Common Ground Center

One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. The perfect spot for our recent work retreat. Tons of opportunities to bond. Everything was perfect!! Thank you!!! More...

Reviewed on Facebook

Common Ground is a wonderful place, for all ages! It was perfect for our work retreat, with a beautiful setting, delicious food, clean facilities, and friendly staff. I would love to come back with my kids one day. Thank you for the great experience! More...

Reviewed on Facebook

Had an amazing trip to this beautiful spot. The grounds were clean and well maintained. The chef made delicious food to fit our groups needs. The staff were welcoming and helpful. More...

Reviewed on Facebook

Camp Common Ground was an excellent place for our recent work retreat. They were so accommodating and the place was absolutely beautiful! We swam in the pond, hiked a few of the trails, ate incredible food, did yoga in the Hay Barn, and really enjoyed all the facilities and common spaces/cabins. Everything was just perfect! More...

Reviewed on Facebook

My company just had a 4-day work retreat here and we loved every minute of our stay.  Beautiful surroundings - a small lake for swimming, woods for hiking, spaces for outdoor and indoor play, darkness at night for star-gazing and campfire.  Common Ground Center is a comfy home-away-from-home in a clean, safe, natural setting. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

I spent the weekend there on retreat with the Vermont Reiki Association and loved the facility and surrounding landscape. It was so relaxing and rejuvenating to take a hike after lunch or relax in a comfy chair with a book in between activities . The catered food was delicious and the common room was so spacious and yet cozy. Thank you! More...

Reviewed on Facebook

Not only did we have what we wanted (a classy but relaxed wedding venue), our friends and family (and their kids) loved the venue and the atmosphere it cultivated. Many folks later told us it was one of the most incredible wedding experiences they had, especially getting to stay on site for several days with family and friends. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

The Common Ground Center was the perfect place for our wedding weekend. Our friends and family loved the cabins and ecolodge. Using the pizza oven and kitchen in the dining hall made for a delicious and easy-to-prep welcome dinner the night before our wedding. We loved the pond and open spaces for playing and gathering. The staff at CGC were always friendly, patient and helpful. They responded quickly to emails and were happy to support us with anything we needed. We couldn't have picked a better spot to celebrate our wedding - who doesn't love summer camp?! More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

This is a beautiful place where people can come together for many types of occasions and activities.

Reviewed on Facebook

We had a wonderful week! I cannot imagine a more relaxing vacation with small children. It was wonderful to watch my kids try new things in a supportive environment, and to try new things myself! Thank you CGC!

Reviewed on Facebook

Beautiful and amazing multigenerational space, with a loving and lovely community! Highlights include Quidditch Night, and the talent optional talent show that always manages to be PACKED full of talent!!!

Reviewed on Facebook

Fantastic family camp for all ages! Great programs for kids and teens, plus an array of classes for adults that include yoga, blacksmithing, glassblowing, woodcarving, samba drumming, tennis, golf and more. Beautiful campus, healthy food made by chefs who are masters in a number of cuisines. Camp Common Ground rocks! More...

Reviewed on Facebook

Amazing place and amazing staff. We rented out the venue for the weekend: Friday- Sunday. The location is beautiful, and our guests fell in love with it as soon as they arrived (as did we! ). It was very easy to transition activities between buildings and indoor/outdoor events. The different accommodation options work very well for different types of guests - everyone was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable the cabins were. Our guests also appreciated the Wifi. Our wedding took place in the Haybarn because of rain, and we loved that we didn't have to worry about a rain location - the barn is really beautiful too. We loved having the campfire each night and trails for guests to explore. Our caterer loved the full-sized professional kitchen too. We couldn't have asked for a better experience with the staff either - they patiently answered all of our questions and were available throughout the weekend for last-minute emergencies. They also worked very well with our other vendors - they even met with our caterer before the event and walked them through the space. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

A truly awe inspiring place doing so many good things for families and more! Love this gem in Starksboro!

