'Art Airbnb-style' crafting house planned for Lower Burrell

Whether it’s rug tufting, making a leather bag or quilting, those involved in the world of crafting are passionate about it.

For the past half-dozen years, Lower Burrell resident Amy Mitchell has gone away occasionally for weekend retreats in places such as Mercer, some 70 miles away, to an Airbnb-type location for crafting that allows her to fully engage in her love of scrapbooking.

“They have successfully run that business for close to 12 years; they get a lot of business from quilters,” said Mitchell, referring to J.B.’s Retreat. “Every time I’ve come back — because there’s a high demand for it within the community of crafters — I’m like, ‘Why isn’t there something closer to home?’ ”

Mitchell noted that so-called Art Airbnbs like the one in Mercer are booked solid and have a waiting list.

She discussed with her friend and fellow Burrell School District secretary Erin Pruitt whether it might be worth trying to start a similar business in Lower Burrell.

So Mitchell and Pruitt found a house on Leechburg Road that was the former home of Loaf and Bakery, got a business mortgage and expect to close on the property as early as April 3.

After that, construction work will be done to create the homey and functional feeling they’re looking for.

The place will be called The Craft Escape. Their goal is to open by June.

They certainly know what crafters are looking for.

“The best way to explain it to somebody with no idea of any of this is it’s a Vrbo (vacation rental by owner) with a targeted audience,” Mitchell said. “This is similar to that. But your desire is for crafting space. (Or) even if you want to have a girls weekend and do Diamond Dotz or whatever the craft is that the average person is doing right now.”

Mitchell said a typical booking will run from Thursday morning through Sunday evening. Four those three nights and four days, she projects the fee to be $140 per person, with a minimum of six people.

Mitchell and Pruitt are convinced that crafters will come from great distances to enjoy their facility. In addition to traveling to Mercer, they’ve gone to Deep Creek, Md.

They think they have a chance to have the same situation in a couple years. Mitchell is the creative force, Pruitt says, while she has the business acumen.

Lower Burrell Councilman Chris Fabry is supportive.

“In every city across the country you have a lot of vacant storefronts, a lot of boarded up windows, especially with less and less big box stores,” Fabry said. “So, at that point, you have to start thinking outside the box and attracting new and different and unique businesses.

“It’s an exciting, fun, innovative idea that we would love to see in Lower Burrell,” Fabry said.

Fabry thinks the visitors the business will attract will help other city business, too, like gas stations and restaurants.

“So it really does help boost all of the other businesses around Lower Burrell.”