Leigh Melander

Spillian: A Place to Revel

I am a cultural mythologist, working story, imagination, and possibility. I steward two places in the Catskills on what was once Lenni Lenape land: Spillian, an events venue serving on the National Register-listed summer estate of the Fleischmanns Yeast family; and a Hardenberg Land Patent farm bought by activists Ada and Hank Mayer after living with Helen and Scott Nearing in Vermont. We are re-imagining these places regeneratively, working to understand how they can serve and be fed by all of their stakeholders. We’re planting native plants in naturalized, formal garden, and food forest plantings to share with the thousands of guests who meet this land. Our goal is to be a place of enchantment and possibility in the work to build resiliency for all species on the planet; inviting people to find the hope inherent in stewarding the special places they love, in both story and praxis.