Our first impression as we drove up the long driveway to the house was, WOW! The house sits in an amazing location; no neighbors, amazing views and is very quiet and private.
The house layout allows for a seamless indoor/outdoor experience, a spacious kitchen to prepare and cook meals, and two dishwashers! We appreciated the pet friendly setup and wide open spaces. The chicken coop out back was a huge hit for our 11 year olds and they woke up each morning with great anticipation for freshly laid eggs. The chickens even loved being held and trust us, they got lots of holding!!
As families who have traveled together to numerous locations and homes annually for years, a few potentials to consider....
1. As we entered, the house was less of "Wow this is a great clean rental house" and more of "We feel like we're borrowing a friend's house for a week." It was not neat and tidy and actually felt a little dirty. All of the screen doors were broken at the bottom which allowed for some significant insect/rodent issues during the week. Also, the closets and cupboards were shoved full of personal items, and there were even mouse traps in some of the drawers.
2. The linens seemed a bit old and worn, and though the space of the kitchen was nice we found the pots/pans to be less than desirable to cook with.
3. An option is given to have cat "away" for the visit, but we actually enjoyed Clementine. She certainly sticks up for herself and had no trouble putting the dog in its place from time to time. The problem with the cat was the cat poop! Everywhere there is pea gravel (numerous locations) we could smell and see cat poop......this included the fire pit area.
4. The house lacks air conditioning which isn't a huge deal on most days but we had a couple of nights when it was uncomfortable to sleep. The weather on those days was in the 90's and the house did not cool off much during the evening.
5. Lastly the long gravel driveway. We liked the seclusion but we think it's fair for people to understand this is a long (1/2 mile, maybe longer) driveway with some washboard along the way which will lead to a very dusty vacation.
All in all, we enjoyed the stay. We haven't stayed in a place quite like it. Given the price point we expected things to be a bit tidier and more professional and clean. We hope the owner takes some of these comments to heart and makes some improvements to allow for a better stay for future guests.