Celebrate Nature: La Casa de Maria has preserved the natural environment of the area—the oak grove, the sycamore trees along the banks of the San Ysidro Creek, the sandstone boulders—so beloved by those who return again and again to experience its simplicity and beauty. Here you will find a bank where the wild thyme grows, birdsong in plenty, woodpeckers pecking, redtail hawks perching, fountains splashing, fallen leaves rustling, cats lounging in the sunlight at peace with the world and, if you're lucky, a rare canyon wren flashing across the creek. Days spent in retreat at La Casa de Maria will provide solace, and nurture the inspiration you may need to renew your spirit, reflect on your past experiences on this sacred earth, and prepare a new path for the future.

Refresh your body: The gift of massage is a healthy and loving message for your body, mind and spirit to enhance its awareness, integration and healing on many levels. Two massage rooms are situated by the pool and our male and female fully certified masseuses are trained in a variety of modalities.

Make music and dance: Recapture the joyful pleasure of simply being alive! Experience laughter and gaiety with new-found friends. Engage in impromptu dance and music or register for one of our occasional yoga or movement retreats.

Restoration through Silence: Find solitude and refresh your spirit in wandering our idyllic woodland paths towards the quiet serenity of our Meditation Chapel. Renew your creativity and bring water colors to paint nature's abundant wild flowers.

Walking and Hiking: Whether you prefer quiet contemplative walking among the oak trees or an energetic hike into the Santa Ynez mountains, you will be well rewarded during your stay at La Casa. Each season brings a rich variety of flora and fauna to reward the mindful walker and to invite you to a deeper relationship with the wonders of creation and the nurture of mother earth.

Explore to the far corners of our land, given in the 18th century to early settlers by the King of Spain, when it was farmed as El Rancho del Bosque. Re-discover forgotten paths and overgrown signs of rural domesticity from an earlier age.

Swim and play volleyball: In Santa Barbara's perennial summer climate it is usually warm enough to take a dip in the pool. There are tennis and volleyball courts to satisfy competitive spirits and, le ping-pong.