Questions & Answers (FAQs)

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Who is creating this new Paleolithic-era skills community?

The creator is Paul Gurney, a Mainer, and the current owner of the property, which was a full-service event venue on fifty acres in Southern Maine. With the support of 100+ founding members and friends, he’s converting it to Serranova, a Paleolithic (Stone age) reenactment experience, the first “stone age village” for people to enjoy.

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Can I join for just a few weeks or months?

To make this vision a realty, Serranova has to be built on 6 and 12-month memberships. You can visit and stay as often as you like during your term, and if personal reasons mean you can’t continue, you can gift or sell your remaining membership time to someone else. We make it easy for you to get the full value. Why not weekend passes? It wouldn’t make sense for you to invest your time into shelter building for only a week or month, and we’d have lots of overhead to manage short-termers. Guests can attend with you, and attend any of the four annual seasonal festivals.

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What are the rules?

Here is a page for the ground rules. It’s comprehensive but not exhaustive. In life, when there’s rules, we can follow the spirit or the letter. Let’s all follow the spirit here. Be prosocial, above all, and avoid a “tragedy of the commons”. There’s a detailed Member Agreement you can review first if you inquire.

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What’s included with my membership?

Here is a page describing all that is included for members, from your own 2,000 sq.ft. “territory” to freedom to roam the remaining acres, plus lodging, free firewood, utilities, and free workshops. We’re open to new ideas, too. It’s like renting a seasonal site at a campground (except we’re not a campground) or a booth at a Faire for the year. Serranova will be like “Old Sturbridge Village”, the living history museum in Massachusetts that portrays life in rural New England in the 1830s, but with immersion by everyone, not actors.

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Where can I pay; how does billing work?

After we do a Zoom meet-and-greet and you sign up, we’ll send you a Square invoice by email with the 2 deposits and payment schedule. You can use ACH, credit card, debit card, Square cash, mail a check, and there are options for international payments. If you mail a check, we’ll give you a $50 credit on supplies and materials.

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How do refunds work ?

Once you arrive to start your membership, stay for a couple of nights to fall in love with the place and concept, or else you can request 80% of your payment back (less a 3% Square credit-card processing fee if applicable; the other 20% goes to time invested and your 2 night stay). You can also freely transfer your membership to someone you know. Read the Membership details here.

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How do renewals work?

Your membership runs for 6 or 12 months from your first check-in—so everyone has their own anniversary date and can start when convenient. About 60 days before your anniversary, we’ll send a renewal invitation by email. Renew anytime before the expiration date to keep your territory. Or you can skip a year or two if life gets busy—your shelter can be sold, gifted, or you can deconstruct it and take your materials with you. Have an exit ceremonial burning or hand-off, too. Your Member Portal access stays active so you can reconnect when you’re ready.

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Do I have to wear authentic Stone-age clothing?

Yes, please do—try your best. To achieve historical immersion, members onsite should dress like we humans did in 30,000 BCE. Clothes made of animals and plants, that’s all we had for 200K years. It’s more fun if everyone really gets into it — be bold, immerse yourself! Try to make your own bedrolls, too. Mix and match technologies to your comfort level. See the “Materials and Supplies” page for more info.

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What about materials and supplies for my clothes or territory?

We’ll supply all the branches, sticks, firewood and fresh water you need. Serranova pays all the utility bills. The modest cost of materials to build your primitive shelter/workshop/garden is not included in the membership fee. Feel free to bring your own, and we’ll have natural wood and fiber supplies available for purchase, such as cedar logs, hides, and textile cord and rope. In Maine we have access to lots of hunting-crafts makers and suppliers, and we’ll help. We’ll have clothing supplies for purchase, too.

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Are food and meals included?

The cost of your daily food while you’re visiting Serranova is not included in the membership fee. See our page on paleo cooking at Serranova. You can buy your own food at local grocery stores, store them in one of the fridges, and cook in a rustic way outside (or in the cottages). You could grow plant foods in your own territory; or pay/barter with other members to share meals with you. We’ll contract with local farms to order cuts of meat, fish, and vegetables for members to buy, too, to increase the convenience factor. As a former catering company, we have (included) commercial refrigeration onsite. Your membership includes a special “at-cost” ticket to paleo feasts during the four annual festivals (see Activities). We will hire members as cooks for communal meals, once we know member visiting patterns better. We will keep our full catering license to ensure food safety.

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Is there a pool or swimming hole?

There will be a constructed natural swimming hole built by early June. Filled with pure well and rain water. It won’t be heated but will be refreshing. It will be about 4-5 ft deep in areas.

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Winter time, really?

Yes, you can embrace winter in southern Maine! Between January and March, temperatures in southern Maine average 16-31 Fahrenheit. That’s -8.8 to -5.6 Celsius. Some people love winter hiking and snowshoeing… our ancestors made Paleo snow-shoes, copying the big paws of bears, leopards, and rabbits! The Barn and cottages are heated and have modern amenities, so come in if you get cold. Dress in more furs, too. Or if you prefer, you can visit less in cold months; our summers are warm. Some members will embrace winter primitive living; others will come mainly in warmer seasons. Others to see the Autumn foliage. All approaches are welcome.

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Where is this?

We’re in Southern Maine, about 35 minutes inland from the coast, off I-95. There’s easy access to shopping, 50min to Portland, 30 min to New Hampshire. 90 minutes from Boston. It’s not a completely rural area but feels like it.

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How do I plan my stays so that I know other people will be there too?

With up to 300 members maximum in a given year, we’ve tried to ensure that there’s tribe folk onsite whenever you want to be among sapiens. All members need to log their planned visit dates in the Member Portal so other members can see who’s coming and when. You can coordinate with fellow members, find mentors, students, and workshops, or just make sure you won’t be alone onsite (unless you want to be). Note to first-time attendees, you need to select a specific arrival window for a personal orientation. Learn more here.

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Can I invest in this project?

Thanks for your belief in this concept. I don’t want to take on equity investors; outside money can (will inevitably) create the wrong incentives for growth or price increases. Annual membership fees will cover the operating costs (with 5-10% inflation increases each year, except for Founding Members, who will pay the 2026 price any time they want to renew), and so incentives will remain aligned between the owner and the members. If the investment is structured like a traditional promissory note, then it’s possible; let’s talk; there are other interesting ways to expand (more tribal lodges, etc).

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Other questions?

Reach out and I’ll add FAQs here over the next few weeks.