About the Cottage
At this time, Jampolis Cottage is not available to writers who require physically accessible accommodation (i.e., wheelchair users, scooter users, and users of most other mobility aids). We have dedicated and are continuing to dedicate significant time and money to rectify this inaccessibility. For more information on our accessibility efforts, please see About the Program.
Taken in summer of 2022, these photographs reflect the character of Jampolis Cottage and its grounds. Because rooms have been renovated and rearranged since that time, exact furniture and artwork will differ.
(Photo credit: Snickerdoodle Photography)
Jampolis Cottage is saltwater, sun, and solitude. Originally built by a stonemason in 1794, the cottage has been expanded and reconceived numerous times, most recently by Neil and Jane Jampolis, who added skylights and sea-facing windows to admit an abundance of natural light and views onto the Minas Basin, an inlet of the Bay of Fundy. Along with items donated by Nova Scotian writers and readers, the cottage is furnished and decorated with much of Neil and Jane’s originally chosen furniture and artwork, including numerous bovine paintings and curios collected by Jane in honour of their moniker for the cottage, “Cowslip,” after the yellow-flowered perennial.
Amenities include Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi-enabled printer; large sea-facing deck with mobility device ramp; natural-stone firepit; laundry facilities; fully equipped kitchen; regularly re-stocked pantry; full upstairs bathroom with twin vanities, clawfoot tub, and skylight; and full ground-floor bathroom with shower stall.
Writing, reading, & gathering spaces include the dining & workshop room (ground-floor), with six-person farmhouse table; the living room (ground-floor) with sofa, writing desk, and sea-facing bay window; and the reading room (upstairs) with rustic six-person table, chaise longue, writing desk, and five sea-facing windows.
Bedrooms:
- The Blomidon Room (upstairs; 210 ft²/20 m²; single- to triple-occupancy), named for its view of the Blomidon Cliffs, is furnished with a queen bed, a rollaway cot, and a writing desk and features five sea-facing windows and a preserved stained-glass window.
- The Cowslip Room (upstairs; 210 ft²/20 m²; single- to triple-occupancy), named for Neil and Jane Jampolis’s moniker for the cottage, is furnished with a queen bed, a single sleigh bed, and a writing desk and features a skylight.
- The Raddall Room (ground-floor; 130 ft²/12 m²; single- or double-occupancy), named for Thomas H. Raddall II to honour his contributions to Nova Scotia’s literary community, is furnished with a single bed, a roll-out trundle cot, and a writing desk. The Raddall Room has been and will continue to be renovated to increase physical accessibility for residents who use mobility devices, thanks in great part to the financial support of the Raddall family of Liverpool, NS.
Resident writers’ essential companions, including caregivers, family members who require care, personal attendants, and service animals are welcome to stay at Jampolis Cottage at no charge. No physician certification is required.
- If you require a personal attendant during your residency, we recommend that your regular personal attendant travel to and stay at Jampolis Cottage with you. You can access free or taxes-only flight, rail, and bus travel for personal attendants through WestJet, Air Canada, Porter Airlines, Via Rail, and Maritime Bus. (Physician certification is required for each of these personal attendant travel programs, so please make travel plans well in advance.) If a personal attendant cannot travel with you, private personal attendants in the Wolfville area can be found through Caregivers Nova Scotia (see the Wolfville section of their list of Annapolis Valley private care providers) or through CareForce.
To accommodate pets, cleaning supplies and some backup essentials for cats and dogs are provided.
- We ask residents to make a tax-deductible pet cleaning donation ($50 recommended) if one or more pets will be staying overnight during a residency.
For those with a local personal vehicle, Jampolis Cottage is 1 hour northwest of downtown Halifax; 50 minutes west of Halifax Stanfield International Airport; 15 minutes north of Windsor; and 15 minutes east of Wolfville. The horseshoe driveway and parking pad can easily accommodate up to six vehicles.
For those without access to a local personal vehicle, we advise car rental due to Jampolis Cottage’s rural location. Along with the numerous rental options available in downtown Halifax, there are six rental options at Halifax Stanfield International Airport and an Enterprise Rent-a-Car location in nearby Windsor.
For those who do not drive, there are still several travel options:
- Halifax Stanfield International Airport offers private car services to Windsor for under $150. From Windsor, a local taxi can bring you to Jampolis Cottage.
- Maritime Bus offers bus services from Halifax Airport to downtown Wolfville for under $30. From Wolfville, a local taxi can bring you to Jampolis Cottage. (Per Maritime Bus’s accessibility policy, personal attendants and service animals are permitted free-of-charge. Advanced notice of 72 hours is required if travelling with a wheelchair or scooter.)
- TJ’s Driving Services offers province-wide physically accessible services on a quote-per-service basis.
Local taxi options are limited, so we advise booking them in advance:
- C.J.’s Taxi offers taxi service in the Wolfville and Kentville areas for those without physical accessibility concerns. Service is available 24/7, but we strongly recommend booking at least 24 hours in advance.
