Farm stay in Waitsburg

Welcome to "Calico's Chicken House!" We are so happy you found our historic farm which my parents purchased in 1947. Located just down the road from where my great grandparents purchased the original farm which is still in the family today. We named the former chicken house after our favorite farm cat, Calico. She resided there for 17 years and found great comfort. We know you will too. Recently remodeled to accommodate your every creature comfort need. Our house is family and pet friendly. The space My parents raised more than a 100 chickens every six weeks in this house back in the 1950s. As wheat farmers, they had to feed a large family and harvest crews. The chickens served as meat and produced eggs in the hen laying bins that you will find in the kitchen and bathroom, now serving as shelving. Although it hasn't been a chicken house in more than 60 years, it served in recent years as a farm parts and machine shop. With a vision to preserve all of its original character, we cleaned it out in January 2020 and began repurposing and utilizing all of the original wood, chicken feeders, hen laying bins, and floor. The metal kitchen cabinets are from our grandmother's old farm kitchen, including the beautiful farm sink. They were lovingly sanded to remove all the rust, and repainted. You will love it! Just across the driving bridge, you will find two hiking trails. Sparky Trail is named after my first pony “Sparky.” The directional use trail runs parallel with the creek and is fairly level. Just above the first rise in the trail is a bench called “Jim’s Bench” named after the builder. Take a moment to rest on the bench to listen to the myriad of birds located in the woods. Skyrocket Trail is named after “Skyrocket,” another horse we whistled to at feeding time to come down from Stella’s Ridge. A single track with a small grinder section, Skyrocket Trail takes off of Sparky Trail and zigzags up to the top of “Stella’s Ridge.” Half way up you will see “Matt’s Chair” named after the lead trail blazer. Impressive Ponderosa pine trees more than 200 years old look out for you as you meander along the way until you can rest at two more benches called “John’s Bench” and at the end of the trail, “Cheryl’s Bench.” When you reach the top, the sky opens up with an amazing view of meadow below, wheat fields, the Waitsburg Valley, and wind turbines dotting the Dayton Skyline. The hikes take an average of one hour. Guest access As you will be staying in the entire house, guests can access any part of the house. The grounds are wonderful so feel free to roam and explore. If you bring along kids, they can safely go in the creek and catch crawdads (with parents of course!), go on a hike, run around the farm, ride on the merry-go-round, use the swing set behind the main house, and have a grand 'ol time. The place is still evolving and hope to have real chickens on the property in the future. Other things to note Wifi is shared with the main house through Starlink satellite. Please download movies in advance and save to your computer devices. The beauty of the canyon, trees, and creek can be challenging with modern technology advances but we are trying to provide the best means possible to keep people connected. Cell Service - due to the deep canyon, you can try the following to obtain cell service: *Go to Network Settings *Reset *Settings *General *Reset *Network Settings Reset Another option is to go to: *Cellular *Cellular Data Options *Voice & Data - choose LTE, VoLTE On *Also on Roaming: Voice and Data Roaming need to be turned on We use Verizon and get cell service in the home. Pets are welcome with a $50 pet fee accessed prior to arrival through Airbnb. Thank you for picking up after them.