The Round House

We spent a weekend yoga retreat at the Roundhouse. Food was amazing. They accommodated all our food needs (gluten free, vegi etc’).
The roundhouse itself is fun with many nouks to sit and sleep.

Our family of 14 people ranging in age from 17 to 84 (and our dog) had a great time. We made our own gourmet meals, and we had fun with the huge collections of books, movies, music, musical instruments (including 2 pianos), board games, and dress-​up clothing and hats. This place is not for everyone; some people should stay in hotels in a city.

We had our wedding here. The house is beautiful & we were attracted by what seemed to be the price tag. Unfortunately the owner, Rebecca, seems to have some major issues & should not be in the hospitality business. She was incredibly unprofessional, rude, and difficult to deal with throughout the planning process & during the actual wedding. Our caterer refused to work with her eventually because of her use of abusive language & controlling behavior. She told us at our original meeting that the house could hold 130 people for our wedding dinner, at our next meeting she changed that number to 60 & denied that she had ever said that. We also had been told we’d have use of the kitchen during our stay, but this changed after our initial meeting too. She had opinions about ever aspect of our wedding and would forget what we had decided and insist on going over everything again, taking up hours of our time. During the actual wedding she was incredibly uptight, belligerently rude to guests, and had multiple confrontations with people in our wedding party. The worst was when actually told a young child of one of our guests to shut up.
Maybe she can behave better with smaller groups of people & smaller events, but I would strongly recommend that people stay away from The Roundhouse.

I attending an amazing wedding there. the location is remote and if not for the most the owner wbo refers to black children as monkies; make her guest. clean up from ber unkept dogs; make her guest soooo unwanted that by the end of the weekend they running to get the HELL away although she was pushing you to leave; as we went through the line where most of
the food was catered i saw in horror the mother of the brides face watch as her dog went at the mac and cheese she spent hours preparring for thus once in a lifetime occassuons. Many guest complained to the mother as to not upset the bride and groom. I would not reccomd tbis place for a dog. convention just due to the owner. If she could be taken out of the rqation it would have been a lovely occassion with five stars now i can only give it one star solely on what it should have been. Good luck to those of u who won’t see the real rebecca until u have paid your money. Maybe as a B and B the above peple was treated well or maybe it was because some of us didn’t come here on the Mayflowe!!!

This house is amazing. I spent almost an hour exploring it (lots of nooks and crannies), exclaiming «oh wow» over and over again.
You’ll like this place if:
You have fond memories of building forts as a kid, a unique experience is more important than a sterile box to live in, you like animals, you listen to or were raised by parents who listened to artists like Pete Seeger and Joan Baez enjoy looking at people’s bookshelves and knickknacks when you visit their homes, you like animals, nature and scenic views.
You may want to look elsewhere if:
You want something sterile, you’re expecting a hotel stay, you have bad allergies (in a house this large, with so many rooms, there’s bound to be dust and pollen that accumulate), you have 20 people who each need their own room or lots of privacy, you’re visiting in winter and have a car which has trouble in the snow (house is on a hill, long, winding drive up could be hard for rwd cars, cars with summer tires, etc.).

So much fun. A perfect place to bond as a group and feel a little spark of something magical. Bekki is such a kooky soul. Everything she says makes you want to lean in a little closer just so you get it all. Wonderful food, adorable hidey holes for sleeping, beautiful hilly views from the balcony. Amazing time!

This is a misleading name for an organization/​centre. The director feels free to rudely impose her own uninformed beliefs on visitors. With a very shaky knowledge of history and culture, she lectures and «corrects» guests on their own heritage!

