About Chez Serendip

A place to stay, gather, create, and belong beneath the redwoods, and a nonprofit built to keep it open to everyone.

Chez Serendip is a six-acre creative sanctuary in the redwoods of Scotts Valley, a reunited century-old farmstead that is now a bed and breakfast, a music venue and recording studio, an event space, and an artist residency, all carried by a nonprofit foundation.

The land comes alive through intentional gatherings, residencies, retreats, and creative production, held across historic homes, gardens, a geodesic dome in the redwoods, and an intimate music room built around a 1902 Steinway. Each space makes room for solitude and for shared experience, for deep listening, collaboration, and real connection.

At its heart, Chez Serendip is a grounded place to arrive, to soften, and to remember what it feels like to belong.

How It Works

Chez Serendip runs on one honest idea: the land earns its keep, and that keep becomes art for everyone.

Two parts work together. Chez Serendip Estate, operated by GTSJ LLC, offers the stays, recording sessions, weddings, and venue rentals that sustain the property. The Chez Serendip Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, turns that income into free and sliding-scale programs: artist residencies, community gatherings, and youth music. Every facilitator is paid before the house takes a dollar.

So every booking helps carry the mission forward. Commercial joy, funding community art. That is the whole design.

Our Story

Founders Alisa Sieber and Shawn Johnson both left home young to serve, Alisa flying C-130s for the Marine Corps, Shawn flying helicopters for the Navy. After decades away, they felt the pull back to these mountains.

In 2024 they bought a 1921 farmhouse in Scotts Valley, dreaming of intimate concerts and family-style gatherings. When they learned it had once been part of a larger estate, alongside the neighboring 1928 Carriage House, they seized the rare chance to reunite the original property. They cut a gate through the dividing fence, and the land became one place again for the first time in decades.

Chez Serendip opened in July 2025, and the Foundation's 501(c)(3) status took effect that August, confirmed by the IRS in 2026. Together, the land and the Foundation are more than a venue. They are a living ecosystem where artistry, wellness, and stewardship thrive in reciprocity with the land.

Our Vision

By 2030, we aim to be a West Coast hub for cultural production, regenerative land use, and socially conscious collaboration, a place where stories are shared, futures imagined, and beauty becomes a force for change.

Property Overview

Chez Serendip spans six acres of historic redwoods, meadows, and gardens, minutes from Santa Cruz and within easy reach of San Francisco and San Jose.

Key spaces:

The Carriage House (1928). A two-bedroom historic residence, perfect for small gatherings, receptions, and overnight stays.
The Carriage Room. Once home to horse-drawn carriages, now being restored into a recording studio and creative hub, built around a 1902 Steinway upright with a story of its own.
The Barn & Arena. Equestrian facilities where three horses, along with goats and chickens, are part of daily life, open to photoshoots and equine experiences through our partnership with the Equine Healing Collective.
The Lotus Dome. A 36-foot geodesic dome for dance, meditation, and somatic practice.
Gardens & Grounds. Outdoor gathering areas, regenerative gardens, farm-to-table harvests, and redwood trails.

Every corner tells a story of heritage and possibility. The land is the canvas, and the Foundation is what brings it to life.

Plan Your Visit

Our Founders

Founder & President

Alisa Sieber

A writer, musician, and storyteller, and a former Marine Corps C-130 pilot. Alisa turns lived experience into creative work across memoir, music, and movement, rooted in the belief that storytelling is both survival and sanctuary. She founded the nonprofit Dogs on Deployment before building Chez Serendip, and she leads the Foundation today.

Co-Founder

Shawn Johnson

A Navy veteran and former MH-60 helicopter pilot, Shawn is the other half of the partnership that reunited this land, the steady hands behind the restoration and the daily work of keeping a living estate alive. Two military pilots, one shared belief that this place should give more than it takes.

Values & Ethos

Chez Serendip is guided by principles that shape every experience, partnership, and event:

Regeneration Over Extraction

We leave the land, and the people on it, stronger than we found them.

Artists Paid First

Creativity is real work. Facilitators and artists are paid before the house takes a dollar.

Community Is the Medium

The best of this place is built together, through collaboration and shared ownership.

Place-Based Intentionality

We listen to the land, preserve its heritage, and design with reverence.

Serendipity by Design

We make room for surprise, magic, and the chance encounters this place is named for.

Access Through Reciprocity

Sliding-scale and pay-what-you-can pathways keep the work open to everyone.

Sacred Hospitality

Every guest is met with care, presence, and respect.

Stewardship of the Land

We tend the soil, the water, and the redwoods for whoever comes next.