Live & Work on a Beautiful Georgia Island!
We are a small and intimate inn located on Cumberland Island, Georgia – a beautiful, pristine, and undeveloped island accessible only by boat or small airplane.
Greyfield Inn’s private setting boasts 200-acres of unspoiled land spanning marshland on the west and ocean to the east.
About Greyfield Inn
About the Inn
Located on Cumberland Island, the 19th-century retreat of Thomas and Lucy Carnegie was built in 1900 and converted to an inn in 1962. The Carnegie family still oversees the Inn, which exudes the romance and luxury of a grand hotel with the hospitality and charm of a family home.
Greyfield has a total of 15 rooms between the house and cottages, and the max occupancy is 30 people. The Inn consists of 9 rooms in the main house with 2 cottages across the lawn, adding 6 more rooms.
Greyfield has its own garden where fresh flowers are cut and placed in rooms and around the inn, and seasonal fruits and vegetables are also grown and served on our menus. We make our own estate honey which is sold in our shop and the apiaries are located both in the garden and on the north end of the island.
About the Island
Cumberland Island stretches eighteen miles north and south and ranges from three-fourths to two and a half miles wide. Expansive salt marshes and tidal estuaries are protected on the island’s west side, and, from the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Dense oak and pine forests, freshwater sloughs, and long sand dune ridges provide for plant and animal communities of great diversity. Over half of Cumberland is protected wilderness; many miles of trails provide excellent access. Wild horses, turkeys, island hogs, deer, and armadillo are among the few animals that roam the island.
Buried in the island’s soil are the relics of at least four thousand years of human history. The rich maritime ecology provided ample food: Aboriginal shell mounds line the island’s marsh side, testifying to the natural abundance. Spanish mission churches, British military outposts, African slave villages, and antebellum plantation homes have almost completely disappeared. Over the past century, the Carnegies allowed the fields that once grew cotton, indigo, rice, citrus, and corn to return to forests of oak and pine.
The Employee Experience
Taking a position at Greyfield Inn means you will be living and working on the remote national seashore of Cumberland Island. We are only accessible by boat, there are not paved roads, and there are only a few vehicles.
You can begin each day with the sunrise over the ocean and end each day with the sunset over the river. It is quiet here, we are the only operating business aside from the tourists that take the St. Mary's ferry over to explore the island for the day or camp. If you need daily Starbucks, we're not the place for you. If you can go weeks without driving your car, you'll be right at home. If you like the outdoors, hiking, peace, and quiet -- you'll love it. If you've always wanted to learn to surf, now's the time!
We try our best to give you 2 days off a week and encourage you to explore the island on your time off. If you have a mountain or thick tire bike, bring it! It will be a great means of transportation for you to see all that the island has to offer. If photography is something you are interested in, you will lose track of time photographing the beautiful shore line, wild horses, and massive live oak trees.
Our staff ranges in age from 20ish to 60ish. The social dynamics vary year-to-year depending on the staff, but you will be working and living with the rest of the staff so we strive for a healthy and positive dynamic. There are no bars or restaurants on Cumberland and the evenings are often quiet. Our staff like to hang out, make bon fires, and play ping pong together. People make their own fun -- movie nights, campfires, games, puzzles, watching a movie. If you seek a party every night, you might be a bit bored here -- and given our long season, you'd be exhausted if you found one.
We aim to treat our staff well here. We take maintenance of staff housing seriously, do our best to have plenty of good food available, and try to be supportive when issues and challenges come up. We strive to be fair and have jobs clearly defined. We encourage people to value each others' privacy (which can be difficult in close quarters). We aim to treat people like adults and trust that they will behave accordingly.
Ideal Candidate
- A true commitment to working the entire 9 month length of your contract
- Genuine enjoyment of rural living ~ if you need city life to be happy, we're not the place for you
- Physical and emotional wellness
- Housekeeping, bar tending, cooking, are all physically demanding positions, with long days and at least some heavy lifting for all jobs. Are you willing and able to lift a minimum of 50 pounds (think of a basket of laundry, 50-pound bag of flour, loaded suitcase, heavy cast iron skillets, team lifting furniture, etc.)
- Living and working with the same people, over the course of a long season, can be stressful ~ sometimes people with depression, anxiety, addiction, etc find this work environment hard.
- Hobbies or interests that you can enjoy living out here ~ outdoor activities, interest in the natural world, music, art, reading, photography
- Overall, you're a team player who has demonstrated your ability to
- Get along with other people both during work and off-hours;
- Be reliable and get the assigned job done;
- Keep a positive attitude with guests and co-workers; and
- Be willing to help out occasionally in areas outside your usual job.
- We require that you have an active driver's license
Greyfield Inn focuses on a personalized approach to service, with attention to even the smallest details. We strive to provide our guests with an exceptional and memorable experience in a natural and peaceful environment – which is only made possible by the talent and commitment of our incredible staff.
These are multi-faceted positions. Our employees wear many different hats throughout the course of a workday.
At Greyfield, each of these jobs is approached with equal respect. Training in each area is provided. It is also helpful to have curiosity, an open mind, and an eagerness to learn a lot of new things. Our staff works together as a team for long hours, weekends, and holidays - Greyfield Inn is always open.
We ask that you apply only if you can commit to a minimum of 9 months.
Room and Board
Staff housing and meals are included as a Greyfield Staff Member. Breakfast is served every morning after the guests eat, lunch is open to make at your leisure; sandwiches, salads, leftovers, etc., and family dinner is served every evening.
Serendipity is the main staff housing located on the north end of the island. You are given a private room and private bath (a few rooms have a shared bath). A truck is provided for staff to make it back and forth for their work shifts. There are also a few other staff housing rooms scattered around the Greyfield grounds.
Employee Perks
During your time off, you can explore the island on bicycles, run the beautiful trails, surf, fish, and so much more.
To get a visual of the beauty on Cumberland Island and to read more about its nature and history, please be sure to look up our website as well as Cumberland Island National Seashore's NPS website.
Staff receive 20% off alcohol and shop purchases. After 6 months, you may book 3 nights for either you or your family at a 50% discount. After a year, you are allotted another 3 night stay at 50% off.
Getting Here and Getting Around
Greyfield Inn is accessible via Fernandina Beach, Florida's downtown marina. Here, you’ll take a private ferry across the Cumberland Sound on the “Lucy R. Ferguson” which takes approximately 45 minutes. The ferry is a passenger ferry only and no cars are permitted on the island.
We do have a staff and guest parking lot downtown Fernandina where cars can be kept while on Cumberland.
You may bring your own bicycle onto the island but electric bicycles are not permitted on Cumberland Island National Seashore.
The ferry times:
Fernandina Beach Departures: 9:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m.
Cumberland Island Departures: 8:00 a.m., 10:45 a.m.
For Fun
Hiking, Biking, Fishing, Swimming, Surfing, Kayaking, Trail Running, Beachcombing, Camping, Stargazing, Guided Naturalist Tours via the National Park or our own Naturalist Outings, and a wonderful opportunity for beautiful photography. If you are an outdoor enthusiast, you will never be bored exploring the wonders of Cumberland Island!
How to Apply
All interested applicants must email their resume and cover letter to the email address below. Please put your full name and the position you are applying for in the subject line. We will then reach out to you to set up a video interview. Please do not call, our reservation team is located on the mainland and are unaffiliated with our hiring process.
We look forward to hearing from you!