Reviewed on Facebook

I can't recommend CCG enough for your wedding. You can truly make the camp, wedding, and your experience completely your own. We had over 85 people staying on site and another 30 or so staying in nearby hotels. We had pizza from the wood fired oven for the Rehearsal Dinner, Ceremony & Cocktail Hour on the field near the Eco Lodges, and the reception outside near the dining hall. Our friends and family truly got into the spirit of the camp, going on hikes, playing kickball, swimming, and even yoga classes.

Camp Common Ground is a wonderful value for your money and you can truly have a wedding weekend experience without spending $50,000. I mostly worked with Emily and she was invaluable! From everything from florist recommendations to logistics.

I do recommend hiring a day of coordinator - I used Andrea who the camp recommended. There are a lot logistics and it's helpful to have someone in charge! More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

We could not be happier about our choice to get married at Common Ground. We loved every minute of it and absolutely very highly recommend it without an ounce of reservation! The staff is kind, wonderful, and easy to get in touch with, the grounds are beautifully kept, the facilities are welcoming and comfortable, and spending your money here helps this wonderful organization do all kinds of great work in the community. We love Common Ground! More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

Common Ground was a fantastic spot. Emily was flexible to our specific needs which allowed our wedding to be exactly the experience we envisioned. My only real critique would be that it would have been nice if the cabins had lighting. We ended up buying a bunch of lanterns online but it made it a harder sell for some of our guests who decided to go with BNBs instead of the cabins. I would also recommend hiring a few people to help with cleanup. Our families pitched in but it was a lot more work than we expected. I would heartily recommend this spot to anyone as it has a fantastic setup for a weekend wedding. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

The Common Ground Center was the PERFECT venue for our self-driven community supported wedding. We had 4 main goals for our wedding venue:

1. We could have our dogs on-site for the whole thing
2. Every guest would have a place to stay on-site if they wanted
3. there was a pond
4. there was a fire pit.
The Common Ground Center hit all of these out of the park! The whole CGC team was incredibly responsive, helpful, and flexible and went above and beyond to make our vision a reality. Anything within reason (and even a few really out-of-the-box ideas) was accommodated and encouraged. We really wanted to have a strong community feel for our wedding and the CGC site and staff really promoted that feeling in a very natural way. The location was beautiful and everyone from the very young to the elderly was comfortable and had a good time. Despite torrential downpours throughout the weekend, a good time was had by all. The common ground center was the perfect wedding venue for us and we are really excited that we were able to spend such a great weekend in such a great spot! More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

We wanted a large, naturally striking venue where we could spend quality time with our guests outside the confines of the typical 4-5 hour wedding. So, in mid-October we rented out CGC from Friday at noon until Sunday at noon. Our ceremony was Saturday morning, followed by a leisurely afternoon of unstructured time (featuring lawn games!). The reception kicked off as it started getting dark outside, and the full effect of the 16 million twinkly lights that previous folks have left adorning the rafters in the dining hall struck: Pow! Really magical. Exclusive use of such an expansive and attractive setting was perfect for us. We had a lot of help from friends and family to buy and set up food, set up decorations, and move furniture: this was key. A beautiful memory of a wonderful space, staffed by very knowledgeable, helpful, and flexible staff. I'd shoot off an e-mail of 100 questions and receive a response before it even occurred to me that I should follow up. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

This is a magical place! Our family cannot wait to return.

Reviewed on Facebook

Thank you for another AMAZING week. A beautiful place indeed!

