Spinsterhaven

Spinsterhaven is a nonprofit organization formally established in Fayetteville (Washington County) in 1991. It evolved from an idea into a physical community, which itself evolved over time, with the revamped organization going by the name Elder Tree.  

It appears that the genesis of Spinsterhaven was a 1988 retreat sponsored by the Women’s Project, a Little Rock (Pulaski County) nonprofit dedicated to creating “a world free of discrimination, violence, and economic injustice.” The retreat included an extended discussion of the issues of retirement and older women’s care, and from this emerged the idea of Spinsterhaven, a place “where women can live and stay in their own homes as long as possible.” According to documents housed in the libraries of the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville, Spinsterhaven started in 1988 in northwestern Arkansas as “a retirement land cooperative for older women and women with disabilities.” It achieved its formal legal status as a nonprofit in 1991. 

The organizers “envisioned an environment of about 100 acres, near a hospital or emergency facilities, with clean water, building sites, and nice neighbors,” but finding and purchasing the land for such a place proved to be no small challenge. Finally, after numerous fundraisers and with a grant from Lesbian Natural Resources in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was used for a down payment in 1993, forty-three acres of land near Patrick (Madison County) were purchased, with Spinsterhaven taking ownership the following year. While the founders had hoped to renovate or construct living units for six to eight people, which they planned to rent to aging or disabled women, in fact, they had to scale back their ambitions, purchasing a trailer in 1994, and after it was remodeled for housing purposes, the first caretaker moved into the trailer in 1996. Over the years, roads would be built and other infrastructure added as efforts to make a cooperative women’s retirement community a reality advanced. 

The original plan called for the early members to build their own homes, which they would then leave to the community upon their death, thus further developing and expanding the community. Not all of the original dwellers remained, however, and as many of them moved away or were unable to contribute in the way the original founders hoped, a new generation took over.  

While the original mission of Spinsterhaven was to “create and maintain nurturing communities for aging women and women with disabilities and to promote the physical and cultural and spiritual well-being of women,” as Spinsterhaven developed in the early 1990s, it was viewed as a safe haven especially for lesbians. Indeed, a central tenet of its development was that it became a place where sexuality was not an issue, with caregivers making no distinction concerning residents’ sexuality. It was an important consideration of the community—the lesbian members who had spent so much of their lives hiding their true selves did not want to live a lie in their final years. Spinsterhaven was committed to making that so.  

In 2014, the original mission, as well as the formal community of Spinsterhaven, was substantively revised. The property near Patrick that had been the original site was sold, and the group used the proceeds to purchase a house in Fayetteville, which became the site of the new iteration of Spinsterhaven, a senior women’s community center they named Elder Tree.  

The newly developed Elder Tree, referred to in one publication as a “descendant of the original” Spinsterhaven community, represents a marked change from the residential vision central to Spinsterhaven. Instead, the less ambitious Elder Tree has been transformed into a spiritual retreat center for the local women’s community, while its housing dimension is more of a respite than the full-scale residential community at the heart of the Spinsterhaven effort. The Elder Tree house serves as a meeting place for private functions including weddings, parties, and children’s events, with overnight accommodations available at a reasonable cost. In addition, Elder Tree hosts a wide range of intergenerational events as well as regular dances, potluck suppers, and game and bingo nights, all of which are open to the public with donations that fund upkeep and maintenance appreciated.   

For additional information:
Froelich, Jacqueline. “Spinsterhaven Reincarnated.” KUAF, June 3, 2015. https://www.kuaf.com/ozarks-at-large-stories/2015-06-03/spinsterhaven-reincarnated (accessed January 24, 2025).  

Kliewer, Kara. “Quaint Fayetteville Home Offers Sanctuary to All.” The Gayly, October 1, 2017. https://www.gayly.com/quaint-fayetteville-home-offers-sanctuary-all (accessed January 24, 2025).  

William H. Pruden III
Ravenscroft School