News & Announcements
Fall 2020 Update
Hello Everyone, Thank you for checking back with us. Here we are approaching Fall already and we are all anxious to get back to normal. Hopefully it’s in the near future for us. Unfortunately we were unable to celebrate the ... read more
August 2020 Update
Hello again Fans and Patrons, Another update from all of us here at Happy Retreat. We are still working toward being able to open up the house for your visiting pleasure. Of course we are still under the social precautions due to the ... read more
July 2020 Rising Sun Newsletter
It is with great sadness that I report the death of Kevin Lee Sarring, the generous and multitalented architect who gave so much of his time and talent to the restoration of Happy Retreat. Kevin was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s ... read more
July 2020 Restoration Update
Restoration of the smokehouse and stone kitchen is nearing completion. Over the winter, master carpenter Dave Kardok prepared the framing for the new roof. Many of the original rafters were simply split logs with the tree bark still on read more
Another History at its Best
A little trivia about Happy Retreat. Hello from inside Happy Retreat on Her 240th Birthday My favorite thing to do as the historian of Happy Retreat is look behind Happy Retreat’s walls, under her floorboards, in closets, read long ... read more
December 2019 Rising Sun Newsletter
The year 2019 has seen us make continued important progress at Happy Retreat as we build on the success of the past. The most important progress has been the restoration of the smokehouse and stone kitchen, which nears completion as ... read more
Save America’s Treasures grant awarded to Happy Retreat by the National Park Service
Date: October 12, 2019
PLEASE JOIN US FOR AN AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT On Saturday, October 12, at 11 a.m., Randall Reid-Smith, Curator of the West Virginia Division of Arts, Culture and History, will hold a press conference at Happy Retreat to formally announce ... read more
September 2019 Rising Sun Newsletter
We are excited to report that the restoration of the smokehouse and stone kitchen is happening as this is being written. When the team from the National Trust for Historic Preservation first visited Happy Retreat in 2015, they ... read more
Charles Washington Day
Governor’s Proclamation of Charles Washington Day – September 15th read more
April 2019 Rising Sun Newsletter
The snow drops have already bloomed at Happy Retreat and the daffodils and forsythia are breaking forth. Several years ago, a cousin of mine named Sarah Brown, who lives in Austin, Texas, began researching the history of the people ... read more