Reviewed on Facebook

We have a great wedding at the Common Ground center. It's an amazing site and all our guests appreciated being there. Jim was very accommodating. We used the wood-fired pizza oven to serve about 85 people, which was a lot of fun. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

The Common Ground Center in Starksboro, Vermont is such a special place. I planned the event from 3,000 miles away (I live in California) which says a lot about their flexibility and responsiveness, especially given different time zones! Our onsite coordinator, Emily, was so straightforward and friendly and had practical and inventive ideas about making everything run smoothly and beautifully. If you're looking for a place where you can really make a beautiful, creative, and spirited wedding happen - then CGC is the place for you. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

I've always had a really great time here. The grounds are beautiful, the staff is friendly, and the pond is very clean. Also, the cabins are all architecturally unique which gives the campgrounds extra character. 10/10 would recommend.

Reviewed on Facebook

Fabulous food, friends chatting on porch chairs afterwards, and the magic feeling of your bare feet warming in the sun, and watching your happy children run by with a bunch of kids on an adventure.

Reviewed on Facebook

lovely place, great food and activities, people considerate of others (handling food issues and other differences). Beautiful setting, careful of their impact on the world.

Reviewed on Facebook

What is not to love - great people, great food, great activities and a great place all around.

Reviewed on Facebook

I love this place. The camp is a wonderful place to bring your family. There are activities for all age ranges. The food is delicious. The staff is kind, and helpful. The atmosphere and community that is there is perfect for self discovery, reflection and have a terrific time! More...

Reviewed on Facebook

An absolutely perfect venue for our wedding! From the very first phone call, our communications with Connor, and later, Emily, were consistently helpful, professional, and thorough. They answered all of our questions promptly, and were always available when we wanted to come down for more tours of the site. The site itself is gorgeous, and so conducive for spending quality time with all of your guests. We made use of the wood-fired pizza oven and the fire pit for our Friday night welcome dinner; it was a fitting beginning for our casual and down to earth wedding weekend. My mom and aunt threw a shower for me the morning of the wedding in the common room of the eco-lodge- definitely try to make use of this beautiful space! Our wedding party loved the cozy rooms in the eco-lodge, and we had many guests stay in, and enjoy exploring, the cabins. Having most everyone stay on-site with us made for a close-knit feel all weekend. Emily was amazing when a (minor) crisis hit a few hours before the ceremony- all of the power in Starksboro had gone out! She came to the site and communicated with Green Mountain Power to get us back online as quickly as possible. We had dinner outdoors at long banquet tables, and then held our reception in the lovely, holiday light-strewn dining hall. We didn't have to put up many decorations, as the site is so beautiful on its own. We also held a farewell brunch in the dining hall the next morning. The Common Ground Center is perfect for anyone who wants a venue where they can hold multiple events, as well as one where their guests can stay and relax for the whole weekend. We were lucky in that the rain held off on our ceremony day, but we would have been happy to hold it in the beautiful hay barn, had we needed to. We cannot recommend the Common Ground Center highly enough! Don't hesitate, book it. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

So beautiful and comfortable!! Felt like I belonged.

Reviewed on Facebook

What a very special, beautiful place inside and out! I had my 50th birthday celebration there and it was woooonderful! :)

Reviewed on Facebook

We had our wedding at the Common Ground Center this May and I cannot begin to describe how amazing it was! We were able to rent the entire camp, so the majority of our guests stayed in rustic cabins or camped on their beautiful property. It was so wonderful to have everyone spend the weekend together - swimming in the pond, playing lawn games, doing yoga in the hay barn, going on hikes, and just enjoying getting to be with one another. Many people say their wedding went by in a flash, but we felt so grateful to be able to spend quality enjoying our friends and family who traveled to celebrate with us. The CGC grounds are gorgeous and the amenities available to you if you rent the camp include the commercial kitchen (we prepared many of our meals), hay barn (perfect if you need an indoor option on your wedding day), and the dining hall and ecolodge common room which are nice spaces for people to relax inside.The CGC staff are some of the nicest people you will ever meet - extremely helpful, understanding and patient. We felt good knowing our money was going to support a great organization and we could not have been happier with our wedding weekend. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

After our engagement, we were determined to find a venue that fit our values, style, and budget, and we were fortunate enough to find all of those things in Common Ground Center. We had the flexibility and support in designing a weekend unique to us as a couple, and many guests still mention how memorable the venue was and wish to return for another weekend!

