Over Thanksgiving break we had an awesome and unique Airbnb experience near Asheville, NC. We spent a quiet weekend in the mountains getting away from the craziness of the world right now. I will say right away, this experience is not for everyone. It’s extremely rustic and minimal and not for someone who doesn’t enjoy camping since this is basically camping but inside (kind of). However, you will never ever stay in another house like this one so take my advice and GO! The goal of this blog post is to provide my insight and opinions on this experience and also providing advice you might need if you choose to participate in this experience. Also for anyone interested, this space is not available until April 2021 based off current info from Airbnb.
Airbnb link: https://abnb.me/yrL6bGJtObb
The Hobbit House
You can’t deny, this place is COOL! It’s an “earth house” built into a hill made from clay and wood from the property and entirely on solar energy. The place is built as a hobbit house and is a little small but the creators did an amazing job making it feel spacious. It looks pretty small in pictures but I didn’t feel that way being there. The inside is beautifully decorated with stained glass, art, and interesting furniture. There is a small living space with places to sit and a wood stove when you walk in and then a ladder to a loft with a full bed. The place has a TON of windows to let in natural light and to see the stars from anywhere you sit or sleep on a clear night.
Even though this place is amazing and unique, there are still some very important things to know before going.
This is NOT glamping. This is camping but inside. If you do not enjoy camping or can’t handle getting a little dirty, bugs, outhouses, no hot water, a community outdoor kitchen, and very little amenities, this is not for you!!!
Things to know before going:
1. Come prepared
The owner does a great job of describing the space and what is provided. Everything she says you should bring is for a reason. The main things we did or didn’t bring that made a huge difference:
Flashlights, headlamps, extra blankets, water, firewood, fire starter, paper/cardboard to burn, coffee or tea, books to read, games or cards, warm clothes, baby wipes, power bank for charging, and any food you might want.
Some of these things are comfort items, but other are necessary.
2. Plan for no electricity
The space technically has solar energy, but ours only had a battery of 40% when we got there and only provided light for about 2 hours. We thought we could depend on our phone lights, which was a huge mistake. Don’t be like us! Bring lanterns, flashlights, anything!
During the day this isn’t an issue because all the windows allow enough light that you don’t need the electricity. However, it gets dark so early now so we only got to enjoy the light for a few hours the day we got there and the morning we woke up there.
3. The kitchen is outside and used by other Airbnb guests
The kitchen is a short walk away from the hobbit house. They provide some basic pots, pans, plates, etc. but in my opinion it would have been such a pain to do anything other than boil water. Bring your own coffee and tea to enjoy around the fire but do yourself a favor and just get takeout from Weaverville (15 minutes away or less) and a bottle of wine and call it a night. We got pizza from Blue Mountain Pizza and it hit the freaking spot!
Side note: when we first got there I went to get cups from the “kitchen” and a guy was plucking feathers and cooking a full on turkey he had to have just killed. Quite the experience!
4. There are other guests on the property
This more than likely won’t be a huge issue because all the other accommodations are pretty spread out and have their own bathrooms. One issue we had were that the guests staying at one of the other accommodations lacked common sense and were walking around the property and shining lights into our hobbit house windows while we were sleeping and woke us up a few times. I’m also saying this because even though you feel alone, you aren’t, so be careful changing in front of all those windows!
5. There is no electrical heating
As mentioned, electricity really isn’t a thing. There is an awesome wood stove though! If you plan on staying here, you better learn to build a fire. The list of what to bring includes things that will make building a fire a little easier.
Don’t forget that heat rises so don’t over do it with the wood stove or you will be sweating your butt off at night in the loft…. clay and mud are good insulators… almost too good.
6. Your bathroom is an outhouse
Straight up a hole in the ground with a door. I personally have no issue with this but I know some others might not enjoy this.
7. The only running water is in the “kitchen” and at the shower near the “kitchen”
Even the running water is only cold water. The shower available has no privacy either so here is where those baby wipes I suggested will come in handy!
8. You will get dirty and sleep with some bugs
This is an earth house made from clay. Dust comes with the territory but it might be alarming at first if you aren’t mentally prepared. Also, this is basically an outside house so don’t be surprised when you see a good amount of spider webs and bugs. I will say that there weren’t as many bugs as some of the reviews and info provided made me believe.
9. Location: 10/10
The hobbit house is located technically in Weaverville, but is a short drive from amazing hiking, views, beer, food, anything you could want. We spent the first day on the Blue Ridge Parkway hiking and then only had a 30-40 minute drive to the Airbnb after. The next day we only had a 20 minute drive into Asheville where we ate and drank our way around (blog post about what we did in Asheville and the hikes we did are coming soon!).
10. Get there as soon as you can and stay as late as you can
Right now it gets dark at 530, so we made sure we got there as soon as we could check in at 3. I’m so glad we did because the property and the house are so relaxing and amazing to be around. We also stayed until we had to check out at 11, taking in the views and the coziness of the house.
The property also has an outdoor fire pit that you should take advantage of!
11. You can do it
I know a lot of these things may cause some people to decide against this experience, but everything I mentioned is totally do able. If you can get past some of these little issues, turn your phone off, and spend some time here with someone special, you will not regret it.
Lauren's Suitcase 