The Storyteller's Cottage Set to Open in Simsbury

SIMSBURY, CT – A unique new venue is set to open in Simsbury next month. The Storyteller’s Cottage is a renovated Victorian manor house that will host literary events and adventures beginning October 5th.

Located at 750 Hopmeadow Street, in the heart of historic Simsbury Center, The Storyteller’s Cottage is unusual in that it will feature a wide variety of different types of activities, all linked by their foundation in a love of literature. Fans of reading, writing, and storytelling of all types will find not only captivating events, but kindred spirits.

LITERARY SOCIETIES: These curious and unconventional discussion groups turn the typical book club model on its head by combining complementary activities with shared reading experiences. For example, the Fairisle Detectives are mystery aficionados who also love knitting, so their weekly meetings include discussions of campy mystery novels (“Knit One, Kill Two”) with knitting themes, and also actual knitting on individual projects. The Great British Baking Club welcomes mystery fans who also love to bake in the style of the popular PBS baking competition. At their meetings, conversations about mystery novels with a culinary theme occur over snacks matched to each book (brownies will accompany “Dark Chocolate Demise” for example). Other groups include The Homefront Literary Society, uniting fans of WWII novels set in Britain who also love vintage clothing, hair and makeup; Raising Wizards, a discussion group for local parents raising gifted children; and The Mysterious Pendragon Society, a secret club for young fans (aged 5 – 17) of the fantasy genre, that meets in a hidden castle room, accessible only by a door hidden in a bookcase.

WRITING CLASSES AND RETREATS: For those readers who would love to create their own literature, The Storyteller’s Cottage offers a number of opportunities to learn from local published authors. The League of Imagineers is a creative writing academy that meets over six weeks to help students in grades 5 – 8 complete a story suitable for publication or entry to a national writing competition. Imagination Detonation is a 3-hour, whimsical, intensive exploration for high school students of one popular literary genre each month (horror or fantasy, for example), complete with themed snacks. The Time Travelers Guild facilitates the immersion of young authors into various evocative atmospheres by meeting and writing inside the Mystery Rooms at The Storyteller’s Cottage (these are popular escape room games). High school aged writers can also bring their college application essays in for feedback and editing on select weekend days.

STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS: “Great stories happen to people who know how to tell them.” (Ira Glass). For those who would like to get better at captivating listeners and turn an ordinary anecdote into an extraordinary tale, local award-winning storyteller Terry Wolfisch Cole holds 2-hour personal storytelling workshops on select evenings.

VINTAGE LITERARY EVENTS: Avid readers love nothing more than to feel as though they are immersed in the fictional worlds of their books. At The Storyteller’s Cottage, evening vintage events bring literature to life! From a Murder Mystery Dinner Party set in the Great Gatsby era, to a Steampunk Literary Salon and Vintage Cocktail Party, to a smashing WWII Blitz Party featuring vintage hair and makeup lessons, the entire historic Victorian manor house is full to the brim with charming immersive atmosphere that brings all sorts of fictional settings alive. These carefully-curated rooms are also available to rent for private events, meetings and parties with themes like a Prohibition costume birthday bash, or an Alice in Wonderland bridal tea, or a Velveteen Rabbit baby shower.

LIVE ACTION ROLE PLAYING & 4D THEATER: LARP is a creative game where participants act out an evolving story in real time. Sometimes known as “interactive literature,” and closely related to improvisational theater, LARPing is a thrilling and stimulating way to dive into a fictional world. At The Storyteller’s Cottage, chamber LARP events are scheduled regularly, and the evocative rooms are also available for rent to local LARP groups. Similarly, 4-D theater is a kind of production that takes place in several separate rooms. Actors stay put in their various locations while the audience roams from room to room to view different scenes play out. The Storytellers Cottage hosts the Sea Tea Improv group on select nights for fun and unusual performances in the historic space.

LITERARY-THEMED MYSTERY ROOMS: The Escape Room craze has reached Simsbury with the opening of Great Scott! Mystery Rooms at The Storyteller’s Cottage. These innovative and intellectual games challenge a team of up to 8 people to solve a room full of clues, codes, puzzles and riddles in just one hour. Guests combine the invigorating thrill of solving mysteries with yet another opportunity to become immersed in their favorite novels, as each of the three game rooms is inspired by classic mystery novels. Players can discover why that famous British mystery writer went missing in "The Dame Disappears", or explore the "Legend of the Fairy Queen", or join "The Detective's Dinner Party." Guests can even combine an escape game with a birthday tea party or themed snack in The Storyteller’s Cottage English Country Kitchen or Jane Austen Regency Salon dining room.

The Storyteller’s Cottage will open to the public with a free Open House on Saturday, October 7th, from 10:00am to 4:00pm. It is located at 750 Hopmeadow Street in Simsbury. Club and event information and registration links are available online at www.StorytellersCottage.com. Hours are by appointment only. Parking for The Storyteller’s Cottage is free, and is available on the street in front of the building, and in the Fiddler’s Green parking lot on Wilcox Street (behind the house). For more information, please call 860-877-6099.