About
Casa Portal is a retreat homestead shaped by real land and real life.
It exists for in-between moments — when something is shifting and space is needed.
Days follow rhythm rather than urgency, so people return to their lives with greater steadiness, care, and love.
a place to begin
Casa Portal grew out of a personal experience, wanting rest and clarity, being in between, but not knowing how to begin.
the founder of Casa Portal came to retreating without a background in yoga, meditation, or spiritual practice. Like many first-time guests, she arrived unsure of what to wear, how to participate, or whether she belonged in retreat spaces at all.
what she found instead was the quiet power of slowing down — not in a dramatic or transformative way, but in a grounded, practical one that could carry back into everyday life.
Casa Portal was created to offer that kind of experience to others: approachable, real, and rooted in place.
community
Casa Portal is designed for people who are just beginning or want to go deeper — people who are curious about themselves, their lives, their work, and their relationship to rest.
It is a place for real people in real lives who want to slow down, reconnect with nature, and experience community in a way that feels human and grounded.
THE LAND
the land at Casa Portal is central to the experience.
set in Maine’s northern woods on private, working land, the property offers forests, fields, gardens, and the presence of animals — all of which support a slower pace and a sense of grounding. the land is not curated or themed. It is allowed to be what it is.
Your Hosts
Melissa
Melissa is the steward of Casa Portal and the shepherd of its sheep. She is a traveler, a seeker, and — like many guests — a lifelong beginner.
Her own retreat journey began without a roadmap, and she continues to learn how to slow down, listen to the land, and follow what feels honest. A certified forest therapy guide, Melissa cares for Casa Portal as a retreat homestead — a place held with curiosity, care, and love, passed on from the previous owners.
She hopes to welcome you here wherever you are on your journey.
Her dog, Shari, will be here too.
your host 
Pete is the chef at Casa Portal and Melissa’s life partner. He cooks intuitively, guided by the land, the season, and the people gathered at the table.
Hungarian by heritage, Pete learned to cook from his grandmother and through time on his grandparents’ farm. He has lived and cooked in India and Bali, shaping a quiet, nourishing approach to food rooted in patience and care. At Casa Portal, he tends the gardens and keeps bees, letting what is grown guide the kitchen.
Here, food is the heart of the home — a way people feel cared for, settle in, and share life together.
your chef Pete
our approach to programming
Casa Portal’s retreats are shaped seasonally — in response to the moment we’re in and the questions people are carrying.
We work in relationship with teachers and facilitators whose work offers grounded, practical ways to support people right now: slowing down, listening, reconnecting, and returning to daily life with greater steadiness and care. Some themes are timely and emergent; others are as old as land, food, and community.
Each season is held as a whole. The teachers, the land, the meals, and the daily rhythm are designed to support one another, creating an experience that feels cohesive, human, and rooted.
We also welcome a small number of thoughtfully aligned rental retreats whose work resonates with this approach. Over time, some guides choose to return, allowing their relationship with the land — and the work itself — to deepen naturally.
2026 Season guides
Meet the teachers and facilitators whose work we are honored to host this season.
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Surya-Chandra Das
Surya is a meditation teacher with over 30 years of experience guiding silent retreats and contemplative practice. Founder of Rolling Meadows Retreats, his work draws from decades of training and long-term retreat practice across multiple traditions, offering silence as a relational, accessible, and deeply held experience.
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Tam Willey
Tam Willey is an ANFT-certified forest therapy guide and the founder of Toadstool Walks. Her work blends guided forest bathing, sensory awareness, and storytelling to help people slow down, listen deeply, and build meaningful relationships with the natural world. Tam leads walks rooted in presence, curiosity, and care for the land.
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Natalie Davis
Natalie Davis is an intuitive coach and creative facilitator with a background in design and embodied creative practice. Her work invites people to reconnect with their creative instincts, inner rhythm, and sense of meaning through curiosity, presence, and hands-on exploration.
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Maura Ambrose
Maura Ambrose is a fiber artist and natural dyer whose work centers on hand-stitched quilts and textiles made with materials grown from the land. Through her studio, Folk Fibers, she teaches traditional craft practices as a way to explore creativity, color, and connection through making.
INVITATION
Casa Portal exists to make retreating feel possible — especially for those who never thought it was for them.
If you feel drawn to the idea of slowing down, spending time in nature, and being part of a quiet, shared experience, please join us at the farm.