Community Spotlight: Lawrene0

Lizzie
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Community Spotlight: Lawrene0

Chairs.jpg

 

Hello everyone,

 

I am not sure about you, but the Community Spotlight is one of the hightlights of the month for me here in the Community Center and this month is no exception. As a quick recap for those of you who are new here, Community Spotlight is where we ask a member of our community a few questions and get to know them a little better. 🙂

 

Introducing our community member in the spotlight this month...

Lawrene.png

Florence, Canada

 

How long have you been hosting for and why did you first start?

I have been hosting since 2012. It started with being a guest when our daughter married a nice American and we needed a place to stay in Brooklyn, NY, for the wedding. My husband and I booked one room of an apartment, and the groom's parents, whom we had not met at that point, booked the other. It must have been a nail-biter for the host! But all was lovely, and when I got home and was five-star reviewing, a pop-up told me I would get a discount retroactively on my first stay -- those were the days! -- if I became a host. Did I have a room? A couch? A treehouse? Why, yes, I did have a treehouse.

 

Tell us a little about your listing.

We live on 64 acres of woods, fields and river, and 10 years ago we decided a treehouse would be a better way to enjoy the river part of it. It was not that we were enchanted with treehouses. It is just that the river floods periodically, and so whatever we built had to be small, to comply with township rules, and high. When I listed it after returning from Brooklyn, I thought -- and I assured my husband, who was not sold on the idea -- that no one would come here. We are hours away from cities, this is not a tourist area at all, the treehouse has no electricity or plumbing, and you need to carry your stuff a kilometre on a footpath through the woods. What we didn't count on was the fact that there are lots of people like us: hikers/canoeists who look for time off the grid, who understand how to function sustainably there, who enjoy being self-sufficient. Our best guests are no-trace campers who leave the place as they found it, who use the firewood frugally, who respect the wildlife, and who don't mind what the weather throws at them. Also who like waffles, since that is usually the breakfast I make for them at the main house.

 

How long have you been part of the Community Center and why did you join?

My profile section says July 2016. I had likely looked at the Community Centre before then, but I tend to be the worst sort of forum user: getting the information I need, but not contributing. But while looking for something else, I saw a question that needed answering and I knew the answer. It must have been on how to find something on the site, because I was pretty solid in that. It got a little addictive, and apologies for answering human-relations questions, because I am definitely not solid in that. I do try to put the brakes on the opinion-only stuff.

 

What is your favourite thing about the CC and if you could make it better what one thing would you improve?

My favourite thing about the CC is the great degree of respect and empathy the posters have for each other as a general rule. It might be because good hosting and good "guesting" require this, so it is the nature of the posters to be that way. Some of the thoughtful and kind answers people give each other melt my heart. If I could make it better I would improve the search function. I do think it is getting better, but I would like it to be precise and perfect, please.

 

If you got given $1,000 to spend on your listing, what would you do with it?

Perhaps a custom mattress? Right now the odd-size sleeping platform is softened with easy-to-wash blankets and thick quilts, and guests bring their own sleeping bags. I have been thinking hard about the new mandatory bed linen amenity and picturing how muddy a mattress and sheets would get. We'll see.

 

What would you ideal weekend away be and why?

Our ideal weekend away is a hiking or canoeing trip, either alone or with our good friends who like the same sorts of discomfort :). Always off the grid. Thanks be to the Snooze button! If it is an ideal weekend involving an Airbnb, it would be a road trip to visit family.

 

Are you more of a book or film kind-of-person? (Perhaps both)

I read books all the time, both as hard copies and as audiobooks in the car and while cleaning the treehouse. Peter Carey, Michael Frayn, Margaret Drabble, Martin Amis, Robertson Davies, Graham Greene, John Le Carré, Elie Wiesel, Paulette Jiles are in a current stack. We have terrible internet out here in the sticks, so although my day job involves acting in films, I seldom see any unless I am in Toronto for work.