Common Ground offers several buildings and outdoor settings so you can create a configuration that works for both sunny days and rainy ones. The variety of lodging options was also ideal for our families and friends as we could accommodate both those who enjoy their creature comforts in the hotel-like Eco-Lodge and those who want to savor a true experience in nature by pitching a tent. The venue contains several options for activities, including tennis, kickball, yard games, pizza making, yoga, and hiking, and even has spaces for down time should one feel like resting, reading, or reflecting.

The staff of Common Ground were very responsive and helpful, and found ways to make our special weekend meet our needs, expectations, and hopes. Aside from a small hiccup and misunderstanding in arranging dates, which was quickly addressed and resolved, written and verbal communication were clear and consistent and staff went above and beyond what we expected from a wedding venue. The contract was presented in plain language and outlined each step of the process in a way that set the agreement up for success rather than loop holes and complications.

We highly recommend Common Ground to others, particularly if they are searching for an affordable, environmentally conscious, personalizable, DIY- and family-friendly setting to hold their wedding. It was a weekend we will never forget and we can’t thank the staff of Common Ground enough for their assistance in making it happen. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

CGC is a perfect location for a more casual wedding for people who love being outside. All the amenities you could want, including rustic to more hotel like accommodations in the Eco-lodge. Connor was everything you want from a coordinator; friendly, helpful, responsive and communicated clearly & honestly about the site expectations. A great person to deal with.

Everyone is still talking about what a great wedding we had. Having over multiple days was a great way for everyone to come together and soak in the atmosphere without feeling rushed. Even after we left, no one wanted to go home!

Great value considering you can house up to 150 people for a weekend getaway.

It can be a bit hard to find for people who don't know the area, so just make sure you give good directions and put a sign up on the main road. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

The staff at Common Ground were so nice and helpful. This is a beautiful spot and a perfect, cozy place for a wedding. Even though it was raining on our wedding day, we could not have asked for a better place to get married. We love their green philosophy, and although it was quite cold with no electricity or heat for the people in the cabins, hardly anyone complained! If you're looking for rustic but chic, this is the spot! More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

Couldn't have been a better choice for a location!

Reviewed on WeddingWire

We had our wedding at the Common Ground Center this May and I cannot begin to describe how amazing it was! We were able to rent the entire camp, so the majority of our guests stayed in rustic cabins or camped on their beautiful property. It was so wonderful to have everyone spend the weekend together - swimming in the pond, playing lawn games, doing yoga in the hay barn, going on hikes, and just enjoying getting to be with one another. Many people say their wedding went by in a flash, but we felt so grateful to be able to spend quality enjoying our friends and family who traveled to celebrate with us.

The CGC grounds are gorgeous and the amenities available to you if you rent the camp include the commercial kitchen (we prepared many of our meals), hay barn (perfect if you need an indoor option on your wedding day), and the dining hall and ecolodge common room which are nice spaces for people to relax inside.

The CGC staff are some of the nicest people you will ever meet - extremely helpful, understanding and patient. Jean was our point-person during our wedding weekend and she is a sea of calm and kindness, which I was so grateful for. We felt good knowing our money was going to support a great organization and we could not have been happier with our wedding weekend. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

