We would like to welcome you to our website.

Our cabin is located on a hilltop on the family farm that was settled in the 1800's by my great-great-grandparents. Life was hard here in those days, especially for farming families trying to eke out a living on hillside mountain farms. Wildlife and fish were plentiful to help sustain them though the hard winter months. Firewood was abundant for the wood stoves that cooked their meals and kept them warm on cold winter nights.

Bittersweet Retreat is located in Taylors Valley which is near Damascus, Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia. Come and experience first hand the beauty that made this extreme life on a mountain farm worth enduring countless hardships for. Unlike our great-great-grandparent's cabin, this little cabin has modern conveniences like running water, indoor plumbing, electricity, electric heat and air conditioning. Click here for a map of the area.

Jerrell and I moved back to Taylors Valley in 1995 after living elsewhere for 25 years. I had forgotten the peace and comfort the mountain ridges surrounding the old home site offered. As a child, with no neighbors within sight or sound, the voices of the farm animals and coon hounds my father kept were as familiar as the sound of the other children laughing, quarrelling, and playing. At that time, only the occasional car passed on the narrow winding road below the house.

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The farm animals and coon hounds are gone, at least for the time being, but somehow the children's laughter got caught up in the air or the trees or maybe in the tiny creek that trickles down from the top of the mountain. At certain times the gentle breeze seems to carry on it those long ago sounds of children's laughter. 

Nowadays, there is a lot more traffic on the road below as more and more people discover this beautiful place we call home, but we don't mind. We are eager to share what has been given to us. In these days and times, what is of little value to some: mountain ridges you can hardly stand on, clear blue skies,
an almost constant fresh breeze,  walls of green trees, creeks full of crawdads and lizards, and times gone by, are priceless gifts to us.

Wake up to peaceful surroundings where birds begin the day with a song, while squirrels and other animals forage for food or chatter from hidden vantage points. Take your time and enjoy your breakfast or morning coffee while taking in the majestic beauty of the rolling mountain ridges from your secluded hilltop hideaway.

Take in the area attractions if you want, then return to your private get-away for a peaceful evening listening to the sounds of the forest as you watch the sun set from the front porch. Linger a while longer and watch as stars appear overhead as the daylight retreats behind the mountains. A perfect ending to a perfect day!

Call us at 276-475-5863 or email us to ask a question or for reservation information. Come and spend a weekend for $60 per night, or spend a week for the price of six days. We look forward to hearing from you!

Jerrell and Elaine Crowder