Three acres of wilderness filled with cats, a pottery studio on the grounds, and beautiful gardens all around. It’s basically everything Courtney wants (well, maybe throw in a library and a coffee house). We found it all on Saturday at the Goathouse Refuge, a huge animal shelter in Pittsboro, N.C., that’s home to more than 160 cats.

The refuge is owned by Siglinda Scarpa, an Italian sculptor and potter based in North Carolina. Its vast grounds include a 3-acre outdoor enclosure for cats to roam, a handful of pens for goats, and a small pond on the edge of which roam flocks of turkeys and geese (and the geese were jerks that tried to intimidate you when you walk into their turf). All the critters are rescued animals, and from the looks of things, they have landed in a very comfy situation. As Scarpa writes on the refuge’s Web site:

This would be another chance; a safe haven for cats that were dispossessed or scheduled for euthanasia by public shelters. In my dream, no cat would be euthanized unless it was suffering with no hope of recovery. The Refuge would be a place where even cats that were unadoptable could live in comfort, with the care, attention and love they deserve. No cat would be refused due to age, illness or disposition. The ultimate goal for each cat would be adoption into a loving home. But the Refuge would be designed so that they could spend ample periods of time living comfortably, awaiting adoption. In fact, it would be designed so that a cat could spend years, or its entire lifetime, at the Refuge. This meant that the cats would be cage-free. Groups of cats would live in large rooms, where they could roam and play without restraint. And, of course, all of the cats would be given human attention and interaction, along with high-quality food and on-site medical care.

As soon as we parked and began walking toward the entrance, we spotted cats on the other side of the wire fencing surrounding the outdoor enclosure. One black kitten came up to us and rubbed its head against the fence, indicating to us it wanted petting. After getting some attention, it followed us all the way to the entrance, scampering along the logs at the foot of the fence.

The refuge has two main structures — a building that houses cat kennels and supplies and another building that serves as a pottery studio and shop. There were a bunch of cats lounging around in the first building, soaking up attention from visitors and hamming it up for the camera. One of the volunteers told us that they go through 30 cups of cat food a day, so you can just imagine how much it costs to keep the place running. They are also looking for volunteers, and if we lived closer, we definitely would. I can think of worse volunteering gigs than sitting on a bed and petting cats.