OUR STORY
Built by a Family.
For Anyone Who Needs Space.
HOW IT STARTED
From Campsite
to Retreat Center
It started with a tent. We came to this piece of raw land in Anderson Valley — redwoods, a meadow, a view that stopped your heart — with our children Alice, Eliot, and Jack, and no plan except that we needed to come back. We believe we are all connected by the space between us — molecules and energy radiating between us, sharing matter. We are the collective consciousness of all that is. The space between us is space shared.
Christopher began building. The children grew up swinging hammers and learning to cook over live fire. Our best friend Uri drove up one weekend and never quite left. The yurt replaced the tents, the water tower was constructed, then the pool and pool house. Samantha retired and obtained her yoga and meditation credentials. The Barn Side was acquired to keep a longtime friend in his home — David Norfleet, one of the co-founders of Anderson Valley Brewing Company and grand pubah of “The Grange.” He worked with Chris to build the woodshop, a home to the carpentry legacy of Chris’s father Dave Kirkham. But in 2020, our sweet neighbor David passed away and we began to expand our space into the Barn Side. The 1880s cabin was entirely remodeled with Christopher’s woodworking skills. An Airstream appeared. Then another. Christopher retired and discovered that beyond his general passion for woodworking, he had a great love for creating art with remnants of ancient trees, whether sculptural or furniture. Most recently the Fig Tree Farmhouse and Alice’s Wonderland were added.
In 2022 we were married here, on this land we’d been building for fourteen years, under the trees, with the people who made it possible.
Now the family opens the Space Between for bespoke retreats curated with known practitioners — a safe platform to creatively explore curiosity about the nature of our existence, shared with our curated companions: friends, and friends of friends.
THE FOUNDERS
Samantha & Christopher
Samantha Good
LIFE GUIDE · HIKE GUIDE · YOGA TEACHER · MEDITATION & YOGA NIDRA GUIDE · CO-FOUNDER
Before Anderson Valley, Samantha was a corporate partner at Kirkland & Ellis and Sidley Austin — one of the country’s top-ranked debt finance lawyers, recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business from 2011 through 2020, as well as other recognitions. She represented private equity funds, hedge funds and hotel management companies on complex US and cross-border financings and restructurings. She has also served on several boards, including The Berkeley School, Western Center on Law and Poverty, Stuart M. Ketchum YMCA and Planned Parenthood of Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley, and most recently, the planning committee for the Anderson Valley Community Park Project.
She graduated from Pomona College and UC Law San Francisco. But her real education came later: in meditation halls, in the garden, in the practice of learning to be still.
Samantha is a certified yoga teacher, meditation teacher, and yoga nidra guide, studying with Jason Crandall, MNDFL and Michele Loew. She leads retreats rooted in consciousness and self-compassion — morning practices, evening circles, and the quiet interior work of listening to oneself.
In the Space Between, Samantha began to play with art — a space she had never previously felt comfortable entering. Her work can be seen in experimental pieces placed throughout the land, informed not by teachers but from within. She now leads others into that same space of art experimentation, inviting people to create from instinct rather than instruction. Under Christopher’s mentorship, she has also taken up furniture-making. Her handcrafted coffee and side tables now live in several of the cabins. When asked years ago what she’d do if she weren’t a lawyer, she answered: hike the Pacific Crest Trail, write children’s stories, own a bakery, and negotiate deals for the Nature Conservancy. Space Between is, in many ways, all of those dreams at once.
“The retreat is rooted in consciousness, creativity, and connection — the three things I believe change everything.”
EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS
B.A. · Pomona College
J.D. · UC Law San Francisco · 1997
Certified Yoga Teacher · Meditation Guide · Yoga Nidra Guide
Christopher Kirkham
MASTER WOODWORKER · BUILDER · HIKE GUIDE · MEDITATION GUIDE · CO-FOUNDER
Before Anderson Valley, Samantha was a corporate partner at Kirkland & Ellis and Sidley Austin — one of the country’s top-ranked debt finance lawyers, recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business from 2011 through 2020, as well as other recognitions. She represented private equity funds, hedge funds and hotel management companies on complex US and cross-border financings and restructurings. She has also served on several boards, including The Berkeley School, Western Center on Law and Poverty, Stuart M. Ketchum YMCA and Planned Parenthood of Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley, and most recently, the planning committee for the Anderson Valley Community Park Project.
