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“Relax the Mind… Refresh your Soul…”
Cedar Hill Retreat Center is owned and operated as a Massachusetts non-
Board of Directors:
Sharon Nabreski, President
Deanna Riley, Secretary
Nancy Landgren, Treasurer
Anne Butman
Steve Donovan
Bernie Gardner
Nancy Melia
Kim Wyman
Our History
Stephen Allen, a Boston businessman and lawyer, arrived in Duxbury in 1870. Allen was a self-made man from New Hampshire, who made his fortune largely in Boston real estate. He came to Duxbury to find a summer home and quickly realized the potential for profit in the town’s seaside farms, and proceeded to buy as much as he could of the old Myles Standish farm and its surrounding neighborhood of Captain’s Hill.
At his death in 1894 he left his estate to his son Horace. After Horace’s death in 1919, the property passed to his three daughters: Beatrice, Rosamond and Eleanor. In 1939, they divided the property into three parts.
Rosamond Allen received about 12 1/2 acres, and moved her family’s former barn, by then changed into a garden guest house, onto her portion of the estate. In 1980 she left her beloved Duxbury estate to the regional Unitarian Universalist Church association for a retreat house known as Cedar Hill. It served as a place for area Unitarian Universalists to relax and reflect for 30 years.
Who We Are
In January, 2010, Cedar Hill was transferred to an independent non-profit organization and is now run as a non-denominational retreat and learning center offering meeting space and accommodations to guests.
With the change in ownership, the physical facility at Cedar Hill has received many needed repairs and upgrades. These repairs addressed energy efficiency, fire safety and comfort aspects of the building to provide a safer and more enjoyable retreat experience. Special care was taken to retain the traditional look and feel of the retreat house as a seashore summer cottage.
With overnight accommodations for 20 and indoor meeting space for up to 30 persons, we provide a private and more intimate space than the larger retreat centers, and continue to focus on being affordable for small group functions.
Our mission is to provide an environment dedicated to learning, growth and enrichment, while operating in harmony with our natural surroundings.
Executive Director
Laura Howerton
Maintenance Manager
Rob McKinney
