There is a group of us from Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma that get together twice yearly to quilt at a somewhat central location in Texas. We cook our own meals and have a wonderful time. When looking for places for a retreat, these are some of the things we look for. We all (8-10 people) like to be in the same room and have room for each of us to have a conference table and a small sewing machine table for our use. The location we use was built specifically for retreats. There are plenty of electrical outlets and the building was wired to handle the load of several irons, sewing machines, lights, etc. There needs to be enough restrooms to accommodate the occupancy. I would have a contractor look at the house to see what you would need to do to make the house retreat friendly. We all love our retreats and call them "the most wonderful time of the year". Good luck on your research.