She graduated from Pomona College and UC Law San Francisco. But her real education came later: in meditation halls, in the garden, in the practice of learning to be still.
Samantha is a certified yoga teacher, meditation teacher, and yoga nidra guide, studying with Jason Crandall, MNDFL and Michele Loew. She leads retreats rooted in consciousness and self-compassion — morning practices, evening circles, and the quiet interior work of listening to oneself.
In the Space Between, Samantha began to play with art — a space she had never previously felt comfortable entering. Her work can be seen in experimental pieces placed throughout the land, informed not by teachers but from within. She now leads others into that same space of art experimentation, inviting people to create from instinct rather than instruction. Under Christopher’s mentorship, she has also taken up furniture-making. Her handcrafted coffee and side tables now live in several of the cabins. When asked years ago what she’d do if she weren’t a lawyer, she answered: hike the Pacific Crest Trail, write children’s stories, own a bakery, and negotiate deals for the Nature Conservancy. Space Between is, in many ways, all of those dreams at once.
“The retreat is rooted in consciousness, creativity, and connection — the three things I believe change everything.”
EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS
B.A. Philosophy · University of York, UK
M.A. International Affairs · Columbia University
J.D. · Columbia Law School · 1998
Super Lawyer · 2012–2013 · Trilingual: English, French, German
PARTNERS IN EVERYTHING
Two lawyers who chose a different life
Samantha and Christopher met through the law and left through the land. They were both partners at Kirkland & Ellis when they started camping in Anderson Valley with their children. That was the beginning of a long, deliberate pivot toward something more alive.
They got married here in 2022, surrounded by the structures Christopher had built and the community Samantha had gathered. Space Between is, in every sense, theirs together.
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
THE FAMILY
Alice, Eliot, Jack & Uri
Space Between was built as much by our children as by us. They grew up here, swinging hammers and learning to cook over live fire. Uri — our best friend and unofficial sixth founder — is here more often than he’s not.
Alice
Fire artist, DJ, dancer, designer, and builder. Alice helped construct the Beer Garden Kitchen, the delivery shed and many other parts of SBR. Additionally, she completely reimagined and redesigned the Fig Tree Farm House. She also organizes, manages and leads harm reduction teams at dance clubs and festivals.
Eliot
Eliot helped construct many parts of SBR, most recently building and designing the stairs that cascade from the pool to the bathhouse. As he turns to landscape design as his profession, his next project is the space surrounding the Movement Studio and Think Tank.
Jack
Jack grew up at Space Between before it had a name. He’s been on this land since the tent-and-campfire days. He helped build the deck on the Writer’s Cabin and bury the CAT6 cable that creates wifi for SBR. His spirit is woven into every corner.
Uri
Best friend. Unofficial sixth founder. Uri is Chris’s project wingman and not only hosts Sunday shakshouka brunch but also provides the late-night SBR support whether doing dishes in the moonlight, holding down the hot tub or dancing under the stars. He brings irreplaceable warmth, charisma, and chaos.
THE PACK
Satya, Odin & Loki
Three dogs roam this property and they consider it entirely theirs. Satya, Odin, and Loki appear at meals, join hikes, and have strong opinions about which hammock is best. They are, unofficially, the welcoming committee.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We Are Guests Here
Space Between Retreat sits on the ancestral homeland of the Northern Pomo (Tabahtea) and Central Pomo (Ma-cu-maks) peoples, who have tended this land for countless generations. We acknowledge their enduring presence and sovereignty, and the debt all settlers owe to the original stewards of this land. We carry this acknowledgment not as a formality but as a practice — in our relationship to the land, in our building, and in how we show up as guests in a place that was, and remains, someone else’s home.
Christopher & Samantha express deep appreciation to Juan and Veronica who have helped them lovingly tend to SBR for many, many years.