Paul Kieu
Proprieter of Bonne Terre Artists’ Retreat Jennifer Gray—pictured right with writer Ashley Hinson, left—has lived on the property since 1979, and she has been inviting creatives from around the world to be inspired by the natural beauty of Acadiana since 2016.
Nestled deep in the forests of Poché Bridge in St. Martin Parish, where paved roads wind into gravel trails and the sky feels endless, there is a gem.
The aptly named Bonne Terre Artists’ Retreat is rich with the sounds, textures, and pace of true country living designed to work with nature, not against it. Proprietor Jennifer Gray, a cheerful native of New Iberia, feels more a steward of the land than an owner of property. Walking the grounds, the ten acres are rife with the life she cultivates. She nurtures the fruits, herbs, and vegetables she grows the same way she tends to her menagerie of rescue goats, bunnies, birds, and a horse named Rio.
“I try to be an ambassador to the area,” she said. “People come, and we live in such a beautiful area that is so unique and special. So, anything I can do to try to show that off, I try to.”
Paul Kieu
The structures on Bonne Terre’s lush property are an homage to rural, Southern living. The complex includes three buildings. The Cottage, where carpenter bees hum, is where Gray resides with her dog, Siro. The Main House Gray referred to as “a labor of love”; the one-hundred-plus-year-old beauty with long-leaf pine floors had to be transported from New Iberia. In the back, there is the invitingly open and pattern-draped artists’ studio, where I stayed and wrote this story.
Energy toward care is palpable, and the studio is packed with thoughtfully hand-picked items. You may pour your coffee, a dark roast blend with a hint of citrus crafted by Rêve Coffee Roasters, into artisan-made stoneware, which goes perfectly with the multicolored farm-fresh eggs in the fridge. Every corner of the studio is bathed in warm light that illuminates regional treasures. Posters of musical icons Clifton Chenier and David Egan, as well as modern artists like Motel Radio and Dylan LeBlanc, overlook vintage organs, a washboard and triangle, and an acoustic sunburst guitar. Binoculars hang by the window, and yoga mats rest, rolled up in a wicker basket. The bookshelf houses Confederacy of Dunces, alongside I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and guidebooks for ayurvedic yoga.
Paul Kieu
Energy toward care is palpable, and the studio is packed with thoughtfully hand-picked items. You may pour your coffee, a dark roast blend with a hint of citrus crafted by Rêve Coffee Roasters, into artisan-made stoneware, which goes perfectly with the multicolored farm-fresh eggs in the fridge.
When you are invited to sit down, you are invited to slow down. And then, you’re implored to explore the grounds and the bounds of your own creativity. Meandering the property, particularly at the rainy and delightfully overgrown start of spring, is a bit like looking into a kaleidoscope: you see something new each time you look.
From the studio’s back porch, the horizon stretches out across the field behind the barn, where Rio and the goats roam. An herb, fruit, and flower garden spills into the orchard, whose perimeters are lined with intricately planned herbs, fruits, and vegetables. A lake lined with tall grass and dappled by lilies sparkles toward the left of the property, leading to more fruits and vegetables in the back. In late March, the fresh strawberries were bright and full, ready to be plucked from their pots behind the lake.
Meandering the property, particularly at the rainy and delightfully overgrown start of spring, is a bit like looking into a kaleidoscope: you see something new each time you look.
Paul Kieu
Bonne Terre is a member of the Farm Stay USA network, one of the program’s only two locations in Louisiana (the other is Splendor Farms Bed & Breakfast in Bush). The program is known for fostering “farm vacations” that invite guests to experience the lifestyles of growers and homesteaders around the country. At Bonne Terre, visitors can interact with the land and its inhabitants to their level of comfort. Gathering eggs and feeding animals are all at your fingertips. Harvesting fruits and vegetables is also on the table, given the season.
Gray majored in horticulture at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and is fond of companion gardening, a technique wherein one plants different herbs, flowers, and food in proximity to each other. Plants are rooted to provide a beneficial habitat for insects and utilize space, thus increasing crop productivity. Gray planted her summer spinach, zucchini, and kale all crowded together, where they thrived. From the potatoes to the parsley, it’s all organic.
Paul Kieu
She was more than happy to share her expertise, and even some radish shoots, as we strolled through her orchard, offering adages like: “People are wise to be like trees. Trees that bend don’t break.”
Bonne Terre has been Gray’s homestead since 1979. Before she established the property as a retreat, it was Acadiana’s first organic farm. “To live on the same land and see the seasons change—familiarity is a beautiful thing,” Gray said. “It’s all about the balance in nature.”
She said that she always encourages her guests to pursue gardening while they are here. “Gardening is therapy,” she said. “You can’t imagine how much food you can grow out of it, and it makes a joyful place.”
She was more than happy to share her expertise, and even some radish shoots, as we strolled through her orchard, offering adages like: “People are wise to be like trees. Trees that bend don’t break.”
Gray’s experience of growing up in the country manifests in her expert care of the land, but also in reflexive recycling. The barn, she said, features portholes that were salvaged from a Norwegian tanker that the Germans sunk in the Gulf of Mexico during World War II. The hay from the chickens is used to mulch the gardens. Things find new homes. Most of the bunnies on her property she’s acquired as a result of other families’ well-intentioned, but sorely underestimated, Easter presents.
Gray spent the night in her first AirBnB for a friend’s 2013 wedding in Brooklyn. By 2016, she had put the finishing touches on the studio and moved into The Cottage.
“I wanted a really nice experience for people, a retreat to come and recharge and connect with nature,” she said. “Who wouldn’t want to drink coffee out of an artisan-made mug and be surrounded by art?”
Paul Kieu
Gray views inspiration as reciprocal. Behind the studio, marsh violets dot the walking trail of the woods, the wildest portion of the property. Gray said they make her feel lucky. Pecan, oak, and cypress trees cast shadows from overhead. She welcomes what is inherent to the land to take up space.
“Any time someone creates something—whether it’s a photograph, a piece of pottery, literature, visual art, or music—think about how much of your heart you pour into what you’re doing,” she said. “You feel that. I call it an artist’s retreat, but I feel it’s for everyone to be creative. A lot of times, people will come and say, ‘I played your guitar, and I haven’t played in forever.’They’ll start bird watching with the binoculars. How universal is that?”
