Holden Village offers you many options for activities, solitude, time with family and friends, and larger community gatherings. Experience the past and present intertwine as you move through this historic mining village adapted for use as a retreat center. Spaces are rustic, charming, cozy, and inviting Lodging here.
The Ark is an outdoor deck and community gathering space. You can eat meals, enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, and just hang out and enjoy the breath-taking view of Buckskin and Copper peaks. The Ark is sometimes used as an outdoor location for Sacred Space and music making during the summer.
Located in the garden level of Chalet 2, the Art Gallery shows change throughout the year and often feature works by current staff and community members. Stop by to see what is currently on display! The Art Gallery also serves as a multi-purpose space for classes, embodiment practices, and community gatherings. Yoga mats are available for you to use in the Art Gallery.
Find creative inspiration and project materials in Holden’s Art Studios! The Art Studio, also known affectionately as “The Craft Cave” offers three rooms of work space and materials for creative pursuits including drawing, painting, calligraphy, knitting, crocheting, sewing, weaving, ceramics, pottery, and much more. There are multiple looms for weaving large or small projects, sewing machines, pottery wheels, and more. During the summer, an additional art studio space is located in the Village Center, where you can attend even more art classes! Registration fees cover all art class instruction; you can purchase materials for classes or independent work at low cost through our studios. Books and instructional materials are also available for you to borrow. Read more about the Pottery Studio below.
In the style of a charming, old fashioned soda fountain, the Snack Bar serves as Beanie’s Coffee in the mornings and an ice cream parlor in the afternoons and evenings. Named after Brynolf “Beanie” Lundholm, a music professor at Augustana College and frequent Villager, you can get lattes, mochas, cappuccinos, hot chocolate, and more at Beanie’s. Snack Bar ice cream also includes shakes, malts, and dairy-free and gluten-free options. Check out the schedule for hours. The Snack Bar room is unheated and closed during the winter but you can still get ice cream in the Dining Hall a few times per week. The espresso machine operates in Creekside during the non-summer months, but can only be open and run when there’s sufficient hydro power in the Village.
Step back in time to this historic recreation space built during the mining days in the 1930s-1950s. The building was actually built around the historic slate pool tables! Bowling shoes and bowling balls are available to borrow for free. Check out the old-fashioned pin setting machine (children will need someone over 18 to supervise and set pins for them). Popcorn and candy are also often available for you to purchase during open hours. The Bowling Alley/Pool Hall is not heated and unfortunately not available during the non-summer seasons.
Get the wiggles and giggles out on Holden’s children’s playground, featuring slides, swings, and a mini-rock wall. An updated playground is in the works for you to experience on a future visit.
The Dining Hall is your go-to place for meals and snacks. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served buffet style on a schedule. A selection of fruit, bread, granola, hard-boiled eggs, cereals, milk, juices, coffee, tea, and more is available 24/7 as snacks. During the winter months, some chairs and tables are removed so that part of the Dining Hall becomes a cozy community living room. Bookshelves full of games and comfy couches provide a wonderful place to sit and connect with fellow Villagers and maybe even work on a craft project. Learn more about Meals and Dining at Holden Village.
We certainly hope you stay healthy and well throughout your time at Holden Village, but the First Aid/Medic Station is available should you need it. Common over-the-counter medications are located in the hallway next to the First Aid Station and some are available for purchase in the Holden Store. Learn more about the limited medical care available at Holden Village.
Holden Village is located in the Railroad Creek Valley and is surrounded by the pristine Glacier Peak Wilderness. With hundreds of miles of backcountry trails, you have ample opportunity to hike, camp, bird watch, fish, and trail run. The Village Hike Haus offers outdoor equipment rentals to you free-of-charge for outdoor adventure basics, including backpacks, water bottles, sleeping bags and pads, tents, stoves, snow shoes, cross country skis, and fishing poles. Learn More.
This is where you can get all of your favorite Holden merchandise: art, cards, yarn, pottery, books, candy, t-shirts, apparel, and more. The Holden Store accepts cash, checks, punch cards and credit/debit cards. Enjoy the practice of letter writing and mail a postcard or a note from the post office. When you’re not in the Village, you can check out the Holden Store Online.
The hot tub is currently closed for maintenance. Please stay tuned for updates. We hope to soon offer you the opportunity to relax in soothing warm water with the beautiful mountains and night sky as your view.
You can attend teaching sessions, activities, community discussions, movies, and more in this unique room with a former fireplace at the center. During the winter, Fireside is used as the Village’s primary location for Sacred Space.
