ABOUT US

About Lisa and Hans Mateboer,

Lisa was born and raised in West Virginia, and Hans is a native of Holland. In 2006, while searching for a mountain home in the hills of West Virginia, we found what we now call The Retreat at Pipestem. At that time, the property consisted of a house and a "half" as the Cardinal was only a shell of a home. The Cardinal was finished in the spring of 2007, while the West Virginian was opened to guests. A few years later, the Black Bear, our dream cabin, was built.

During the following years, the property was continuously improved, such as adding and enlarging decks, bedrooms, building a beautiful river rock retaining wall, finishing the lower level of the Black Bear and numerous less obvious improvements such as a state of the art 'green' sceptic system. All this has made the Retreat at Pipestem a beautiful place to stay.

To make sure that we meet and exceed our guest's expectations and that they have a great experience, we often stay in our own cabins and see what needs repairing or what we possibly need to add. As we also make it a habit to stay in other vacation homes, it has become obvious to us that websites do not always give a correct picture of what is offered.

We have taken great care to ensure that the property is exactly how we describe in this website and we trust that our guests will be pleasantly surprised when they walk in the door.

Adding the Rhododendron at Glade Springs was natural, as it is much closer to Lisa's mother.

Aunt Pat purchased Pipestem Place which had two log homes, and after lots of scrubbing, staining and polishing, these were affectionately added to the now small family of beautiful properties.

To keep the existing grounds as much as possible in pristine condition and to avoid the feeling of mass tourism, it was decided not to add cabins anymore to the three properties and that all properties will remain cozy, comfortable places.

The Retreat at Pipestem with 10 acres is nestled in thw woods just behind the State Park.

Pipestem Place with its more open feeling is easily accessable straight off route 20, but sits way back from it.

The Rhododendron at Glade Springs is more than 1000 feet away from the nearest neighbor and as such very private, while being inside the Glade Springs security gates.

We trust you will have a great time staying with us.

Lisa and Hans