The Round House is not your typical B&B or average retreat. It’s made for adventure and it’s as much about the soul experience and enjoying your environment as it is about food and lodging. Rebekka goes to extraordinary lengths to make her guests feel at home. She creates a wonderful air of hospitality and is totally genuine when she asks you to «make yourself at home».
As someone with food intolerances, I could not have been more grateful to Rebekka for her care and organisation to ensure there was always plenty of food I could eat. And it was all delicious, and prepared with a mind to healthy bodies, and sustainable/​ecological food practices.
As for the accommodation? As I said before, prepare yourself for an adventure. You may end up in a fairly ordinary bed. But, if you’re lucky, you’ll get your own, lace-​curtained hidey-​hole — a little cubby house to make your own. Or perhaps a quirkily cornered attic space to snuggle within. There is a wide range of beds and sleeping spaces and they all have their own personality. To ensure you get a good night’s sleep there are plenty of pillows, extra quilts, and your very own fluffy toy to cuddle.
There are animals ready to be your friends — dogs who want only a big cuddle. And a donkey who’ll come out to say hello if you offer her a treat.
It’s not your average, everyday boring old guest house. It’s welcoming, and comfortable, and hospitable and, just a little bit magical.

The Round House is honestly an experience more than a lodging. You don’t just get a bed and meal, but a truly remarkable stay in an amazingly unique home.
Rebekka is a wonderful host, she went out of her way to make sure that everyone’s dietary concerns were taken into account, including making several versions of each dish so we were all accommodated. All the food was locally sourced and came with a lovely explanation of why she chose it and whose farm it came from. She entertained us with stories of her family and the house’s history and by the time I left, I felt like I’d met a friend, not just a host.
The house itself isn’t built to rigid specs, it’s a creation of love and the uneven floorboards and quirky cubbyholes are part of its charm. I ended up with an amazing bed tucked into a wall with light curtains surrounding it, and in the mornings I was able to step out onto the deck and watch the sun rise over the beautiful Colrain countryside. I noticed none of the health hazards that Macky B. mentioned, and struggle to comprehend how Bekki could be considered rude by any stretch of the imagination; her experience seems very opposed to my own, and that of my coworkers.
This honestly was the best place we could have chosen as a retreat for our nonprofit, a place for us to not only relax and bond with one another, but to brainstorm and cultivate creativity. Bekki was encouraging and nurturing and I’m almost certainly going back to hold my wedding there after completely falling in love with the place.

Ms. Rebekka Tippens, owner of the Round House, which she also calls «The Center for Cultural Evolution», or «Bekki’s House», gets 1 star instead of the symbolic 0 stars since the building looks quite unique, w/​its curved architecture. Unfortunately, the building is hazardous, and is unprofessionally run. We were sure to get video footage of problem areas of the house before leaving, to back claims (re: hazards) made below.
My sister was responsible for booking everyone’s room & board (20+ people), for friends and family. We were attending my niece’s college graduation celebration. Since every everything in the area was booked that week (many area schools also having graduations), it was impractical for everyone to switch lodging mid-​stay.
Safety hazards
4^th Floor cupola (where Ms. Tippens knowingly assigned children to sleep): Large hole in the center of room (large enough for a child or adult to fall through). Entire floor surrounded by large glass windows, with printed warnings on several to never open those windows. The bedding areas there are just cramped, slanted, crawl spaces.
Upper floors: A weak, shaky railing on a balcony (over one room). Some small, wall-​to-​wall bunk beds, which contain very low ceilings. Ms. Tippens assigned several to older adults. If there were to be a fire again — Ms. Tippens told us all there had been a fire in the house already (and there’s evidence of that) — it could easily result in tragedy.
Bedding problems
Multiple bunks were assigned to guests, regardless of age or height, plus several beds don’t fit adults over about 6 feet. (Also problematic in the event of a fire.)
Attitude Problems
My husband was bitten by a deer tick while on a couch (urgent care clinic identified the bug). My sister asked Ms. Tippens if she had a bug problem. Ms. Tippens’s response was to accuse my sister of scheming to take legal action against her.
Ms. Tippens made rude comments to several guests (including to my sister, my husband and I, and others), throughout the visit. It was only when addressing everyone at once that Ms. Tippens seemed hospitable. The food (some seemed canned at times), was touch-​and-​go, though Ms. Tippens claimed it was all fresh.
The one bright spot was that we all got to spend time with family and friends we hadn’t seen in ages as we celebrated our niece’s graduation from college. … I would never recommend the Cultural Center for Evolution to anyone, for any reason.