In this multi-purpose space overlooking the forest and Railroad Creek, you can attend classes taught by teaching faculty, community activities, and more.
Stop by the Library, a sunny, quiet, comfortable room to browse Holden’s selection of books and periodicals or use the guest computer for limited internet access. Take a look at the featured books for recommended reads on social justice, ecology, art, theology, books written by teaching faculty, and much more. The Library is also a great place to catch up on any reading material you bring to the Village or enjoy a puzzle. A children’s section offers books, games and puzzles. The Library operates on the honor system, so take a book (or several!) to read and return them before you depart.
A sauna is a small wooden room that is heated by a stove where people can sit for short amounts of time. The Holden Village sauna can accommodate up to 11 people at a time. You can experience the soothing heat with an electric stove during the summer months and a wood fired stove during the winter months. There is nothing like an invigorating jump in the snow or a dunk in the small tub of cool water in the sauna building to cool you down! Learn more about Sauna Safety.
Once the community center during Holden’s days as a mining town, the Village Center offers amenities you wouldn’t expect to find in the wilderness, including the Bowling Alley, Pool Hall, Snack Bar ice cream shop, Beanie’s Coffee, and more. During the summer, the Village Center gymnasium serves as the main location for Sacred Space. During the winter, the building is unheated and many areas are closed off; however, you can still bundle up to enjoy activities like basketball or kickball in the gymnasium.
Artwork by Elizabeth Person
The Ark is an outdoor deck and community gathering space. You can eat meals, enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, and just hang out and enjoy the breath-taking view of Buckskin and Copper peaks. The Ark is sometimes used as an outdoor location for Sacred Space and music making during the summer.
Located in the garden level of Chalet 2, the Art Gallery shows change throughout the year and often feature works by current staff and community members. Stop by to see what is currently on display! The Art Gallery also serves as a multi-purpose space for classes, embodiment practices, and community gatherings. Yoga mats are available for you to use in the Art Gallery.
Find creative inspiration and project materials in Holden’s Art Studios! The Art Studio, also known affectionately as “The Craft Cave” offers three rooms of work space and materials for creative pursuits including drawing, painting, calligraphy, knitting, crocheting, sewing, weaving, ceramics, pottery, and much more. There are multiple looms for weaving large or small projects, sewing machines, pottery wheels, and more. During the summer, an additional art studio space is located in the Village Center, where you can attend even more art classes! Registration fees cover all art class instruction; you can purchase materials for classes or independent work at low cost through our studios. Books and instructional materials are also available for you to borrow. Read more about the Pottery Studio below.
In the style of a charming, old fashioned soda fountain, the Snack Bar serves as Beanie’s Coffee in the mornings and an ice cream parlor in the afternoons and evenings. Named after Brynolf “Beanie” Lundholm, a music professor at Augustana College and frequent Villager, you can get lattes, mochas, cappuccinos, hot chocolate, and more at Beanie’s. Snack Bar ice cream also includes shakes, malts, and dairy-free and gluten-free options. Check out the schedule for hours. The Snack Bar room is unheated and closed during the winter but you can still get ice cream in the Dining Hall a few times per week. The espresso machine operates in Creekside during the non-summer months, but can only be open and run when there’s sufficient hydro power in the Village.
Step back in time to this historic recreation space built during the mining days in the 1930s-1950s. The building was actually built around the historic slate pool tables! Bowling shoes and bowling balls are available to borrow for free. Check out the old-fashioned pin setting machine (children will need someone over 18 to supervise and set pins for them). Popcorn and candy are also often available for you to purchase during open hours. The Bowling Alley/Pool Hall is not heated and unfortunately not available during the non-summer seasons
Get the wiggles and giggles out on Holden’s children’s playground, featuring slides, swings, and a mini-rock wall. An updated playground is in the works for you to experience on a future visit.
Playfulness, whimsy, humor, and “hilarity,” have long been important aspects of daily life at Holden Village. The Costume Closet offers you an opportunity to be imaginative and play “dress up,” no matter your age, with the best selection of costumes you can find in the wilderness! As a community that lives out our mission with joy, participating in the gracious love of God, there are many activities and fun occasions that are enlivened by silly costumes.
