In 1967, Herbert and Ina Hahn purchased the last farm in Pigeon Cove, a small village by the sea some two miles north of the town of Rockport, Massachusetts. The farm, on 4.5 acres of land, included a main house, cow barn, stables, slaughter house, various outbuildings and pasture land. In less than a year Herb Hahn single-handedly converted the barn into a dance studio, the stable into a library,
sheds and out-buildings into dormitories and he renovated the main house to function as a dining-kitchen complex. The performing arts camp for teenage girls opened in the summer of 1968 and during its seventeen years was filled to capacity with students from the USA, Canada and Mexico. During that period new buildings were added including a chapel/theater, a second dance studio, an outdoor stage for dance and theater performances, and a dining hall and kitchen in the main barn. The architectural treasures Hahn collected have made this a unique place — a mini-New England village replete with hand-hewn beams, barn siding, statuary, stained glass windows, wrought iron railings, lanterns, and granite boulder walls. The place was named “Windhover” after a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, whose “Windhover” is a falcon (or seagull) that hovers in the air against the wind, and symbolizes the soaring of man’s imagination and the spiritual quest that informs art. After the death of Herb Hahn, Windhover became a non-profit tax-exempt corporation, Windhover Foundation, and underwent the gradual transition from a camp to a performing arts center. In 1983 Windhover became a 501(c) (3) non-profit foundation, and, in 1986, changed its focus from an arts camp for teenage girls to a performing arts center, expanding its mission to include more citizens of the North Shore community and to focus on creating works that reflected the community. Windhover now offers classes and workshops in dance, music and theater for all ages, as well as outdoor performances throughout the summer.
