Once in awhile we get a free B&B lesson, with a little search, and we have an instagram acquaintance, Eastgate Farm Stays with an interesting story to share, and maybe some lessons to be learned.
We’ve stayed in over 50 B&B or BNB over the last few years. We’ve gained a lot of insight into B&B Management, and have written two books about this interesting topic, which we are about to release. We’re exploring many of the aspects of what we call “Bed and Breakfast Life” and want to celebrate places and people that are aligned with that.
The Eastgate Farm Stay is actually not all that far from Charleston, and we could have stopped by when we took the trip to the Charleston SC Historical District. It is only about 17 miles from the Angel Oak. Did you know we were back roads travelers too?
Did we tell you not to speed or roll through the stop sign? Thought so.
Why are we telling you this?
Well, it’s because there are a lot of day trips near Madison, and we do enjoy putting our guests onto some interesting experiences. We’re practically experts on travel in the southeast US. If you are a visitor from Europe and California, it’s fun to know that there are still places like this.
Of course, we need a little background first.
The Southern Horse Culture
We’ve traveled all over the US Southeast, but never really explored the Southern Horse Culture. You do know that horses are an invasive species in North America, right? This started out with the early white settlers, and is fairly significant, and regional. There is a big culture of “riding” in the Shenandoah Valley. The area around Lexington is of course quite famous for horse breeding and racing. There is such a thing as a “Tennessee Walking Horse” which is specially bred and trained as a show animal. The area around Ocala is famed for its horse raising and breeding.
Many of the places in the rural south today have riding facilities. In fact, there is one up the road from us.
The origin of this is in the class structure. Horse raising and breeding was a favorite activity of the Planter Class, and the other aristocracy. In fact, it became a bit of a national sport in 1840, and the plantation owners spent an abundance of money and time to outdo the Northern aristocracy in this activity.
The Race Horse “Arms Race”
So naturally this idea trickled down to the merchant class, and even farther down to its logical extreme. Horses, like the Churches became a way to measure the prestige and status of a community.
Madison had a horse track at one point didn’t it? Five of the original founding residents founded this race track which was the “town commons”.
From what we understand every “southern boy” wants to eventually have a horse. It means two things: You have enough land to have a horse, which is apparently 5 acres in Morgan County, and also, that you have enough money for the maintenance.
We almost forgot about the “Georgia International Horse Park” which is up the road from us. We need to drop in on that place as well.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CaDyLGsO21V/
Horse Rescue
So fast-forward to now, and this is where Lizabeth comes in.
This farm stay has 32 horses, that are “experienced” former polo ponies, former carriage ride horses, and other horses. The total size of this place is 110 acres. There is a collection of other animals including dogs, cats, donkeys, goats and chickens.
They’re taking these animals in, and hosting a few guests, and having a little refuge from inhumanity.
We’re interested in stories, and know one when we see one. It is our guess that this isn’t about the business.
The ‘Exceptional Experience”
We talked about this before too. Lizabeth is not pretending in any way that this place is luxurious. The Airbnb accommodations are an old trailer, a barn, a tiny house/shed, and an “old house.”
They had a Hipcamp with 86 reviews, but according to Lizabeth, the county asked them to no longer do that. But they’re running the Airbnb with an interesting collection of housing options.
They have a grouchy neighbor who complains when the guests drive up the wrong driveway. We can relate to this somehow. That probably explains the county involvement.
The Airbnb Experience
They have seven units, including a cottage, ‘club house,” and you can sleep in a 3-bed bunk room in the barn, as well as the old house that was on the property. If you add it all up they could host up to 50-ish people.
Based on the overwhelmingly positive reviews, apparently the guests are just turned loose in this place, and allowed to wander around and interact with the farm environment. There are “free” activities such as feeding the horses, and bird watching, which sounds to us like “being on a farm.”
TV or not TV
We are always conflicted about this. We sort of believe in the Media Detox but our guests don’t usually tolerate it for more than a day or so. Here it’s about Roku, which is not quite the same as TV. In theory you could stream old horse movies, like National Velvet and My Friend Flicka. Or new ones, like that one that Spiderman is in.
The Business Side
So how does the business side work? Well, they’re using the Airbnb income to do something nice for the animals, and welcome guests. They had 300 acres in upstate New York, so for them, this is “downsizing.”
We’re missing a piece of information or two but if the entry price was low enough, as it might have been a few years ago, the owners could have a lot of fun with the guests and do very well from an investment someplace. But, this is probably not about the investment. It’s about doing something lovely.
Lessons from the Eastgate Farm Stay
First of all, be authentic. We can relate to this fundamentally. We had to laugh at one of the reviewers who was not used to “roughing it.” We can relate to this fundamentally as well.
Secondly, be totally honest about what you have going on. Easy if you are authentic. Also realize that it is not for everybody.
Thirdly, in their case, it’s their forever home, and part of an interesting life plan. This Airbnb could be a pleasant diversion for a few years, plus take care of the horses.
We’re not seeing a downside.
PS: Have we told you lately we’re published authors?
The upcoming “Short Term Rental Guest Survival Manual” is in final editing, and we do look at B&B management as part of a high level plan of some type. Exactly what type is yet to be determined.
Meanwhile we’ll have to stay with “Big Southern Towns: the Dime Tour” which has been recently released, and is surprisingly informative about the football culture, being stuck in traffic as a symbol of local pride, and road food.
Anyway be there in the square.
PS: Lizabeth hasn’t given us anything to say something nice about her but we would love a little traffic, and I imagine so would she. Click on her links and show love.
Links and References
https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2014/08/02/race-horse-men
https://www.Airbnb.com/rooms/43803701?guests=1&adults=1
https://www.hipcamp.com/en-US/south-carolina/lizabeth-s-farm/eastgate-farm-stays
https://www.chsmarketplace.com/featured/east-gate-farm
