KFW’s retreat and residency programs began when the foundation purchased Hopscotch House in 1987. The oldest parts of the renovated farmhouse date to 1848. Converted outbuildings serve as workspaces.

KFW first used the house for groups of women writers known as the Wolf Pen Writer’s Colony. In the early 1990’s, Hopscotch House became available year-round to women artists and groups with a special focus on feminist connections to the earth. The Summer Residency Program was launched in 2006.

Hopscotch House is surrounded by ten acres of land owned by the Kentucky Foundation for Women. The foundation’s property is located within the larger Wolf Pen Branch Mill Farm, which is privately owned. The Mill Farm, considered a classic Kentucky farmstead, is comprised of 400+ acres, representing the combination of several smaller farms.

The Mill Farm property is protected in perpetuity by a conservation easement. While the surrounding farm land gives Hopscotch House the feeling of a space apart, it is located 13 miles from downtown Louisville.

The mature forest, watersheds, and meadows recall an earlier Kentucky, where connection to the land defined life in this state. Participants are welcome to explore the interconnected series of trails and try to spot deer, coyote, fox, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and more.

Hopscotch House offers a natural environment and home-like setting with spaces to be alone as well as community spaces where participants can share time together when they choose. To make Hopscotch House available to more participants, individuals and small groups are occasionally scheduled at the same time. Sharing space also provides opportunities for conversation and connection. Strengthening the connections between feminists, artists, and activists participating in retreats at Hopscotch House also strengthens the statewide movement to advance creative feminist change in Kentucky.

KFW’s Retreat Program recognizes that honoring diversity and supporting creative expression are important and interconnected values. KFW’s retreat program at Hopscotch House recognizes inclusivity as integral to building a strong creative, feminist, and social change network in the state.

Participants scheduled to share space at Hopscotch House with other individuals and groups may meet participants with diverse expressions of cultural identity; from varying communities of place; and with a range of worldviews, races, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, and levels of ability.