Shep's Artist Retreat & Bunkhouse

3 bedrooms2+ bathroomsSleeps 8135 sq m

Popular amenities

Kitchen

Barbecue grill

Free WiFi

Washer

Dryer

Outdoor space

Explore the area

Cloudcroft, NM

Sacramento Peak Observatory8 min walk
Sacramento Mountains Museum10 min walk
Cloudcroft Ski Area5 min drive
Alamogordo, NM (ALM-White Sands Regional)38 min drive

Rooms & beds

3 bedrooms (sleeps 8)

Bunkhouse

4 Single Beds

Master

1 King Bed

Upstairs Guest Room

1 Queen Bed

2 bathrooms, 1 half bathroom

Bunkroom Bath Downstairs

Toilet · Shower only

Half Bath Upstairs

Toilet

Upstair Main Bath

Bathtub or shower · Toilet

Spaces

Deck or patio

Porch or lanai

Kitchen

Kitchenette

Balcony

Garden

Dining Area

About this property

Shep's Artist Retreat & Bunkhouse is available as an 8 person cabin..

This cute cabin is located in the Lincoln National Forest & is the summer home for portrait artist, Shep. His private art studio is located next door to the cabin where he teaches his "Paint Like a Venetian" classes every August. If you are interested in purchasing any of the artwork in the cabin, please let us know. Most are for sale with a few that are his wife's private collection. We feel that this cabin in this tiny village is our happy place & we would like to share it with you when we are not in resident.

The cabin has fantastic views of the trees and mountains from a private deck. It contains 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, a 55 inch TV with YouTube TV, a wood stove to build a fire for those warm and cozy winter evenings. A propane heater is also available. Living, dining & kitchen create a large open space for family gatherings.

With a full kitchen with almost every gadget known to man, a washer and dryer, you will have everything you could need on vacation. It is also across the street from the OSHA Hiking trail for your outdoor cravings. Wildlife wander through the yard almost daily.

Upstairs off the main living area is a large deck that looks out into the trees. There is a table & plenty of chairs for viewing wildlife & a BBQ grill. The yard below has a swing, picnic table & lots of chairs to chill out at the end of the day and is fully fenced.

Bunkhouse has 4 built-in bunks, couch, YouTube TV, mini fridge, microwave, coffeemaker, full bath with shower. Stairs to bunkhouse are located outside off the back deck. The bunkhouse is a totally separate area.

Cloudcroft has lots of shops & several great restaurants including the BEST Texas BBQ around at Mad Jack's & Brother-InLaw's BBQ, burgers at Dave's, home cooked meals at Big Daddy's and Dusty Boots, Lepree's Global Comfort Food, food trucks, coffee shops, amazing bakeries & the famous Cloudcroft Brewery which features pizza, live music & crafted beers, The Lodge with fine dining & golf course & finally, Mayhill Cafe in Mayhill. Check out all the great restaurants! Ruidoso is 45 minutes away where there are more restaurants, shopping, horse race track, ski area with a huge zip line, hiking. Alamogordo offers shopping, restaurants, zoo, train museum, art gallery, movie theatre, bowling, petroglyphs, White Sands National Monument & more.

Winter fun can be had skiing, cross country skiing, tubing, ice skating in outdoor arena, hiking. Summer fun offers festivals, hiking trails, fishing, melodramas, museum, horseback riding, ATV rentals.

You must be 21 to secure a reservation. This is a quiet neighborhood with many year-round residents. Please be respectable of others by not playing loud music. Please do not park in or block our neighbors driveways.

Property manager

Donna Shepherd

Amenities

Kitchen

Washer

Dryer

Free WiFi

Outdoor space

Mountain view

Kitchen

Washer

Dryer

Pet-friendly

House Rules

Check in after 4:00 PM

Minimum age to rent: 21

Check out before 11:00 AM

Children

Children allowed: ages 0–17

Bunkroom has a separate outside entrance.

Events

No events allowed

Pets

No pets allowed

Smoking

Smoking is not permitted

Do not move furniture. It is heavy. Our cleaning lady cannot move it back without help. If she has to hire someone to help, you will be charged $25.

No outside fires are allowed. A propane grill is provided & this is the only fire allowed on our property. Includes smoking.

MAX # of overnight guests in cabin is NOT to exceed 8 unless prior approval. This includes children.

Damage and incidentals

You will be responsible for any damage to the rental property caused by you or your party during your stay.

Important information

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy

Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges

Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed

On-site parties or group events are strictly prohibited

Host has indicated that there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property

Host has indicated that there is a smoke detector on the property

Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit and a deadlock

Property Registration Number 03-536176-00-0

We should mention

A car is required for transport to and from this property

About the area

Cloudcroft

Located in Cloudcroft, this cabin is in the mountains. New Mexico Rails-to-Trails and Cloudcroft Ski Area are worth checking out if an activity is on the agenda, while those wishing to experience the area's natural beauty can explore Trestle Recreation Area and Oliver Lee Memorial State Park. Sacramento Peak Observatory and The Tunnel Stop are also worth visiting. Make sure you get close to the area's animals with activities such as game walks and birdwatching.