The Dining Hall is your go-to place for meals and snacks. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served buffet style on a schedule. A selection of fruit, bread, granola, hard-boiled eggs, cereals, milk, juices, coffee, tea, and more is available 24/7 as snacks. During the winter months, some chairs and tables are removed so that part of the Dining Hall becomes a cozy community living room. Bookshelves full of games and comfy couches provide a wonderful place to sit and connect with fellow Villagers and maybe even work on a craft project. Learn more about Meals and Dining at Holden Village
We certainly hope you stay healthy and well throughout your time at Holden Village, but the First Aid/Medic Station is available should you need it. Common over-the-counter medications are located in the hallway next to the First Aid Station and some are available for purchase in the Holden Store. Learn more about the limited medical care available at Holden Village
If you need to wash any personal clothing items during your stay, a Guest Laundry room is available to you (location changes depending on the season). Due to limited power supply in winter, dryers may not be available.
Holden Village is located in the Railroad Creek Valley and is surrounded by the pristine Glacier Peak Wilderness. With hundreds of miles of backcountry trails, you have ample opportunity to hike, camp, bird watch, fish, and trail run. The Village Hike Haus offers outdoor equipment rentals to you free-of-charge for outdoor adventure basics, including backpacks, water bottles, sleeping bags and pads, tents, stoves, snow shoes, cross country skis, and fishing poles. Learn More
This is where you can get all of your favorite Holden merchandise: art, cards, yarn, pottery, books, candy, t-shirts, apparel, and more. The Holden Store accepts cash, checks, punch cards and credit/debit cards. Enjoy the practice of letter writing and mail a postcard or a note from the post office. When you’re not in the Village, you can check out the Holden Store Online
Relax in soothing warm water with the beautiful mountains as your view. The hot tub is currently closed for the season. We plan to open the hot tub in late spring/early summer.
You can attend teaching sessions, activities, community discussions, movies, and more in this unique room with a former fireplace at the center. During the winter, Fireside is used as the Village’s primary location for Sacred Space.
In this multi-purpose space overlooking the forest and Railroad Creek, you can attend classes taught by teaching faculty, community activities, and more.
During the summer months, you can journey through a labyrinth in a field west of the Village. Depending on snow conditions and scheduling, you may have the opportunity to snowshoe through a candle-lit labyrinth as part of Sacred Space during special events in the winter months.
Stop by the Library, a sunny, quiet, comfortable room to browse Holden’s selection of books and periodicals or use the guest computer for limited internet access. Take a look at the featured books for recommended reads on social justice, ecology, art, theology, books written by teaching faculty, and much more. The Library is also a great place to catch up on any reading material you bring to the Village or enjoy a puzzle. A children’s section offers books, games and puzzles. The Library operates on the honor system, so take a book (or several!) to read and return them before you depart.
The museum is currently under construction. A temporary museum featuring photographs and artifacts from the mining days and information about the natural history of the valley are available in the mezzanine of the Village Center.
Explore the many spaces to enjoy the stunning scenery on the Holden Village grounds. Porches on lodges, the Village Center, and Koinonia offer you places to relax, play music, converse, read, and more. During the summer months, you can find outdoor chairs, benches, and tables throughout the Village and even on some nearby trails. Organize a game of Basketball, Pickleball, or Volleyball on the court outside of the Narnia school. Check out one of the hammocks set up by the creek!
Holden’s Pottery Studio features ample natural lighting and work space. You can create wheel-thrown or hand-built pieces during Open Studio hours or take classes in techniques like jewelry-making, sgraffito, glazing, and others. Pottery made at Holden is fired in our electric kilns, raku kiln, or newly-reconstructed gas kiln. Learn More.
A sauna is a small wooden room that is heated by a stove where people can sit for short amounts of time. The Holden Village sauna can accommodate up to 11 people at a time. You can experience the soothing heat with an electric stove during the summer months and a wood fired stove during the winter months. There is nothing like an invigorating jump in the snow or a dunk in the small tub of cool water in the sauna building to cool you down! Learn more about Sauna Safety
Once the community center during Holden’s days as a mining town, the Village Center offers amenities you wouldn’t expect to find in the wilderness, including the Bowling Alley, Pool Hall, Snack Bar ice cream shop, Beanie’s Coffee, and more. During the summer, the Village Center gymnasium serves as the main location for Sacred Space. During the winter, the building is unheated and many areas are closed off; however, you can still bundle up to enjoy activities like basketball or kickball in the gymnasium.
The Village Green is a lawn near the Ark that becomes a community gathering place for lawn games, outdoor Sacred Space, concerts, frisbee games, and more.
Holden Village is a community where your questions are valued and encouraged. Most programs led by visiting teaching faculty occur during the summer months. However, Holden also invites faculty to teach sessions for special events and retreats throughout the rest of the year.
Check out a list of the 2024 Summer Faculty.
