Yaddo, an arts colony that for nearly a century has nurtured some of the country’s most acclaimed writers, including Truman Capote, Sylvia Plath and Patricia Highsmith, is turning over a new leaf at its upstate New York campus.

Guided by a master plan from Ennead and equipped with new live-work studios by Phinney Design Group, the Saratoga Springs nonprofit has begun the first phase of a $20 million, multi-decade project—its first major renovation since 1926, when the colony opened.