She’s traveled the world, often following work when choosing her new place of residence. But in Cottage Grove, Eleanor Buell says she may have found something a little different – a home.
“This is the first time I’ve moved somewhere because I liked the community, as opposed to moving for a job,” Eleanor says. “This is somewhere I can see myself for decades. I’m very invested, and I feel welcomed in ways I didn’t find in other places. It feels like home in a way that other locations haven’t, ever.”
The oh-so-roundabout route that brought Eleanor to Cottage Grove has most recently included Veneta, and she also lived in Portland for a time, engrossed in large-scale sculpture and the immersive arts. There’s also been a construction job in Hawaii, salmon fishing in Alaska, and private cooking gigs on yachts and in fly fishing lodges the world over.
These days, she’s also into soil microbiology, nutrition, herbalism, and plenty more. It’s all part of an unending process of self-discovery that constantly drives her.
“I’m always trying to figure out who I am,” she says with a great-big smile.
About two months ago, Eleanor’s journey brought her into the Brewstation, a welcome hangout and community highlight since her earliest days here. She first came to Cottage Grove through the Agrarian Sharing Network, connecting with gardening guru Grovers Marjory House and Andrea Mull.
“I love this town, these people,” she says. “I resonated with the space, the energy. I started visiting a lot, and every time I came, I sat right here. This place is an embodiment of all the things I look for and love in a public house, a community space for people to get together.”
Though she’s worked a plethora of interesting jobs, Eleanor says she’s often fallen back on her experience in the service industry, which began early with a catering company in Ashland owned by her mother. So when her financial situation demanded a bit more dough, it’s only natural that Eleanor came calling here.
“This was the only place I wanted to work,” she says.
She lists the use of fresh, local ingredients among the Brewstation’s best assets, in addition to its people.
“The group of people here is incredible; there’s an amazing curation of skills in the staff,” she says. “Everyone contributes so much.”
“I love when all the doors are open and there are tons of people here,” she adds. “But I also love the mid to late-afternoons when it’s pretty mellow – there are a couple groups of friends gathered, and you can hear their murmurs, their bursts of laughter. There’s something really sweet about that.”
