The “manor house” to which the author Richard A. Bermann is referring here, is the Yaddo estate in Saratoga Springs in New York State which was built at the end of the 19^th century. Due to lack of descendants, the owners transformed their wealth into a foundation that allowed Yaddo to be turned into an artists' colony in the mid-1920s. The foundation awarded annual scholarships to writers, painters and musicians, allowing them to work in peace for several weeks on the estate. Several émigrés, including Bermann, were able to spend the summer of 1939 here after recommendations by the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom.

Shortly before his planned departure from Yaddo, Bermann died on 5 September 1939. In his personal possessions there was a small brochure for baths and massages in the many spas of Saratoga Springs. It is unknown whether he or other scholars made use of this offer. A normal massage cost nearly two dollars. By comparison, the artists’ colony charged one dollar per day for board and lodging if guests wished to extend their stay.

Bermann seems to have found the atmosphere in Yaddo to be conducive to his work and he particularly appreciated the cooking. In one letter he wrote of a “genuinely Czech cook” who he had met there. For someone born in Austria, and had spent part of his childhood in Prague and who was also working on his autobiography, this was certainly a happy coincidence.