When Some Of The Guests Have Paws

Several years ago, artist Carolyn Bistrian was asked what her favorite “power animal” was.

“A dog, because my house is not big enough for elephants,” she answered without hesitation.

So it’s been dogs ever since for Ms. Bistrian, who welcomes them as guests to her “Bend in the Road Guest House” on Spring Close Highway in East Hampton.

Ms. Bistrian, who grew up in Manhattan and was raised by her single mother (a photographer, New York University professor and world traveler), was 7 years old when she got her first dog. Through the years, her canines—currently numbering five—have provided not only companionship for herself but also a form of therapy to hospice and nursing home patients. And for the last 18 years, her furry friends have welcomed other dogs (along with their owners) when they stay at Ms. Bistrian’s guest house.

On a recent sunny fall day, her comfortable, rambling farmhouse, complete with a garden and pool on 22 acres of land, was the scene of festive activity as her dogs raced around every conceivable open space, both inside and out: barking, jumping, licking everyone in sight. And what dogs they were—diverse colors, breeds, sizes and ages, ranging from 4 to 17 years old, including an Australian sheep dog, a silky and a Chihuahua mix.

And who can forget their idiosyncratic names? Augie Boy, Chula Luka, Lady Sadie, Whiskey Blue and Charlie Lady Bug—somehow the names fit their different and playful personalities.

This diversity spills over into Ms. Bistrian’s living quarters: Myriad colors, textures and materials allow guests to experience a fantasy world that seems to cover many historical periods. Imagine rooms filled with raku ceramics, Victorian-style ornaments, cloud-like paintings, candlesticks and table lamps. While most of these art objects are made by Ms. Bistrian herself, some, like metal mobiles, are “found” items she rescued from the local dump. Other metal pieces are transformed into jewelry, while some natural pieces, like tree stumps and plants, are arrranged decoratively on the floor.

Variety also plays an important part in Ms. Bistrian’s professional life: She has a master’s degree in comparative religion and literature from Columbia University, has been trained to practice psychotherapy and has taught ceramics for 30 years. Running a guest house has been her full-time preoccupation for almost two decades.

In 1979, Ms. Bistrian moved to the home of her husband, Frank, and several years later, the couple decided to turn it into a guest house to earn extra money. It was a good decision when they combined Ms. Bistrian’s art experience with the construction business of her husband, who died eight years ago. “We worked really well together,” she says now. “Moving out of the master suite and building a separate wing completed our project. The guest house was born.”

But one element was yet to be added. “Because we had dogs and there were no places that regularly accepted pets, we decided to welcome canines. Hopefully, guests would come back often,” Ms. Bistrian said with a big smile. And come back they did. In fact, Ms. Bistrian has kept in contact with many of her guests throughout the years—and she counts many as her friends.

Her current house mate, Lisa Lyons, met Ms. Bistrian through one such friend. Stopping at a neighborhood Brooklyn restaurant to ask the bartender if she knew of a place to live in the Hamptons, the bartender immediately suggested Ms. Bistrian’s guest house.

Ms. Lyons, who now tends bar at Baron’s Cove in Sag Harbor, said she considers herself fortunate to be living at the guest house, even though she has two cats—Ms. Bistrian is working with one of them, Gigi, to get along with her biggest dog, Chula Luka. So far so good.

“I appreciate the experience of Carolyn’s artworks, her artistic expressions seen in all her objects,” Ms. Lyons said. “It’s kind of magical here, it’s more like a guest ‘home’ instead of a guest ‘house.’”

“I really believe that if we humans believe the dogs—both mine and the guests’—will get along, they will,” Ms. Bistrian said. “The dogs try so hard to be on good behavior.

“I ask the guests to leave their pet in the bedroom for one-half hour,” she said. “If there are no problems, the people are free to leave the house without their dog.”

Have there been any catastrophes along the way?

Ms. Bistrian relayed the story of a male guest who wanted to spend his time on the beach meeting women. Yet his dog kept jumping in the guest house pool and wouldn’t get out. The guest ended up staying with the dog the whole time and didn’t get to the beach for a single minute.

Ms. Bistrian smiled again and went back to her chores: making bread for the guests who would be arriving soon, and keeping her own five dogs in line.