Cloudcroft, NM

What's nearby

Sacramento Peak Observatory - 8 min walk
Sacramento Mountains Museum - 10 min walk
Trestle Recreation Area - 20 min walk
New Mexico Rails-to-Trails - 4 min drive
Cloudcroft Ski Area - 5 min drive

Getting around

Alamogordo, NM (ALM-White Sands Regional) - 38 min drive

Restaurants

Cloudcroft Brewing Company - 7 min walk
Dave's Cafe - 13 min walk
Mad Jack's Mountaintop Barbecue - 14 min walk
Noisy Water Winery - 12 min walk
Western Bar & Cafe - 14 min walk

Frequently asked questions

Is Shep's Artist Retreat & Bunkhouse pet-friendly?

No, pets are not allowed at this property.

What time is check-in at Shep's Artist Retreat & Bunkhouse?

Check-in begins at 4:00 PM.

What time is check-out at Shep's Artist Retreat & Bunkhouse?

Checkout is at 11:00 AM.

Where is Shep's Artist Retreat & Bunkhouse located?

Situated in the mountains, this cabin is within a 15-minute walk of Sacramento Peak Observatory and Sacramento Mountains Museum. Trestle Recreation Area and New Mexico Rails-to-Trails are also within 2 miles (3 km).

10

Exceptional

Reviews are presented in chronological order, subject to a moderation process, and verified unless otherwise labelled.

Learn more

10/10

Cleanliness

10/10

Check-in

9.8/10

Communication

10/10

Location

10/10

Listing accuracy

10/10 Excellent

Cindy G.

16 Mar 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Cloudcroft Retreat

Excellent location, great amenities, fenced yard great for kids, very comfortable layout.

Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2024

10/10 Excellent

Meridith S., Edmond, OK

6 Nov 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Big bang for your buck

Quick trip to NM for fall break. Found this cabin for a great price and everyone loved it! Had my folks, my 3 kids and 2 nephews. We all had plenty of space. The bunk house was perfect for the 3 boys and myself. Teens and grandparents took the other 2 rooms. Kitchen perfect! Property was neat / kids loved the tree house and woods. Very convenient location. We even walked down to the brewery for pizza. Saw lots of deer. And the neighborhood cat. Owners were quick with responses to questions. Couldn’t have asked for a better stay. Highly recommend this property and little town!

Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Janie L.

12 Oct 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

October 7-9,2023

The house was beautiful. The kids had a great time and look forward to another visit. They really loved being able to paint rocks to leave at the property. I had them put their names an date of visit on the bottom of their rocks. We really do appreciate the opportunity to be a guest in Shep's Artist Retreat. Thank you

Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Karen B.

3 Oct 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Nice home in quiet neighborhood

We enjoyed our stay at Shep's Artist Retreat. Although the main bedroom's mattress was much more firm than we prefer, that's just a matter of preference. Everything else was clean, well-appointed, and comfortable. Communication with the owner was very good and appreciated.

Stayed 7 nights in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Emily C.

9 June 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great place to stay!

Very clean, easy to communicate with owners. House has a balcony with stairs to lower level yard. The balcony had gates and it was easy to keep toddlers safe outside on the balcony. The yard looks out at a wooded area. Plenty of seating inside and outside! We had a great stay!

Stayed 3 nights in May 2023

About the host

Hosted by Donna Shepherd

We are Bob & Donna Shepherd. We are Texans that fell in love with New Mexico. NM is truly the Land of Enchantment & we hope that when you stay in our cabin, you, too, will become enchanted. We are both retired from careers that we enjoyed. Bob is an artist, specializing in portraits but he dabbles in most anything that translates to a canvas. You'll see a number of his paintings that decorate our cabin.

Why they chose this property

Donna grew up going to Ruidoso to ski & summer camp. Her parents, being chaperones on these trips, fell in love with the area & eventually purchased land outside of Cloudcroft. When her parents passed on, she & Bob were going to build something on the property but decided that they wanted to be in the village. They bought Shepherd's Artist Retreat & the land now belongs to Donna's sister.

What makes this property unique

The minute we walked into to this cabin, we knew it was THE one. We loved everything about it, mostly. We had to do some redecorating & updating as most everything was original to this 1991 cabin. We love that it's in the village & close to everything. Being from the Houston area, our commute in Cloudcroft is in minutes, not hours. This cabin is our happy place & our kids & grandkids love coming here. There is so much to do in this area & it is a jumping off point for us to travel. We've hosted many family & friends & they, too, fell in love & many of them have purchased cabins as well.

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