lordship house is a private house with public programs, including funded artist fellowships and a national free library-by-mail. Our mission is to serve and celebrate the epistolary and literary; to honor the queer tradition of finding, making and fostering spaces in which to flourish.

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Invited In: How One Home Welcomes an Entire Community for Creatives

Picture this for a moment, that your workday involves waking up to the ocean, and from your standing desk you watch birds and foxes hop about in your yard while your tiny (and mildly reserved) Chihuahua, Mikey, keeps you company. Are you there? Can you see it? 

Our neighbors, Michael Todd Cohen and Adrian Dallas Frandle, do just that every single day. They live and work from their home in Stratford, overlooking the ocean. I recently sat down with the duo to learn more about the Lordship house, and how they came to the idea of turning their private home into a public space, an inviting place for fellow creatives.

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Community Programs

  • 📬 literary salon by mail


    In which we share typewriter missives from lordship house on natural history, queer life in New England, literature, film and art. Comes with a pre-stamped postcard for optional reply.

  • 🏡 lordship house retreat


    A short residency for writers, readers and artists at our seaside house in Lordship, Connecticut (Stratford). Fellows recieve a stipend, meals (sometimes with treats from the garden), and lodging with private bath. Past Fellows

  • ☕ literary brunch


    Several times a year, we welcome a gathering of literary community and kin, for a brunch spread, wind chimes and dialogue at our seaside house in Lordship, CT (Stratford).

  • At this time, lordship house programs are offered at no cost. Residential fellowships are awarded with a stipend.

the house library has over 1,000 books on wide-ranging topics and genres, including: Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, and Queer Theory. While the library is a private holding, it is our belief that resources should be shared with community. In this spirit, we established a book loan by mail program, available currently in the US.

Access Library 📚
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Some letters and postcards
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Two white Adirondack chairs in the green high grass, facing out towards a sailboat making its way across the Sound.
A view of the front garden in bloom, purple yarrow in the foreground.
Lauren Theresa looks out to sea, smiling, standing on a beach, in a black wrap, the sun on her face.
Amie Souza Reilly lounges, laughing on the grass
Mathew Rodriguez smiles to camera on a beach, hands in pockets, a cream short sleeve knit shirt, glasses.
Benjamin Niespodziany is seated on brick stairs, smiling to camera, with sunglasses on. There is a greenhouse and a roofline in the background.
Mikey, the russet chihuahua, rests his head on a pile of books.
Sculpture of a woman's head on a small round table, a banquet behind; soft light through an open shade.
A lighthouse with keeper's cottage in front of it that has a red roof. The lighthouse tower is behind, with a red top. There is a small building out front with same. Scrub in foreground.
Purple sunset on a rocky beach.
Dark roof line of Lordship House, golden clouds and some trees, the back lawn, below.
Fire-orange sunset across the Sound, a lone deer in silhouette on shore.
Sea stairs made of large format brick tiles, leading down to a beach where the surf is frothy.
Mathew Rodriguez, in a light orange top, smirks to camera, while cradling Rabbit, a blonde chihuahua, upside down in his arms like a baby.
On the front lawn of Lordship House: a dry stack stone wall with loose stones around it, a tree branch shades from above
A wicker basket of fresh vegetables: cucumber, cherry tomato, lettuces.