Nestled onto 10 peaceful acres, w/pond about 15 minutes to downtown Columbia and the University, close to restaurants, and activities, that is if you want to leave the Pool and the quiet of the country. 8 beds, + a few air mattresses, plus 2 pack/plays. You'll love the kitchen, the peace, and the coziness. The in-ground heated pool is 25 x 50 feet. (Closed mid Oct. - mid April) We stock wood for the fire pit, so roast hot dogs, or make S'mores! No parties! No unregistered visitors please.
The space
This is not a hotel along the way, this is a destination. Perfect self contained “staycation” or launching pad to so much more! (attention rule breakers only) -This is not a place for parties, or any kind of an event and you will be asked to leave and you will not get a refund. The host needs to be informed and give approval for anyone coming on the property who is not on the reservation. Reasonable situations may be approved. Please do not invite group of people for a pool party. For everyone else – Our place is excellent for couples, solo adventurers, business travelers, families with kids, and big family groups. please note there is an additional charge for every guest above eight
* local zoning restrictions apply, By booking, you are confirming that no more than four unrelated groups will be staying overnight at the home, groups that are large as long as they are related by blood or marriage apparently are appropriate in our zoning. We state that we can accommodate 16 (2) per bed but we can provide additional mattresses or air beds upon request. The home is large but has a very warm comfortable feel. It is not overly fancy, so relaxing will not be an issue. I have stocked it with some board games and several movies. There is fiber Internet, And TVs with premium channels, The pool is lovely and we continue making improvements so keep coming back and watch our progress. There is a very large fire pit. So get your camp fire stories ready. This home is set up exclusively as an Airbnb, and retreat, however we go as guests ourselves to enjoy it as well, so really there is not much of anything in the home you can not use. Our goal is that you will feel that you are staying at a well equipped vacation home, not awkwardly intruding on someone home. If its there and you want it, use it. I raised 4 children, nothing is sacred. We are only 15 minutes away if you need us, or a phone call away, but we want you to have all the privacy you can get. We will meet you upon arrival, to introduce you to the place. During pool season, we will come out about every other day or so to maintain the pool. (about a 30 min. a visit in the morning, you may not even see us.) you will see Mike and his helper planting, mulching, or mowing throughout your stay. With 10 acres, four water features/amenities, maintaining those and the gardens is a full time job. please understand that many native plants may look like weeds to you, but they are habitat and food for our monarch butterflies and dozens of varieties of birds. The fellas will be as stealth as possible, but if you see a man in a straw hat he is perfectly harmless, he’s just there making sure that the resort like atmosphere is shipshape!! I have lived in Columbia all my life, and am a Realtor so call me anytime for area advise. Or, call, if you think of something that would make staying there more enjoyable, or to mention something we've missed. We are striving for making this your perfect destination, and to that end, we will take all the advice you can give. So many of our guests re booked so hopefully that's a good sign! 35 min to the state capitol, located less than 2 hours drive to KC or St. Louis, and a lovely drive to Missouri's Wine Country. Fall Foliage is awesome. Great rails to trail systems , and state parks for hiking and walking. Perfect for MU or show me state games. Another thought is it’s pretty nice not to have to clean your house for Thanksgiving or Christmas so if you have family that puts our home someplace Central, it’s beautiful there’s plenty of room and no one has to play host.! We will definitely put a Christmas tree up for you upon request. And yes, I have a turkey roaster.
Guest access
You will have free rein of the house, and the 10 acres. A groundskeeper is on site seven days a week, but will give you your space. There is a closet in the garage that we keep a few things in, and a refrigerator in that closet that is also for the owners use. You do not have access to the outbuilding on the other 5 acres, but feel free to run around on all the land. There is approx 1 mile of trails winding through meadows and woods for your enjoyment. While the pool is open, we will have to come maintain it which is about a 30 minute process every couple of days. Other than that you will only see us at the house if you've asked to check on something for you.
Other things to note
Read everything please!
