Yes, there is a spiral slide in the living room. However, Foxwood Cottage in Payson, has many more surprises in store for its guests. Owner, Michelle Wollett bought the geodesic property from the original owners in 2024 and set to work creating a cozy, colorful palette that draws inspiration from an English cottage. However, the colors also seem to come out of a Van Gogh or a Claude Monet painting, many of which the reprints also adorn the walls. The patterned wall paper, a colorful throw, the paneled walls with a beaded detail, decorative fixtures and rows of mix and match pillows all invite your eye to dance from one end of the room to the other.
Michelle has a literary fixation too, one she is not shy about at all. She runs another business called Once Upon A Book Club which sends you a book along with items and activities to pair with the plot or characters of the book included. It won't surprise you then that Michelle extends this approach to Foxwood Cottage. She originally bought it because the unique shape of the 1980's property reminded her of a 'hobbit house' from Lord of the Rings. She then included in one of the rooms a 'Narnia' closet, which if you ever read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, you will recall that Lucy entered a magical closet which took her to another snow filled world. This closet may not take you to Narnia exactly, but it will lead you to a secret reading nook filled with books, fairy lights, and soft cushions to curl up on.
If the secret closet and the slide wasn't enough to delight your kid or the inner kid in you, there is more out back. Michelle included a zip line, a mud pie kitchen, and a classic swing to sway from just over the shallow creek that runs behind the cottage. Michelle says her style sense is 'I love everything!' she says with a laugh. The mix of colors and textures attests to that and yet the effect is not chaos, instead it is a house brimming with creativity and imagination. In fact, she says that every room with its hidden delights is a kind of story telling that invites you to embrace some magic into your life... just like a character in a book.
Michelle says everyone should live a 'magical life' and she really means it. She says the cottage is designed to make you feel more connected, more child like, and with a sense of adventure. Too often when we go away on vacation we find ourselves still hooked on our phones, just in a different place. At Foxwood cottage, Michelle says she hopes guests will bake, read books, do a puzzle, make a mud pie, do something that engages that creative spirit. Maybe, even create some magic of their own.
So, can style really be a destination? The only honest answer is you have to experience it for yourself, and see if Foxwood Cottage casts its spell on you too.
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www.onceuponabookclub.com