Area Guide Spotlight: Elderflower Retreat at Hillside Pastures

Posted July 23, 2025

Now that summer is officially upon us, we want you to take in all the season has to offer. Consider visiting, staying, shopping and eating local by consulting APT’s helpful Area Guide on your next visit to Spring Green. APT’s Area Guide Spotlight series highlights all the things that make the Driftless area so incredible, including some of our favorite finds that should definitely be included on your summer itinerary.

A modern oasis on a mission, Elderflower Retreat at Hillside Pastures invites you to spend some quality time reconnecting with the beautiful landscapes of Spring Green this summer. Nestled between the rolling prairies of Taliesin Preservation and APT, this spacious home and event rental brings you and your guests closer to the outdoors with stunning sunset views and grazing farm animals right outside your door. Operated by the Savanna Institute, a nature nonprofit with a passion for agroforestry and regenerative farming, this retreat has roots that run deep in the community and beyond.

Erin Crooks Lynch, the Savanna Institute's Campus Engagement Manager, shared more about Elderflower Retreat's events, accommodations and so much more.

Elderflower Retreat at Hillside Pastures

6511 Hillside School Road, Spring Green, WI
(608) 448-6432 | elderflowerretreat.com

About Elderflower Retreat

Elderflower Retreat is the perfect stay-cation spot while you attend back-to-back APT shows over the long weekend. We are located two minutes from American Players Theater and just 8 minutes from Spring Green. Guests can enjoy this 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom luxury retreat for 5-9 overnight guests, with a stunning view of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin along with picturesque hills and vales of grazing cattle. Retreat to this accommodating space between shows to share meals, relax, refresh, snack or hike two easy-to-access Driftless Area Land Conservancy trails just minutes away.

The Savanna Institute operates Elderflower Retreat at Hillside Pastures as a rental space for community events, meetings, personal retreats, and family gatherings. Located on an agroforestry demonstration farm south of the Wisconsin River, Elderflower Retreat overlooks a mature silvopasture where Seven Seeds Farm grazes grass-fed organic beef cattle. Guests can enjoy a hike up the tree-lined ridge overlooking the Wisconsin River Valley and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

More on the Savana Institute

Inspired by the oak savannas native to this region, the Savanna Institute supports the growth of more diverse, perennial farming in the Upper Mississippi and Great Lakes watersheds, with a focus on tree crops and agroforestry. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2013, with headquarters in Spring Green, WI and Champaign, IL.

On our Spring Green Campus, which consists of four farms around the town of Spring Green, we demonstrate a variety of agroforestry practices at a field scale, conduct agroforestry research, provide on-farm training, host tours, and rent the Elderflower Retreat.

Although the native oak savannas are an inspiration for our work, our primary focus is on restoring ecological functions to working farmland, rather than restoring land to native habitat. The Midwest landscape is dominated by annual crops like corn and soybeans, and to make a significant impact on the soil health, wildlife abundance, and economic resilience of our region, we need solutions that can be applied on these working lands. We believe that agroforestry practices such as windbreaks, alley cropping, and tree crop production can serve this purpose.

Experiencing Elderflower

Elderflower Retreat is a place where our friends and community can gather, dream big, plan, and think outside the box. The space is available for day use rental or overnight. We’ve hosted staff retreats, workshops, poetry readings (with APT actors!), family reunions, small weddings and other gatherings! Please inquire at [email protected] with your special gathering idea.

We also collaborate with local organizations such as

to name a few!

Please check our events calendar on the website. We occasionally host dinners, guest speakers, poetry readings and other events throughout the year. We also host monthly tours of our Spring Green farms which can be found at savannainstitute.org/events.

This area is so incredibly special, from the small family farms and local produce to the landscape with so many fantastic places to hike and be out in Mother Nature, to the art and artists who live and work in this special place.