How a hand-built home helped two Superhosts semi-retire

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How a hand-built home helped two Superhosts semi-retire

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For Superhosts Mary and Buster Reynolds, hospitality and home building have been a part of their lives for 40 years. “It’s a way of life,” Buster said. He and his wife Mary have been building their home by hand since 1980, and sharing it with guests. “With all these new people coming in, you get to look at your home again with fresh eyes. We are really proud of what’s happened.”  The property —located in a former bird sanctuary, a 30-minute bus ride from Johannesburg, South Africa— has a main house with three guest rooms, as well as two guest cottages. And the couple finally completed it “last night!” Mary laughed, “I literally just finished tiling the new bathroom.”

 

Mary and Buster took some time away from tiling to tell us how they started hosting, how it’s helped support them through retirement, and why there may be another house just like theirs 3,000 miles away in Nigeria.

 

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Hand building a home seems like a massive undertaking. Did you both work in construction before? 

 

Mary: Actually, no. Buster is a retired cinematographer, and I worked most of my life in education. We used to have a landlord who built cottages, and they were built so poorly that we thought, if he could do it...we could do it better. So Buster did a bricklaying course, and I bought a plumbing book.

 

That’s your training?

 

Buster: (laughs) We didn’t have the money to buy a home back then. It was the only way we could get the house we wanted on the piece of land we wanted. So we started with 3,000 rand ($218 U.S.) and went from there. It was every weekend, every spare minute, every spare cent that went into the home.

 

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Mary: Buster did the structure and I worked on the inside. The beams are made from local gumtrees, and a lot of the other wood came from the Crown Mines scrapyard, one of the first goldmines in Johannesburg. The only thing we contracted out was the electricity and the thatched roof because it’s very specialized. Thatching is a traditional craft, so we hired local experts to thatch the roof with grass hand-cut by their wives. It’s like Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel, spending almost a lifetime up and down ladders. It’s like living in a work of art.

 

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Has chatting about the house become a good way to connect with guests?

 

Buster: Yes, definitely. The house is open-plan, which in 1980 wasn’t even in the dictionary. Now times have finally caught up with us! Guests come in through the kitchen door and immediately connect with [the home and] what we’re serving them for breakfast: homegrown and homemade jams, pickles and chutney as well as home-baked granola and muffins. There’s always a variety of breads, plenty of coffee and Rooibos tea, which is a South African thing. We spend at least an hour at the breakfast table talking.

 

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Mary: We had a group from Nigeria who had anticipated a 5-star hotel. When they walked in their faces dropped, but it wasn’t long before they mellowed into the experience. By the time they left, one asked for a copy of our house plans because he wanted to build a house like ours. So somewhere in Nigeria there may be a clone of our house.

 

 

That sounds like the highest compliment! How did you get started hosting?

 

Mary: Through the AFS — American Field Service, an international exchange program. In 1984, we did an amazing trip to America and, upon our return, AFS was looking for host families. Since then, we’ve hosted seven students, each for a year, and from all over the world. Hosting became a way of life for us. We also added two cottages, originally for our parents, and then as rentals. In 2017, our daughter Katy encouraged us to join Airbnb, and we started getting bookings almost immediately.

 

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What do you enjoy most about hosting?

 

Mary: It’s the people. We’ve always enjoyed having people here, learning about different cultures, and learning about why people come to South Africa. We had an amazing group of African-Americans from Chicago who wanted to discover their roots. We directed them to places where we thought they’d enjoy authentic African experiences. And they were completely bowled over and felt a great affinity with the culture.

 

Buster: There was also this Argentinian man who was so fascinated by our composting system that he wanted to go back and start a compost business. It’s stories like that that keep us going.

 

Mary: Plus, Buster had to take early retirement and as I am semi-retired, this supplemental income has made a huge difference. It’s allowed us to continue to live in our home. We also employ two domestic workers and a gardener. If we didn’t have the Airbnb income, they would also lose their jobs. Our intention is not to make a profit or a killing—absolutely not—but just to retain our home and keep Nelly, Elizabeth, and Mishek employed.

 

Do you have any advice for hosts?

 

Mary: You’ve got to enjoy what you’re doing otherwise it’s not worthwhile. We do enjoy it. And when people appreciate things, you know you’re doing it right.

217 Replies 217
Paul1212
Level 2
Toronto, Canada

Its always a pleasure to learn about new culture,i hope to go to South Aferica one day.

 

Dimitra22
Level 2
Athens, Greece

Ηallo Mary and Buster from Athens Greece! Amazing and inspiring job you are doing..please go on and spread your message! Dimitra

Venishree0
Level 2
Tulbagh, South Africa

What a lovely story. Very inspiring and following the motto of JUST DO IT:-) 

Well done Mary and Buster!

Karen268
Level 3
San Lucas, Mexico

I enjoyed your comment about enjoying the hosting experience.  When hosting becomes a chore rather than a pleasure that will be the day I quit.  My greatest joy is in the interactions that we have with our guests;  that is the fun of it.  I have been with Airbnb almost from the beginning of the program.

Yanna7
Level 2
Greece

Utterly inspiring , keep up the good work I would absolutely love to live your hosting experience 

Cathie19
Level 10
Darwin, Australia

Congratulations @Airbnb  for shining a light on Mary and Buster’s story. 

Carmelita9
Level 2
Wellington, New Zealand

Nice to know that hosts Mary and buster from the other side of the world, are doing well and enjoyed what they are doing by hosting airbnb, very inspiring story and rewarding, certainly give you some satisfaction in life. And that guests appreciate what you presented to them and get a good feedback.

 

Vicki191
Level 2
Melbourne, Australia

Yes, it's possible.

But only if it's on the land your live on and the property is unencumbered (ie. no mortgage repayments and you own it outright).


If you are also the cleaner/maintenance/housekeeper/booking manager, then you have no cleaning, linen laundering or management overheads. The cost to you is simply the time you put into the upkeep and reset of the listing after each guest.

 

But, if you sub-rent or still have mortagage repayments, outsource all your cleaning, laundering, maintenance and booking managemnt and include all your operating overheads (utility bills, land taxes and consumables) then the profit margin is small.
Not enough for semi-retirement.

 

Either bring down the debt and consider being the complete caretaker of the Airbnb listing to minimise running costs or look into alternative retirement income options.
🙂

 

Yes we agree totally . No mortgage, and doing as much as you can ... gardening , cleaning , chopping wood , making home made food for our guests , management,  linen, maintenance and for us building as well , you can do it ! and we have the flexibility of organising your workload.  

Helen427
Level 10
Auckland, New Zealand

@Mary0 and Buster

 

Well done on your hand crafted home efforts, it's great to see such skills been undertaken.

All the best for continuing your fine efforts

from Auckland, New Zealand

The-McHoldens0
Level 2
Queensland, Australia

What a wonderful story. Congratulations and all the best for the future. Suz

 

Robin102
Level 2
New South Wales, AU

Wonderful to see. 

Maria568
Level 5
Stanthorpe, Australia

Very inspiring guys !!... we are in the same situation , we built two cottages as owner builder in our property in Stanthorpe , sold our family home in Brisbane and now in cojunction with another property in Brisbane we are living semiretired and enjoying the Airbnb  the dream . 

I have been enjoying my experience in Sydney in a tiny apartment but with Sydney Harbour views. I’m so wanting to experience some nature.. thinking of buying a bigger home in a rainforest up north.

 

i love what I do but believe you need to also take breaks when they are in and out! 

 

 

Ahmad-Fathi0
Level 1
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Nice sharing! Looking forward to have this kind of experience in Malaysia.