Farm stay in Grassy Creek

Due to a tragic, all-encompassing house fire, Blacksnake Manor is lost and is closed to Airbnb guests indefinitely. We will rebuild, but there is no recreating. This old home place, which spanned the centuries and withstood the test of time through so many trials, was one of a kind. Even now, the old chestnut frame stands tall, refusing to buckle, though the walls are gone. It is truly heartbreaking. The space Blacksnake Manor is a hundred-year-old farmhouse, which while charming, is not without flaws. Lots of creaks and sounds and ghosts. Mostly friendly, but that one ghost, he has a mischievous streak. Let's see, what else: Blacksnake Manor is LGBTQI friendly, and friendly to religious and racial diversity, and pet friendly, and generally just all-round friendly. Though, it is eclectic and artistic. Some might say, weird. (But the people who say that are probably not very friendly.) Also, I would say my sense of style tends toward kitschy (I mean, I have been on dumpster dives ... not oh so long ago) and Edward Gorey-esque. Hence one reason for the name, Blacksnake Manor. Guest access You'll have access to my whole house, except my bedroom, if you please. That means, the guest bedroom, the kitchen, the spring house and wash room, the bathroom, the living room, the dining room, and the knotty pine suite upstairs. The house was built with zero bathrooms (yes, that long ago), and one bathroom was later added in a portion of the original wrap-around porch. So, it is a shared bathroom. I'm usually an early-bird. And some days, though not every day, I do have scheduled appointments elsewhere. It may be best to work out a morning schedule, which of course is just fine with me. Blacksnake Manor is a burgeoning English lavender farm. We planted approximately an acre of the Munstead variety of lavender in the autumn of 2018. If all goes well, the field will produce it’s first harvest beginning in May of 2019. If you’re here between May and September, take a walk through the lavender field and enjoy the sea of purple and the aromas! If you're here in the summer months, also feel free to go to the vegetable garden and help yourself to fresh homegrown, heirloom, organic and GMO-free vegetables. There are also black raspberries in the summer, and apples, peaches, cherries, and walnuts in the late summer and autumn. Help yourself! Access points to the New River are close, but not on my property. They are probably about a mile away in either direction. During your stay My schedule is weird. Some days, I'll be gone from dawn til dusk, and other days, I'll be here at Blacksnake (probably deeply intrenched in one of my hair-brained notions and projects -- like the compostable outhouse, the wood burning sauna, the orchid greenhouse, etc., which are all projects in some stage of development.) On days that I am here, I can be as interactive as you want me to be. But I know how to give people space, too. Trust me, I moved out to the middle of nowhere for a reason. I love to cook, and breakfast is essential in my world. I'm glad to fix a hearty, 100% farm to table breakfast for you during your stay, if you're not too picky. Fresh local, hormone and antibiotic-free eggs and pork (bacon or sausage) is my usual breakfast faire. I am typically an opportunivarian, but I am able to cater to the needs of vegetarians and vegans. I almost never eat fish, so pescatarian's should warn me beforehand. Of course, I can only assure you that the local pork and beef is farm to table, not the fish, unless grandpa has recently gone trout fishing. I'm all about raw foods and organic foods and fermented foods. Gut flora - SO important. What we put into our bodies is SO important. Other things to note I have one dog. Her name is Bella, and she was a rescue, and she is a princess. This is really her house. We think she is a cross between a Jack Russell Terrier and an Italian Greyhound. Cute as a button, and no-bark, no-bite. Well, no bark is probably a little bit of an exaggeration. But she calms quickly once she sees a visitor is friendly. On one Saturday each spring and summer month, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, Blacksnake Manor hosts Back to Basics, a Workshop Series, in which folks can learn about a variety of homespun topics, such as how to graft apple trees, grow an heirloom, organic vegetable garden, save seeds, and other suchlike things. If you’re here on a workshop weekend, please be aware of the goings-on. And if you’d like to join in on the workshop, that’s probably totally doable and great.