Murmuring #1

Hello, it’s me. The City Witch/Country Witch.

Welcome to The Murmuring, a new monthly post written by yours truly to keep record of the comings and goings at SPARROW HOUSE NY and its innkeeper (that’s me).

My name is Sarah. I’m a Libra sun | Pisces Moon | Scorpio Rising in case that’s meaningful to you. My birthchart also happens to feature a Libra Stellium: Four planets - Saturn ♄, Sun☉, Jupiter ♃ and Pluto ♇ - sit in the Eleventh house which focuses my “intense Libran energy” into realms of community and harmonious social networks.

TLDR: I love bringing people together! Which is why I built Sparrow House.

**Libra sun** | **Pisces Moon** | **Scorpio Rising**

Hello, hi! Nice to meet you.

Since I was a kid growing up in Maine, I’ve dreamed of creating a beautiful, restorative sanctuary for creatives to rest, daydream and create their art. While I’ve been welcoming guests to Sparrow House since 2018, this spring I’m hard at work cooking up some New Things:

New Sparrow House branding!
Additional Sparrow House offerings!
The Chicken Ball, coming Summer 2026 (scroll to read more)!

What else should you know about me?
I am a “Warm Spring.” A “Dramatic Classic.” More Tractor Supply than Target. Compulsive kitten rescuer and chicken whisperer. You might see me driving my pickup around The Village in a trucker hat and truckbed full of antiques. I’m the one at the gas station with a Balenciaga City Bag in one hand and a bundle of firewood in the other. City Witch/Country Witch! We all contain multitudes.

Here’s what’s Happening at Sparrow House right now…

My historic, 3000 square foot Carpenter Gothic Victorian home is an extension of me and my creative community in NYC and upstate New York. I have restored what I could, replaced what I couldn’t, and, like the four owners before me (more on that in another newsletter), have added my own special touches. I try to live life like art every day and am inspired by others who do, too.

I have also cultivated nearly two full acres of “grounds” into a locus for all things I love: Indigenous flowers and herbs, a stock tank pool for cooling off, a firepit for warming up, a romantic arbor, mysterious piles of stone and timber, my mini greenhouse, and our charming Chicken Haus we built from scratch. I am constantly tinkering, discovering, making mistakes, fixing them, styling, growing and learning new things about this intensely magical place. I don’t mind the long hours or hard, manual labor because I want the people who stay here - whether it's to celebrate a momentous occasion, or host a workshop, or shoot a film - to fall in love with Sparrow House as much as I have.

Rituals

As a witch with raging ADD, I’ve never found much use for routines. I’ve never successfully done the same thing, at the same time a single day in my lifetime. What DOES work for me is the practice of Rituals: a succession of steps that can be performed at any time of day in any place you’d like. Rituals are not necessarily linear; they exist in a different dimensional plane. I have Rituals for all kinds of little things in my life: to keep on top of my health and self-care, to make sure I’m writing every day, to put good energy out into the world, but mostly to romanticize every day. As the French always say: “Des Rituels, pas des miracles!”

Here is my current Morning Ritual:

Awaken. Draw open the blackout drapes, light some Incense and a single, tiny Candle.
Tend to my two Familiars, Miss Cricket Jean the French Bulldog and Miss Loki the Chimera Cat.
Take my morning Herbs, Medications and Elixirs, which always includes strong coffee. Currently loving Variety Roaster’s Veracruz Mafafaz from Mexico with a splash of oat milk and spoonful each of Marine Collagenand Collagen Peptides. Other mix-ins might include: mushroom powder (Chaga, Reishi, Cordyceps or Lions Mane), a scoop of protein powder, ground flax or The Super Elixir from WellCo. If the weather is warm, I’ll pour it all over ice in a giant Weck Jar.
Morning skincare. [Another Ritual for another time.]
Light another Candle in the living room (or out in The Garden if it's warm) and write my 3 Morning Pages.
Floss and brush teeth.
Grab bags and head out to the gym before work. But blow out the Candles before I do! (Very important step. Do not forget this one.)

The Chicken Ball 2026!

The Goldhen Girls of Sparrow House are our sweetest little angel babies. Cricket Jean and I raised this gaggle of fourteen tiny dinosaurs from chicks last spring and we love them all to pieces despite their varying temperaments and idiosyncracies. “The Sparrow House Dozen ™” is what we call their daily, ombre clutch of eggs. (Booking a stay at SH means you can help us keep the Monthly Egg Tally updated, and enjoy lots of deep, orange, farm-fresh eggs.)

This June,I am preparing to host our first annual Chicken Ball, a garden party where I’ll be celebrating my flock’s 1st birthday in grand fashion. What is a Chicken Ball, one might ask? There’s only one way to find out. All we ask is that Guests attend in their finest finery. We’ll provide the drinks and snacks, and The Goldhen Girls will provide the entertainment: a spectacle like none other, I promise you. The whole thing is not completely planned, but is sure to be the event of the season, and we hope you pop by to say hello.

But wait! Before their birthday, I need your help naming 5 of my flock!
My superstitious bone prevents me from naming my girls too early in case they don’t make it to adulthood. We’ve slowly found names for 9 of them so far, but need your help naming the 5 remaining!

So far we have: Dorothy, Sofia, Blanche, Rose (the OG G-girls), Weird Beard, Cluck Norris, Jolene, Pearl, and Andie. You can learn more about them HERE.‍ ‍Here’s a little bit about the nameless ones below for inspiration:

The UnNamed:

French Dark Chocolate Maran - Precious Angel Baby. Remarkably fluffy. Kind. Dark Chocolate eggs.

Speckled Sussex- Positively evil. Light brown eggs.

Salmon Faverolle- Less of a pushover than her sister, Pearl. But also picked on by all the others for no good reason. Pinky-cream eggs.

Lavender Orpington- Kind of the worst. Light brown eggs.

White Crested Blue Polish- An odd duck, but very good at masking and hanging out with the rest of The Girls. Never picked on. Weird little eggs with the glossy, white shells. The rest of the G-girls keep their distance from the two Cresteds.

DM all your Chicken Name ideas to @sparrowhouseny on IG!

PETERS PROBLEMS! AKA

Burden of Dreams

This is what I like to call my never-ending to-do list. If you also happen to be an innkeeper of an historic home (that is probably a portal to another realm) you too understand the everlasting ouroboros of chores, repairs and DIY projects . I thought sharing it publicly would help keep me honest so I can accomplish the things I’m always putting off, so here goes nothing:

So what can YOU do at Sparrow House NY?

Book a stay - The Whole House or The Nest Studio! >>
Host a workshop - day or overnight >>
Shoot a horror movie >>
Record your new album >>

Thanks for reading my first Murmuring in a long time. Please follow along as I try to capture my life innkeeping at @sparrowhousenyon instagram. It is not always glamorous, but it is extremely goth.

With love, from myself and The Ghosts,

Sarah

Fragrance of the Month: Tears by Régime des Fleurs

Smells like: A good cry in a grove of lilacs.

Top notes: Green Cognac, Pink Pepper, Mandarin Orange

Heart notes: Lilac, Orris, Olibanum

Base notes: Ambergris, Musk