Bring your bathing suits and robes for the pool. We do have a few robes that you’re welcome to use. If the pool is closed due to temperatures being too low for the heater to run, there is a giant hot tub which stays around a balmy 104° . We open the pool pretty early, typically mid April and we will keep it open much later than a public pool would, typically Mid October, however even though the pool is heated swims around mid April or near mid October will be pretty brisk! We reserve the right to cover the pool early spring and later in the fall to protect and maintain the heat. When we are worried about heat retention. We may close the pool around four or 5 o’clock but will communicate with you about this. The pool heater is a heat pump, which means it has to be above 50° outside in order for the heater to turn on it takes several hours at 50+ degree weather per day for a consistent number of days to effectively keep the pool temperature above 80. Our ideal temperature is about 84°. If we’re pushing the season keeping it covered truly is the best way to protect that the next guest, or your family, will have an enjoyable swim the next day. You may want to pack a sweater if you want to sit out in the evenings around the fire pit. There is a small pond it does have fish if you want to bring a pole, there is also a paddle boat and we do have some lifejackets. Any water activity is at your own risk and parents should use extraordinary caution in watching anyone who is not a skilled swimmer. We put an extra refrigerator in the garage for your use should you want to stock up and entertain while you’re there. There are a few boardgames, and movie DVDs. The living room and lower level family room are fairly good sized. The house and exterior spaces would make for a great business retreat, or comfortable family adventure. The host, Susan Horak, is one of COLUMBIA's premier realtors and has extensive knowledge of the Columbia Missouri area, could help arrange for almost any special outing or itinerary should you need it. If you're booking for a local event and would like shuttle services with a designated driver, for example to a football game, there are local services that arrangements could be made with. For any event to be held at the house, special permission must be arranged for in advance. we are not allowed to have weddings, even if it’s a very small private wedding, or other similar types of events . please understand anyone who is coming to the house even if they’re not spending the night must be on your guest list. There are obvious exceptions we are not going to restrict you from having Local family over for dinner but that means five or six people not 50 so you must ask. keep in mind that Airbnb are under attack across the country and we love the families that we’ve come to know and who we’ve hosted over the years so we certainly don’t want our Airbnb to be shut down because someone decides that no one will notice 20 people at a swimming party. I will and my neighbors will. Local zoning restrictions apply. Please remember that this is a private neighborhood, and that the peaceful enjoyment of the neighbors own properties must be respected at all times. there is ample parking diagonally in the driveway, and at the top of the drive, and in front of the garage, and even in the garage. I am but a phone call away. Please call me if you have any questions we want your stay to be amazing. The bulk of our guests have been coming back year after year. It’s always wonderful to meet new families, but repeat guests are one of the biggest compliments that we get. I am sorry about the Airbnb categories. I cannot get them to fix it. I have asked for over a month, but they decided on their own to go into messaging I suppose between guests and myself and picked up what they considered keywords so please don’t rate me unfairly because I do not have a
Mini golf course we do have a very homespun kind of silly, three par golf course , we do not have a waterslide. We do, however, have a small waterfall in the Koi pond but please don’t slide down it. we do not have a basketball court. We do, however have a basketball hoop in the driveway. I did not ask Airbnb to put these things on there. I have asked them to take it down and they basically say we’re awfully busy. In case you haven’t seen anything in the 12 other places and I mentioned that you can’t have parties events people who are not registered as guest. And that Mike will be on the property taking care of the ground. Am I going overboard maybe but when a guest leaves a review about that it’s not very private given that the groundskeeper is there I have to wonder, is it possible for someone to be capable of not understanding that 10 acres doesn’t mow itself on the four hours between someone checking in and checking out, still clean themselves water features don’t clean themselves, etc. yes, of course there will be someone they’re taking care of things so wave to the man in the straw hat.
We really do try to give our guest amazing stays, but when they push the envelope we have to push back, we don’t want to lose our Airbnb because someone pushes the local zoning laws and decides to have a party because as this one lady from Chicago said I paid a big price for it of course I’m going to have a celebration! No, I’m sorry we rented a place to stay that’s fun and a labor of love for both Mike And and I and just like the Drury Inn wouldn’t let you have 50 people over for a pool party just because you rented a room or have your wedding in their lobby please be respectful of decent boundaries. You only need to look at Nikki, Sandra, or the Karen’s of the world to know why we have had to go to the mat with these policies, we will have to say that there are the envelope pushers of the world that have caused us to have to be specific about no parties, no unregistered guests,
No showing up early or asking for a late check out and then being upset and leaving a bad review because you didn’t get your way.
We love those guests that come back every year that are big fans . We assume that when we get too old to take care of our proper that they will stop coming if we stop providing an amazing adventure, and a respite from the day to day. We love all of you that come every year and the new guests and the new families and friends that we meet along the way. To Sandra and Nikki and the quintessential Karen’s of the world (sorry for those of you actually Karen, what a terrible thing) (one of my vendors was Timothy Mcvey, he liked his name until he didn’t) at any rate for those of you to spoil it for everyone else, consider this the world does not need you educating the public on whether the groundsman who is my husband, and as he likes to say my pool boy because he thinks it’s cute, might be on the property and it’s not really private because most of the guests are smart enough to realize that 10 acres doesn’t take care of itself. And that I don’t have a herd of little minions who descend on the property at 11 AM and have it ready at 4pm, grass grows seven days a week 24 hours a day. A lot of property to maintain and Mike is happy to do it. The guests who appreciate the occasional greenhouse tour, an opportunity for children experience fishing with Mike helping them with their fishing pole, or helping them pick strawberries understand but those are the experiences of a lifetime. Something that they remember from one year to the next. The time that they spent with mom and dad at a place where they finally put their cell phones down. So come and experience a retreat from your routine but if you expect Mike to not be there making sure the land is OK, the botanical gardens, a place to invite 20 or 30 people that you never told me about this is just not the right fit. If however, you are looking for what we had to offer as stated above, then feel free to book.
