Down a winding path, deep in the woods of Greenville, Kate Schimke’s and Aaron Derman’s contemporary cabin is built into the hillside, completely surrounded by the forest. 

At the foot of a mossy, rocky clearing which climbs the slope to the south, a professional wooden stage is the only hint that the house is a well-known gathering place for musicians. 

“This is a magical place,” said Schimke, a musician, artist and owner of Prayers of Nature Studio in Wilton. “It’s especially amazing in the spring, waking up to the sun coming over the hillside.”

In the past 10 years, Schimke and Derman have transformed their quiet glen into a destination for musicians throughout the region.

“We’ve been having house concerts twice a month for 10 years,” Schimke said. “At a certain point, we realized we need more space, so we built the stage. We have concerts all year round; we have winter bonfires. Sometimes people even camp out in the snow.”

Schimke’s and Derman’s home, which started out as a one-room cabin, is part of the Brookwood Community, a land trust founded in the 1970s. Residents own their homes, but the land belongs to the Brookwood Land Trust. Schimke is the current president of the informal homeowners association. 

“We all kind of take turns, and it was my turn,” Schimke said. “We’ve always been a little out there and not very formal, and we have some work to do with bylaws, things like that.”

Schimke’s and Derman’s home is not accessible by vehicle except in emergencies.

“Having to walk in – it makes us very in tune with nature,” Schimke said. “We notice every little thing changing over the course of the year. We’re not completely isolated; we can hear the road, and we have our neighbors just down the hill. But stepping outside, especially in the summer, it really seems like we are way out on the woods, away from everyone.” 

The couple uses a motorized cart to carry wood, groceries and supplies from their parking spot. The house does have electricity, including a water heater, and uses cisterns to collect rainwater. The home is heated by a wood stove and uses a hand pump. 

“This past fall, the drought was the worst we have ever had,” Schimke said. “We have a dug well which went dry, so we have been bringing in water.”

The original cabin from the 1970s had an outhouse, but for their wedding gift from family and friends, Schimke and Derman requested a composting toilet. 

“Everyone pitched in,” Schimke said with a laugh. “Our friends, family, the musicians who come.” 

The house has been added onto over the years, in 1984 and again in 1996. It now has several bedrooms and separate dining, kitchen and living areas. Schimke smiled as she pointed out the antique clawfoot bathtub, which sits in a corner of the kitchen, behind the wood stove. 

“It’s kind of nice to have it here and be able to see out all the windows – especially in the winter, with the snow coming down,” she said. 

The music room, which Schimke and Derman added, is the heart of the house. A row of guitars and various instruments fill every corner of the room, and the floor in the bay window functions as a stage for indoor house concerts. 

Schimke, who grew up just a few miles away in the center of Mason, had always heard about the Brookwood community, which was known as a counterculture haven in the 1970s.

“It started out as an intentional community for people who wanted to live in accordance with the land. It was founded as an ‘ecology center,’”  Schimke said. “Over the years, a few people were kicked out for abusing the land. It was never a commune. Everyone owns their house independently, but the land is owned by the trust.” 

Brookwood currently has seven homes, all which have been modernized over the years.

“I basically grew up next door, so I always heard stories about this place. I knew some of the kids who lived here, and there were kind of legends about it,” Schimke said. “I went to Mascenic, and kids called this  place 'Hippie Hollow.’” 

Derman spent part of his childhood at Brookwood with his mother, artist Linda Wyman, who lived in a different house on the land trust.  Schimke and Derman met in 2014 and bonded over their love of music and nature. Schimke, a survivor of trauma who has been in recovery for 10 years, said Brookwood has been her healing place.

“When I was recovering from trauma and different things in my life, I used to meditate, and I would envision a little house, in the woods, like a treehouse,” Schimke said. “Even though I knew about Brookwood and I had been on the land before, I never knew this house was here.”

In 2022, Schimke and Derman, who works in audio technology, produced an EP about her life and her healing journey. Schimke’s band is called “Darling Hill,” after Brookwood’s location. The EP, titled “Where the Heart Heals,” was produced in Nashville in 2022.

“I’m not the first person to find this place magical,” Schimke said. “I look around, and I can’t believe how lucky I am to be here in this beautiful place.”

Schimke’s music is available at darlinghillmusic.com.