A Mordant Glimpse at the Austrian Aristocracy

The name Hemlock Neversink might conjure a wooded fairyland, and that idea isn’t too far from the truth. The 34-room all-inclusive hotel, opening Oct. 13, is set on 230 tree-filled acres in New York’s Catskills region. Activities include guided bird-watching and pine-needle weaving, but the core purpose of the property is to serve as a wellness retreat. Guests will be offered a survey with questions such as “How structured do you like your days?” and “Would you like to move or rest?” The answers are meant to inform a daily itinerary created by the Hemlock team, which might include animal therapy with an on-site herd of goats or a morning cardio dance class. At the spa, nature-inspired treatments such as the Neversink Ice and Stone Ritual, which involves an herb-infused cold water bath, a hot steam shower and a hot river-stone massage, are available for an added charge. The property’s design draws from the region’s Quaker heritage, with a neutral color palette, ash and walnut furniture and quilt-inspired custom wool rugs by Manhattan’s Crosby Street Studios. The husband-and-wife owners, Sims and Kristen Foster, who were recently nominated for a James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur for their other Catskills hotels (including the DeBruce and Kenoza Hall), conceived of another inviting dining space for Hemlock Neversink: Bittersweet, which has two fireplaces, will focus on seasonal and locally sourced dishes. From $399 a night, hemlockneversink.com.

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A Photographer Captures Her Own Eccentric, Aristocratic Family

“Lurking seems to be a familial trait,” writes the New York-based British photographer Victoria Hely-Hutchinson in the preface to her new photo book. “I Left My Grandmother’s House” is about the aristocratic Austrian side of her family, who have been idling for centuries around the fringes of European history. (“Heinrich used to have the same hairdresser as Putin,” reads one of the book’s enigmatic disclosures about her relatives.) Inspired by cinéma vérité filmmakers, Hely-Hutchinson has for over a decade been documenting her titled extended family with an unsentimental yet humanistic touch. Unmade beds and lonely sunlit reception halls are interspersed with spontaneous portraits (captured, for instance, mid-hug or amid the commotion of freeing a trapped bird). Hely-Hutchinson’s ease with her subjects infuses the imposing settings with a moody, lived-in warmth. But the ease wasn’t always…