Since 1993, the Queen Anne mansion that had housed a popular Saugerties restaurant had been a burnt-out, derelict husk of a place. Various attempts at preserving it failed; some thought it past saving. But now, restored to its former glory, the manor house is thrumming with new life as Clovelea, a therapeutic collective of mental health practitioners and acupuncturists.
Saugerties native Nina Schmidbauer, who was four years old when the flames took the Dragon Inn, had always dreamed of owning the building. Now a psychotherapist in her early 30s, Shmidbauer got her start working with families in multiple contexts on multiple continents at age 16 with Family of Woodstock.
Throughout the years she maintained a determination to make the historic Saugerites mansion, with its good bones and glorious Catskills views, an icon of resilience. “When I thought of renovating Clovelea, I dreamed of a grand exterior with landscaping and gardens,” she says. “For many, this felt hard to imagine because it was so overgrown: vines and trees creeping in, debris in the parking lot. But for me, I dreamed up the blueprints in my sleep.”
She purchased the building in 2021, prevailed over a tiresome sequence of permitting struggles, and teamed up with her father, sculptor Benno Schmidbauer, to craft the Queen Anne-style mansion into a purpose-built community healing center, whose practitioners incorporate a range of modalities from somatic and play therapies to acupuncture.
In stark contrast to many therapist offices with their drop ceilings and fluorescent lighting, Clovelea offers beautiful, soothing spaces with quality, historic materials—parquet floors, exposed brick, crown molding, and big windows with lots of natural light are just some of the distinguishing features. The beautiful setting isn’t secondary, it was Shmidbauer’s express reason for choosing the building. In the “Why Beauty Matters” section of Clovelea’s website, it reads “Being surrounded by beauty—in nature, with light pouring in through windows, in colored walls and art—is itself healing. Our bodies calm when we see things that are visually appealing.”
To create the waiting room, called the Liminal Space, Schmidbaur enlisted Hinterland, an all-women collective of artists, makers, and designers in the Hudson Valley, to interpret her vision of space that would enhance the healing experience with color, shape, and style, engaging across cultures and age groups.
Clovelea now shelters Schmidbaur’s vision: a one-stop shop for those seeking therapeutic support, wellness workshops, and parenting groups, with a team of nine therapists, two acupuncturists, and 10 wellness practitioners. Workshops, group, and individual treatment are available to people of all ages and demographics, and care is taken to welcome the underserved, including neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ folks.
“Attachment is formed before the age of 4, which is why having parental leave is paramount to supporting healthy families and cultures,” says Schmidbaur. “Theorists believe that all of our relationship patterns are formed preverbally, so modalities like somatic, play, and attachment therapy are the optimal way to heal our wounds and improve our relationships with ourselves and others.”
A new mom herself, Schmidbaur understands how parenthood can rock your world. She’s determined to see that her fellow travelers on that path are well equipped. “Clovelea’s mission is to become a center for parents, who are often too tired to research playgroups and travel far distances to build community. It offers together. Our upcoming Wellness Workshop focuses on mamas, and we’re hosting a monthly writing group that allows parents to bring their children with them!”
