Sustainable Studio Mud Cottage @Serenity Farmville

We are Serenity Farmville, a 3-acre Heritage Farmstay in the beautiful village called Kandbari near Palampur. One of the TOP-RATED stays in Palampur by our past guests. We have more than century-old mudhouses and this is our NEWLY built sustainable eco-home with the help of mud, bamboo, slates, reclaimed wood, old doors & windows, handmade furniture, and a personal organic kitchen garden. It has a fully functional kitchen and is a dream place for people looking for eco-living in the Himalayas! The space We had two century-old mudhouses, one has three rooms that are listed on Airbnb and the other block is where we live and we have our dining and kitchen area. We have six friendly indie-female dogs on our property and have our farm area, play area, garden, parking and other green spaces here. We have just built a third independent unit where we will host you in our Kokhuan cottage. Kokhuan is the wild herb, common chickweed, which is a nutrition powerhouse and tasty to eat. Abundant in nature without any disturbing farm activities, it is one of our favourites! This is an independent, studio mud cottage built almost completely with natural and reclaimed materials, and lots of effort and even more love! Guest access Guests can use their private space, all the common green open spaces, gardens, play areas, farms, our indoor common room, and dining area. Almost all but other private room spaces. During your stay We live here with you. You can give us a shout or just call us! Your preferred way! Other things to note **LIFE AT SERENITY FARMVILLE** (Please read before booking) We are a heritage homestay with our 115-year-old traditional mud houses combined with modern comforts sitting amidst a 3-acre farm and grassland. We spend our life mostly preparing and readying the place for you, organically growing our vegetables, lentils, and oilseeds, and playing with our six super-friendly local dogs! Before you arrive, please read our house rules and brief on life at our farm – • Feel at home. Please make it your home and not a party place! We have quiet hours from 10 pm till 6 am. • Do your work. We do not offer room service and luggage service. Yes, we do help as housemates! • Food for life. We serve homely vegetarian food. If you wish to eat with us, please inform us at least 4 hours before the scheduled meal. We serve breakfast between 9 am to 10:30 am, lunch between 1 pm and 3 pm, and dinner from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm. • Please put the books, indoor games, or any other thing that you use/borrow back in its place. • Travelling with pets. Oh yes, we love animals, probably more than humans! If you bring your pets, please keep them on leash/ attend until the time they’re friendly with the in-house ones. Also, do not forget to clean up after your pets. • Please save water and electricity. Turn off water taps and electric appliances when not in use. • Please ask for basic room cleaning if you want. Bedsheets, covers, and towels are only changed after a minimum of three nights stay. Washing uses a lot of water and discards a lot of chemicals and microfibers! • We do NOT provide toiletries as we believe they are wasteful and generate a lot of waste. We recommend you to carry yours and we don't mind sharing ours if needed. • Please do not pluck flowers from the garden. We keep them for the bees to feed and pollinate. • Staining of bed sheets, covers, towels, or/and breakage of cutlery, crockery, glassware, and room fittings will be charged as per actuals. • Use of firearms is strictly prohibited on the premises. • Damage to any sports equipment or books will be charged as per actuals. Staying with nature! At our place, you live with nature. Nature doesn’t mean just artificially controlled greenery in the form of levelled grass and exotic flowers. A small observation from our garden – bees prefer plain, tiny white wildflowers growing naturally over the colourful, bright, big ones that we’ve planted! Nature doesn’t need anyone’s control and is more than capable of maintaining a perfect balance by itself. Every life form on earth depends on the other, in one way or the other. It’s an intricate relationship that exists and must be respected. You take out one, and it affects others. It’s a web of interdependence. Of course, you’ll find bees on our farm stay. And not only bees, but a variety of birds, insects, and the lifeforms that are co-evolved over millions of years live here. You might spot a big spider around! That’s mostly from spring to winter (mid-March to mid-November). In the winter, they sleep as the poor fellows cannot regulate their body temperature with the changing environment. We do not spray chemicals around, neither on our crops and vegetables nor on the grass around us. We let nature take its course and make only natural corrections. So, we are dependent on all these creatures for food. Are they dangerous? Do not worry. They ARE NOT! They, in most probability, won’t come near. They’re more scared of us than we are of them. They take up a tiny space in this world and mind their own business. The best part is that as we move up the mountains, most creatures here are harmless, and it’s a rarity to find someone that poses a real threat to us. We’re yet to encounter one! Brief about mud-houses – Mud houses are earth homes made out of natural raw materials procured locally. They have been in use since time immemorial. The local style of architecture usually has two floors in the building with an A-shaped slanting roof lined with slates, one over another for water-proofing. The building that you’ll be staying at is mainly built from sun-dried mud bricks, mud, stones, wood, bamboo, slates, and yes, some concrete, especially around the washing areas. There are more advantages to living in such a house than its disadvantages. Advantages – • Raw materials used are natural and mostly locally procured. • They are environmentally sustainable and do not harm the planet as the concrete one. • They are breathable and chemical-free. What you breathe inside is all-natural. • If you build yourself an earth house, be assured that in the worst times like an earthquake, it is much safer than modern buildings, for no heavy concrete blocks are falling on you. Disadvantages – • Repairs and maintenance: As the materials used are taken from nature, they are more susceptible to minor damages and require regular maintenance work and heavy manpower. The main reason why locals are shifting to modern homes. • Less barrier to nature: As it’s an earth home. You might find very minute odd water seepage in heavy monsoon rains, especially when accompanied by thunder. Wish you a wonderful stay!