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Take A Virtual Tour of Write On’s New Writing Center

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The new home of Write On, Door County opened in Juddville Oct. 9, 2020. Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.

Door County’s home for writing celebrated the opening of its new Writing Center in a virtual ceremony Oct. 9.

The gleaming new home of Write On, Door County in Juddville gives the young organization a place to welcome writers, readers, and host events on nearly 40 beautiful acres.

The building has been a dream almost 10 years in the making – one that began as a conversation among friends, then grew into a small nonprofit, then morphed into a home for writing through an anonymous gift of land on Juddville Road in 2013. 

The organization hosts a writers-in-residence program in exchange for providing programming for people of all ages in our community. Readings and talks have been given by celebrated authors such as U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, New York Times best-selling humorist Michael Perry and internationally acclaimed writer Naomi Shihab Nye. 

Founding Director Jerod Santek operated out of a small office in the residency house, collaborating with scores of venues, organizations, schools and individuals to share programming with the county. 

Now Write On has a place to call its own to host book clubs, classes, presentations and readings. It will be a place for children to learn the craft of writing, seniors to put their life lessons on the page and people of all ages to find the stories within. 

It will also house a carefully curated Discovery Library of works by Door County authors, past writers-in-residence and resources about the craft of writing. It will be a gateway to exploration, with 39 acres of grounds to explore and spaces to sit and write in the natural environment drew so many of us to Door County in the first place. 

Learn more about Write On or schedule a tour here>>

The new home of Write On, Door County opened in Juddville Oct. 9, 2020. Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
Blurring the line between outside and inside was about more than windows, said architect Eric Hancock. "There’s an intentional continuity of materials from the inside to outside. The warmth of the color palette, the wood that’s part of the interior and exterior that passes through the walls in some areas. The selection of the floors that meld with the stone that’s part of the paving, there are no abrupt changes from inside to outside." Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
"It is a unique project in the sense that it was designed by and for writers from the outset," said architect Eric Hancock. "A lot of writing centers are in found buildings or found spaces where you have to adapt an existing space to the needs and wants of writers." Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
"The invitation to write is holistic," Hancock said. "Not a neutral setting for the act of writing, but the invitation would be built into the bones of every aspect of the building. The design of a windowsill, the selection of a chair, the shape of the building." Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
"We created Spaces that are more public, like the central atrium, then there’s the small space at the end of the building in a room looking out at the landscape," Hancock said. Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
"The overarching pattern we created was based on the title: the invitation to write," Hancock said. Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
"This organization is very intimately connected with the narrative act. We wanted narrative to be part of the DNA of the building. We worked with Write On to identify a series of quotes or passages of significant authors that helped describe the quality of place that we could use to help describe the qualities of the building," Hancock said. Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
"Here we had this very special opportunity with a client who helped us understand what writers want and need from their spaces," Hancock said. "The beauty of that natural site is really a special landscape, and the building is very outward facing to kind of embrace those qualities." Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
Hancock said "there’s not much in the way of a backside to this building. We want it to be seen and approached from almost any angle. We wanted to avoid the phenomenon of a backside or an ugly side of the building." Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
"We looked at the spaces that writers make for themselves," Hancock said. "Looked at everyone from Earnest Hemingway, who would write wherever he could find a space, versus a Stephen King, or Elizabeth Gilbert who writes in an attic that she calls a skybury. Some like to face a window, some like to face away from a window." Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
"The journey doesn’t stop at the edge of the building. We worked very closely with the landscape architect, Nancy Aten, whose work is a bit of a kindred spirit with ours," Hancock said.Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
"We wanted the building to feel as though it very much was rooted in Door County in both its history and its culture and environment," Hancock said. Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
The tiles of the kitchen backsplash are the work of Ellison Bay potter David Aurelius. Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
A kitchen is the main gathering space of many homes, an idea recreated in the Writing Center.Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
The building as seen from Juddville Road. Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
Inside the main entrance your eyes are still drawn to the natural elements outside the building. Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
A meeting and classroom space for Write On events. Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
Outdoor gathering spaces surround the building. Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.
Photo by Wayne Reckard, Kubala Washatko Architects.

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