 

If you were hosting a Community Center dinner party, what would be on your menu? 🙂

I am a gardener, so you lot would get a vegetable stew. I suppose it should be cooked over a campfire, so it will be a bit smoky.

 

Tell us one fun fact about you.

Twenty years ago, Harry and I and our daughters were lighthouse keepers for a season on an island off the coast of Maine, USA. It was the best job ever!

 

 

A huge thank you to Lawrene for taking the time to share a little bit more about yourself, it is a fascinating read. 

 

Please do feel free to response to Lawrene with any questions about the above or share any nice comments, I am sure she would love to hear from you. 

 

Enjoy,

Lizzie

 


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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.


Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

53 Replies 53
Alexandra316
Level 10
Lincoln, Canada

@Lizzie That's a very cool profile. Lawrene is an amazing host: I love her place. I also really appreicate her kind, thoughtful, funny responses to questions here in the Community Center.

Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

Loved reading about the tree house and for some reason a vegetable stew sounds like a perfect meal 😄  Lawrene, your listing must naturally attract like-minded guests, right?  What a great way to share your love of the outdoors.

Lawrene0
Level 10
Florence, Canada

Thanks, @Lizzie, and @Alexandra316 and @Linda108. Yes, we do attract like-minded guests for the most part, and that makes expectations easier to meet, and conversations fun. Our departing guests today are writing a travel blog, so I learned a lot about where I want to go next!

J-Renato0
Level 10
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

@Lawrene0

You have a genuine and special listing and a great story! Just out of curiousity, can I ask what kind of films do you act in? I believe is kind "National Geographic" exploring trails and woods 🙂 , isn´t it?

Ha! That would make sense, @J-Renato0, but, no, I have never played a hiker - or an Airbnb host, although I have played an "incredibly venomous" (the reviewer's words) landlord in "an especially creepy performance"...

Last week we wrapped a gangster film. In it I was a corrupt politician, which is pretty fun, so I guess that's why they do it. I have done a couple of US national commercials, and a comedy-drama shot in Cancun, but mostly the commercials, TV series, and films are Canadian and shot in Canada, and are standard comedies, dramas, and period pieces. 

I will have to talk to my agent about National Geographic! 🙂

 

 

Gordon0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Lawrene0 

Nice listing (if a little too eco-warrior for me 🙂 ) and a great story to boot.

I also signed up in the year 2012 as London 2012-fever was at its height. Likewise, my husband wasn't sure about welcoming guests into our home, and while he's not the chatty type (even to me!) he enjoys the spoils of the work we put into it. 

Same here, @Gordon, re husbands. I thought I would have to remind Harry to be nice to the guests, but he needs no reminding :). He genuinely likes them. 

Ria16
Level 10
Northland, New Zealand

😉 KiaOra  Gosh! What a lovely bio/spotlight @Lawrene0  love your small footstep on this planet of ours 💝Would love to read more especially about being a lighthouse keeper. That would be the coolest thing. There had to be penguins right?

The treehouse looks awesome and I imagine lots of birds too. I would love to visit Canada one day.  Adds to long list 😉 Thank you for sharing rawa atu. 

No penguins at the lighthouse, @Ria16. A few puffins if we were lucky. Lots of birds here, all kinds, but I like the owls the best. Do come to Canada! I love New Zealand. The hiking was wonderful. We have friends in Blenheim. 

Kelly149
Level 10
Austin, TX

I knew instantly that the lovely view had to belong to @Lawrene0. Wonderful place and the best kind of abb that it was created for the family but now is shared with others. Well done.

 

I especially like that Lawrene's House Rules get to instruct guests on how to poop! 😉

I did a reverse image search on that lovely view, @Kelly149, and it turns out to be from a treehouse in Florence, Italy. We are a treehouse in Florence, Ontario, Canada, but what could be so different, eh? 🙂

My least favourite thing is talking about poop, but I'm getting used to it. 

 

David126
Level 10
Como, CO

An AirBnb Lighthouse? That would be different.

David

I looked that up, @David126, and found a few. I didn't read the reviews, but I wonder about "foghorn too loud".

And light too bright?

David