Smartlock integration
All Hosts with listings in the US and ...
Latest reply
Smartlock integration
All Hosts with listings in the US and Canada can now connect compatible smart locks to those listings. ...
Latest reply
For Superhosts Mary and Buster Reynolds, hospitality and home building have been a part of their lives for 40 years. โItโs a way of life,โ Buster said. He and his wife Mary have been building their home by hand since 1980, and sharing it with guests. โWith all these new people coming in, you get to look at your home again with fresh eyes. We are really proud of whatโs happened.โ The property โlocated in a former bird sanctuary, a 30-minute bus ride from Johannesburg, South Africaโ has a main house with three guest rooms, as well as two guest cottages. And the couple finally completed it โlast night!โ Mary laughed, โI literally just finished tiling the new bathroom.โ
Mary and Buster took some time away from tiling to tell us how they started hosting, how itโs helped support them through retirement, and why there may be another house just like theirs 3,000 miles away in Nigeria.
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.
Thatโs your training?
Buster: (laughs) We didnโt 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.
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 itโs very specialized. Thatching is a traditional craft, so we hired local experts to thatch the roof with grass hand-cut by their wives. Itโs like Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel, spending almost a lifetime up and down ladders. Itโs like living in a work of art.
Has chatting about the house become a good way to connect with guests?
Buster: Yes, definitely. The house is open-plan, which in 1980 wasnโt 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 weโre serving them for breakfast: homegrown and homemade jams, pickles and chutney as well as home-baked granola and muffins. Thereโs 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.
Mary: We had a group from Nigeria who had anticipated a 5-star hotel. When they walked in their faces dropped, but it wasnโt 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 โ 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, weโve 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.
What do you enjoy most about hosting?
Mary: Itโs the people. Weโve 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 theyโd 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. Itโs 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. Itโs allowed us to continue to live in our home. We also employ two domestic workers and a gardener. If we didnโt have the Airbnb income, they would also lose their jobs. Our intention is not to make a profit or a killingโabsolutely notโbut just to retain our home and keep Nelly, Elizabeth, and Mishek employed.
Do you have any advice for hosts?
Mary: Youโve got to enjoy what youโre doing otherwise itโs not worthwhile. We do enjoy it. And when people appreciate things, you know youโre doing it right.