- Kings Point to Point offers accessible transportation in Kings County for wheelchair and scooter users. Bookings must be made during office hours (Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm) at least 72 hours in advance.
Dining & drinking
- Grocery & liquor stores are found in Wolfville and Hantsport (each a 10-min drive).
- Local produce and perishables are seasonally available at Tangled Garden, Elderkin’s Farm Market, Hennigar’s Farm Market, Stirling Farm Market, and Wolfville Farmers’ Market (each within a 15-min drive).
- Well-reviewed dining in Wolfville (10-min drive) includes The Naked Crepe Bistro, Church Brewing Co., Paddy’s and Rosie’s, Rossa Trattoria, and Troy Restaurant & Grill.
- In Grand Pré and Lower Wolfville, find craft beer at Horton Ridge Taproom (5-min drive), dining at The Evangeline Inn’s Longfellow Restaurant (5-min drive), and dining and wine at any of six vineyards: L’Acadie, Domaine de Grand Pré, Gaspereau, Lightfoot & Wolfville, Luckett, and Mercator (each a 10-min drive).
- For a more rural drive, follow Bluff Road to Hantsport (10-min drive) for caffeine and light fare at The Barking Bean and Essentially English Bakery & Café.
Artistic recreation
- Libraries, bookshops, galleries, & theatres in Wolfville include Wolfville Memorial Library, The Odd Book, Harvest Gallery, and the Al Whittle Theatre, a historic independent cinema and performance space. Acadia University also provides Vaughan Memorial Library, campus bookstore, and the University Art Gallery in the Beveridge Art Centre.
- Seasonal arts events in Wolfville include Deep Roots Music Festival (held in fall), Devour: The Food Film Festival (held in fall), and the Acadia Performing Arts Series (with events year-round). Other local events are regularly listed on the Town of Wolfville’s Event Calendar, and literary festivals in the region (typically held in summer or early fall) can be found in our index of Nova Scotia Literary Festivals.
Natural recreation
- Jampolis Cottage overlooks Penny Beach, is a short distance from Avonport Beach, and is a 10-minute drive from Evangeline Beach. A 5-minute drive will bring you to the Blue Beach Fossil Museum—or to the Grand-Pré National Historic Site and the nearby head of the 110-kilometre Harvest Moon Trailway.
- A season pass for Tangled Garden in Grande Pré (5-min drive) is stored in a small cup on the dining room cabinet and may be used and returned to that location. Garden tours at Tangled Garden typically run from May through November each year.
- Other local walking, hiking, & nature destinations include Avonport Dyke (5-min drive); Wolfville’s Reservoir Park, Gaspereau River Trail, Lumsden Pond Provincial Park, and the Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens (each a 15-min drive); Falmouth’s Eldridge Falls and Windsor’s Ettinger Falls (each a 20-min drive); Blomidon Provincial Park (35-min drive); and Burntcoat Head Park (65-min drive), where visitors can walk on the seafloor during the Bay of Fundy’s world-famous low tides.
- Recreational equipment for rent nearby includes bicycles, snowshoes, and walking poles from Valley Stove & Cycle in nearby Kentville (20-min drive); kayaks and stand-up paddleboards from White Rock Rentals in Wolfville (15-min drive); and hydrobikes from Maritime Hydrobikes, which provides delivery and pickup. Depending on the season, you might also take an afternoon away from the keyboard by renting tubes at Gaspereau River Tubing (15-min drive) or skis or snowboards at Ski Martock (25-min drive).
If you are an early-career, established, or professional author, consider seeking local reading, speaking, or workshop opportunities with Acadia University’s Department of English and Theatre, Acadia University’s Vaughan Memorial Library, or the Wolfville Memorial Library (each within a 10-min drive).
The Canning Library (20-min drive), also known as The Merritt Gibson Library and the Little Library in Canning, is another potential event partner. Housed in a historic building on Canning’s Main Street, it is the only independent, community-owned library in Nova Scotia, acting as a centre for literacy, education, and cultural activity and providing enriching experiences, valuable resources, and a great selection of books to residents of Canning and surrounding area for over 30 years.
The Canning Library regularly offers workshops, readings, craft circles, a writing group, internet and printing access, digital literacy training, a youth reading group, and more. Its offerings fluctuate depending on the skills and availability of volunteers, and on grants and other funding. In 2025, the library plans to develop a tool library. The library’s front room is wheelchair accessible.
The Canning Library Board and volunteers invite all writers staying at Jampolis Cottage to get in touch. If you’d like to organize or participate in a reading, launch, or other event—or just come for a visit—please contact canninglibrary@gmail.com.
Investors
The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia is grateful to the Jampolis Living Trust; the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage; the Raddall family of Liverpool, Nova Scotia; and the Municipality of the County of Kings for their foundational investments in Jampolis Cottage and the Jampolis Cottage Residency Program.