We've gone for the family camp twice and we were there this weekend for their twentieth anniversary weekend. We are returning again this July. My kids talk about camp all year long and it has become an important part of our lives. We all love it. It's my piece of heaven on earth. We stay in the cabins. There were plenty of beds. Bunk beds and twins with a little piece that goes between two beds pushed together that eliminates that uncomfortable gap. There was plenty of shelf space for clothes as well. Some people stay in tents, others in the Eco-lodge. There are coin operated washing machines, which is important when traveling with little kids. We brought sheets, pillows, sleeping bags, lanterns and towels. There's no electricity in the cabins but there is in the dining hall and the Eco Lodge. You can charge your devices there and connect with the world if you really want to. We stayed screen free and didn't miss it at all. During family camp there are plenty of activities and kids go to Kidville for three hours in the morning. I love hiking up the mountain, relaxing by the river or taking dance classes. Others prefer glass blowing, art class or playing instruments. Activities vary by week. It's relaxing, people are great, and the campus is contained so I can give my kids more freedom than when we're at home. In the afternoons/ evenings there are organized family games like Quiddich and scavenger hunts. There's no pressure to participate but it was a lot of fun. The food is vegetarian and delicious. Meals are planned with kids in mind and there are kid friendly options. They even published a camp cookbook. For me what makes the camp is the people. Camp was built little by little and with a lot of love. The tiles in the bathroom were 2005 camper art projects, and many of those families return every year. The people who run it live what they believe and they are active in the community, they use solar power and they work hard to decrease their carbon footprint. A tour of all of the features of the Eco-lodge was fascinating. They run different camps for under served populations. Camp Kaleidoscope is for families with autistic children, Camp Outright is for LGBTQ teenagers and they run a camp for families in the midst of high conflict divorces. They don't shy away from hard situations. All families are truly welcomed and it's a non-judgmental, cooperative environment.  Communication is real and the friendships are genuine. There is a bit of sticker shock but there is a sliding scale and I believe it is money well spent. The food is high quality and fresh. They invest in maintaining the property with ecologically friendly products, they provide a variety of activities for children and adults, and there are enough staff on hand to deal with issues as they arise. It has been an experience that has greatly enriched my life and my children's lives. More...

Reviewed on Yelp

Might be the best place on Earth...I am pretty sure it is

Reviewed on Facebook

I have been hosting Women’s Yoga Retreats at CGC for 5 years! My guests and I always have a fantastic time. Love the space, the people and the mission �

Reviewed on Facebook

This venue made our wedding great! The staff was very helpful during the planning stages and everything looked beautiful upon our arrival. I understand their pricing model has changed and is now sliding scale, so I can't be sure what the current value of booking this place is. The cabins were great for people to stay in and were a decent price. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

Common Ground Center provided the perfect place to hold our rustic Vermont wedding. We were looking for a place with beautiful scenery where we could have a do-it-yourself wedding and not have to be tied into using any vendors. We were able to do our own decorating, hire whoever we wanted for music, photography, catering, etc. and we loved it. The site was in great condition and Kiesha, the event coordinator, was helpful both before and after the wedding and basically just let us do our own thing which was great. It was so much fun because our guests were able to stay the whole weekend, many of them arriving on Friday and leaving midday on Sunday. Guests were able to take advantage of hiking, using the basketball and tennis courts, yoga in the hay barn, bonfires at night and all of the wedding festivities on Saturday. One of the best things was there was enough lodging on site so that everyone who wanted to could stay was able to and no one had to drive after the wedding. We also loved getting married in the open field with the mountains in the background. It was just what we had pictured. We are thrilled with how our wedding turned out. Everything was truly perfect. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

We could NOT have been happier with choosing The Common Ground Center as our wedding sight. The staff was so wonderful and the grounds were a fantastic place for family and friends of all ages to get the chance to visit together. Such a perfect spot for a Vermont wedding. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

Beautiful setting with multiple indoor and outdoor options for the ceremony and/or reception location. The CGC center staff was helpful and responsive before, during and after the event with any questions and concerns we had. They were very flexible with what we wanted to do on the property to make the day our own. They provide multiple different pricing options so you can mix and match what you need. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire

What a beautiful place! We had the BEST wedding day. The location is perfect and the lodge and cabins make it so everyone can feel settled in. The staff are really helpful and respond to you quickly. I would definitely choose to have my wedding on Common Ground again. More...

Reviewed on WeddingWire