Welcome and a bit of history

We hope you'll enjoy exploring some of this information about our family's private retreat located off the beaten path in the quiet hills and dairy farms of Lincklaen (Chenango County) in central New York State. We are just 45 minutes north of Binghamton and 45 minutes south of Syracuse, right on the border between the Finger Lakes and the Leatherstocking region.


We've been enjoying spending time here since January 1994 when we bought the property from the Baden Powell Council of the Boy Scouts. They had maintained "Camp Purchas" for decades as a year-round facility with a full-time caretaker and everything from sailing on the lake in the summer to survival skills training in the winter. But when the Council began to devote more resources to developing a new Finger Lakes area campsite, they decided to sell the property in Lincklaen. In the late fall of 1993, we found it listed for sale, visited once with our children who were then just 3, 5, and 7 years old, and couldn't resist embarking on an adventure to recreate it as a private retreat for our family and friends. Early on, we renamed it "Meribah."




From the beginning, we have tried to provide a comfortable space to relax in the company of friends. We keep the accommodations simple and we focus on spending quality time together.

On occasion, we do make rental arrangements with individuals and small groups who want to come to Meribah, typically for a week at a time. We always rent to just one group of guests so that the entire space is yours during your stay.

Over the years, we have made Meribah available for family reunions, summer vacations, and church retreats. Local organizations including the Syracuse Food Coop and the Resolutions (an a cappella singing group from Colgate University) have enjoyed coming to Meribah for retreats and planning meetings. We have had guests from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, as well as Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands, and El Salvador.