The Arts and Crafts movement arose in the late nineteenth century in reaction to the dehumanizing monotony and standardization of industrial production.

Additionally, Woodstock offers close proximity to the art and culture of New York City[5] and was home to well-known painters like Milton Avery and Philip Guston.

After a failed attempt to establish a community near Santa Barbara, California and Albany, Oregon, he scouted the East Coast for a suitable site, sending painter and lithographer Bolton Brown on a three-week excursion through the Hudson Valley, where he would select Woodstock, New York, and begin construction.

Facilities included studios for painting, weaving, pottery, metalwork, woodworking; cottages with bathrooms and sleeping porches; a library, and a rambling villa for Whitehead and his family.

He built "White Pines" as his residence with a skylit cathedral ceilinged weaving room overlooking a picturesque view across the Woodstock Valley.

The Whiteheads intended to preserve Byrdcliffe "for the purpose of promoting among the residents of Woodstock...the study, practice and development of skill in the fine arts and crafts, as well as a true appreciation thereof..." Although the arts and crafts utopian experiment soon ran out of steam, the continuing magic of Byrdcliffe enthralled many notable people including the educator John Dewey, author Thomas Mann and naturalist John Burroughs.

The program sees an especially large influx of practicing visual artists, as well as published writers, college professors and professional composers, looking for retreat time to concentrate on their work.

Upon Peter Whitehead's death in 1975, Byrdcliffe was left to the Woodstock Guild of Craftsmen which has continued to maintain and administer programs at the colony.