really

If you went to the place we sometimes rent on Martha's Vineyard, and it was empty, it would be a pretty fucking awesome place to be alone and write.

KBRX4933 by gordopuggy, on Flickr

KBRX4860 by gordopuggy, on Flickr

(my buddy's borrowed motorcycle not included)

Madeline Island (northwest WI out in Lake Superior) during the winter would be an interesting place to chill for a while.


It's the only inhabited island in the Apostle Island chain on Lake Superior and you need to take an ice road or hovercraft from the mainland (Bayfield, WI) to get there.



Surrounding the area are miles of ice caves formed by the bluffs of Lake Superior that you can explore on foot (given the ice has formed), several national forests and endless downhill and cross-country skiing trails in uninhabited wilderness. I've only visited Madeline Island during the warmer months (tourist hot spot during that time), but the handful of permanent inhabitants (pop. 246), from what I observed, are hippy/beatnik/artist self-sustaining types. There are tons of secluded cottage rental properties. Two retail/grocery stores supply the entire island -- not sure if they operate during the winter. Cell phone coverage is spotty to non-existent.



I was up in the area during the winter for a month and a half several years ago (Ashland, WI) -- which included two weeks of -25 temps; although the last three weeks of my stay were so warm that it was not advised to drive on the ice road to Madeline Island.Most of my free time was spent exploring the wilderness, ice fishing and hitting up the friendly local establishments scattered along the roadsides.

I wouldn't mind being holed up on Madeline Island during February; but any off-peak time (late Oct-May) would be a great time to get some alone time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline_Island
http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/usa/wisconsin/wi-north-west/madeline-island?from-date=2015-02-02&to-date=2015-02-28

Go hang out in this pool in the Mojave desert.

http://gizmodo.com/you-can-swim-in-a-se ... 1597003794

Talk to bill at low key arts in hot springs. Also there's http://www.thelighthouseworks.com/fellowshipprogram.htm

Jerkass is right, Bayfield area is fucking awesome. Love it up there. Just be careful not to accidentally record a Bon Iver album while you're there.

You could also go to Marfa TX as well. That place was awesome. Stay in a teepee!

madeline island looks really cool. i'd hate to go there in super cold weather, but i'd hate to go when there are a bunch of tourists milling around. i wonder if there is a march/april sweet spot where i could get the best of both worlds.

and i did think of marfa. that place looks kind of magical.

also found this: http://tinyhousevacations.com/?s=viewmore&search=search

there's a cool vintage trailer out in the texas desert for rent

ayo ayah!

any leads on a squat/textiles mill/air duct in chicago?

The last time I was on Madeline, it was the second week of October after the region's apple festivals and after the peak of the fall-color season. I took the hourly car/passenger ferry with around five other people total and there were fewer than a dozen tourists milling around the ferry landing on the island where the handful of restaurants and stores are located. When I explored some of the island on foot, it was pretty desolate with most beachfront rental properties vacant. I think the high temps were in the mid-50s and lows in the low-30s. There's a state campground open year-round (Big Bay State Park) if you'd want to camp in the brisk fall weather. The roads on the island would be great for casual biking since most of the terrain is flat and motorized vehicles are rare after the tourist peak (~40 miles of paved roads around the perimeter of the island). There are lots of hiking trails and opportunities for kayaking and fishing as well.


http://mobilemaplets.com/thumbnails/12087_thumbnail-1024.jpg

If you wanted to avoid the winter and tourists, I would pick the late fall over the early spring due to the less predictable spring weather. Depending on the depth of snow and ice accumulated over the winter, it can take as late as mid-June before you get weather and landscape resembling spring. This year there was still ice around Bayfield during the first week of June. The whole area along Lake Superior's south shore is a relaxing place to be at any time of year.

Definitely putting this one on my short list.

Phil, is that Arkansas dude hooked up with some private real estate? I checked out the link and it looks like a music festival.

Singer of the blue meanies, has an art spot and runs two festivals. Has hosted songwriters in residence. Hot springs is great, as is Marfa.

Around Winona, MN, there's a community of self-built boathouses (~100) on the Mississippi River (Latsch Island) full of interesting personalities that exist year round on a rustic lifestyle.
I can't find any rental info; although the community is somewhat reclusive.
Maybe Catswilleatyou has contacts and a better description?



http://www.fotovisura.com/user/Monia/view/floating-winona-2
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/10/23/finding-minnesota-quirky-scenic-latsch-island/

The southeastern Minnesota Mississippi River valley is another beautiful, laid-back region during the summer and fall months.

oh hell yes

the only thing i can find on houseboat rentals are hoity toity pleasure craft listings. i was hoping to eventually find what amounts to a hut on a pontoon, so this is a wealth of info. thanks man. i hope they don't eat me.

I also know a guy in Winona (pop. 27,000) that has an unfurnished room on the second story of a carriage house that used to act as a hay loft back in the old-timey days. It's part of a huge garage-like structure that's separate from his turn-of-the-20th century home. It's essentially a clean 1600 square foot open attic with a old wooden floor and eight-to ten foot ceilings. The ground floor which used to house the horses is an unused garage space -- so in theory you'd have the entire building to yourself. He's a single laid-back dude who currently rents out rooms in his over-sized house that he's renovating. A grocery store, bars and liquor stores are all 3-4 blocks away. The mass exodus of college kids during the summer months halves the estimated population. He'd probably cut you a sweet deal due to the novelty of the idea. And he has a t-shirt screen printing press in his basement that he dinks around with as a hobby.

without seeing pics, that's probably exactly what i'm looking for

sounds enticingly ascetic

is he an off-the-grid-no-email person? is this out in the sticks?

didn't we work with this guy at rock n roll camp?

No, he loves his electronic gadgets. The house is near downtown Winona which deadens during the summer months after the college kids leave. It's a quaint little Mississippi River town during that time. Everything you'd need is within walking distance.

PM'd.

I have a barn behind my house, don't know where you would poop, tho.

If you got writer's block, you could pound on my drums.

Is this a pickup line?

Jon, yes.

He scooted in and then out with Natasha, so he wasn't really like in the middle of it with the kids that year, but he definitely came to club 405.

Just found out about this site that lists cheap unique rentals that range from rooms to entire homes some charging less than $50/day.
https://www.airbnb.com/

(It's new to my luddite ass).

I was going to suggest finding some of the "collections" on AirBnB. There's treehouses, house boats, castles, all kinds of amazing shit.

My first thoughts were on Latsch Island when I saw this request too. I don't think anybody there are rentals, but you never know.