Reservoir of Words
Lissa Kiernan’s Poetry Barn in West Hurley
Across from the Ashokan Reservoir Spillway where the watershed releases a deluge each spring, Lissa Kiernan and Chris Abramides have created a home dedicated to their love of poetry. Surrounded by Catskill woodlands, the four-acre property is a mixed-use mashup between the couple’s personal space and their shared passion project: the Poetry Barn, a poetry library open to the public for browsing and workshops.
Like a near-rhyming couplet, the couple’s light-soaked contemporary home is paired with a colorful barn housing Kiernan’s extensive poetry collection, an upstairs studio, and a space for workshops. The surrounding grounds include writing and reading areas for guests, a fire pit, and an abundance of natural inspiration. “It’s an enchanted forest,” says Kiernan. “I’ve heard it said that places that are on the edges of things, that straddle distinct ecosystems or habitats, are the most varied in terms of biodiversity, and that certainly feels true. After it rains, the trees literally glow.”
Photos by Winona Barton-Ballentine
