"LIVE-IN” MUSEUM OF OLD APPALACHIA
Have you ever wanted to go back in time and live life as your ancestors knew it? The Pioneer Homestead offers just that—a farmstay in our off-the-grid vacation rental farmhouse in rural Appalachia. Unplug and heal the family as you step back in time. This trip is not for the faint hearted. WARNING: NO TV, NO RADIO, NO WI-FI, NO HOT TUB, NO MICROWAVE, NO BLOW DRYER. And it gets worse: NO ELECTRIC RANGE, NO ELECTRIC LIGHTS-- NO ELECTRICITY AT ALL! The list of inconveniences goes on… NO A/C (NOT EVEN CEILING FANS), NO AUTOMATIC COFFEE MAKER, NO HOT SHOWER, NO INDOOR PLUMBING! OMG! TURN BACK NOW! No wait…if you want to connect with your kids, read on…
What the Pioneer Homestead does offer: delicious fresh mountain spring water that runs through the “refrigerator” trough in the magical spring room on the back of the kitchen; a wood-fired cook stove that takes an hour and a half to preheat, but then bakes the best cornbread you’ll ever eat; and a fanciful 2-seater outhouse designed to accommodate both Jack and the Giant, which doubles as a mini-museum of farm artifacts: leave the door open for an inspiring view! Located near the farm’s cold mountain ponds and rushing streams, the Pioneer House also features authentic mountain relics and family heirlooms sure to increase your appreciation of life in the mountains after the Great Depression.
Clearly not for everyone, the challenge of living before the electronic revolution is daunting for most of us. But it can be immensely rewarding if approached with an attitude of discovery. Step across the threshold of this old house and into the shoes of self-sustaining pioneers living off the grid and off the land. Candles and oil lamps are provided for lighting the night, but you’ll soon understand why your grandparents went to bed at sunset and woke at the crack of dawn. There’s firewood stacked under the stairwell, but cooking on the old stove is both an art and a full-time chore that may take a few meals to master. And if you want to warm the house, you’ll need to keep the wood heat stove burning, too.
Click here to read what one young guest had to say about her Pioneer Homestead adventure.
In pleasant weather take the fire outside to the summer kitchen, a picnic shelter adjoining a huge stone chimney. A spacious Rumford fireplace for cooking over, a spectacular Old-World pizza & bread oven for taking your baking to the next level, and even a one-of-a-kind smoke chamber if you want to slow cook or preserve your meat or fish—all find their way into this one Marvelous Monstrosity.
How does one get clean while living in a house without a bathroom or shower? The spring trough in the house allows for a quick bird bath, but if you want to get serious clean, enjoy the Banya, or Old World (Russian) bath house, available as an upgrade. Just up the meadow from the home is a jaw-dropping outbuilding with a wood-fired sauna large enough for the whole family. Sweat away the grime and slime while your bath water heats. Enjoy a thrilling cold water plunge in the nearby pond when the heat gets over the top. After bathing, lounge in the loft or sit on the pondside porch and contemplate the serenity of the birds-eye view of the homestead. The heart will find it hard to stop smiling!
In short, this is not your typical vacation rental. And it’s not just about vacationing in an off the grid farmhouse. Rather than living in the Pioneer House while on vacation, living in the Pioneer House may very well BE your vacation. The experience will put the wonder back in wonderful.
AMENITIES
Sleeps 8 (ask us about accommodating larger groups on this property):
Downstairs Bedroom #1: 1940s deluxe double bed
Downstairs Bedroom #2: 1 1890’s ¾ bed (sleeps 2 small adults) + 1 old-timey child’s bed (narrower & shorter than a twin)
Upstairs Bedroom #1: 1 1930s metal springs double bed w/ futon mattress (limited privacy; ideal for 2 kids)
Upstairs Bedroom #2: 1 1940s double bed
Extra cots available for larger parties, or sleep in the loft of the corn crib (bring sleeping bags)
No Bathroom: the charming outhouse, 18 paces from the house, will be long remembered
Non-smoking
No pets: you’re surrounded by horse pasture and our many farm animals live nearby
No electricity: unplug and heal the family
Extreme peace and quiet in house –refrigerator hum replaced by babble of spring water
Fully equipped 1930s kitchen. Bring a camp stove for convenience cooking
Linens, towels, and paper goods all provided.
Picnic Shelter (summer kitchen) with fireplace & pizza oven
Firewood provided for cooking, heating, and enjoyment
Corn Crib as kid’s Pioneer Playhouse
Cold-water creek and ponds for bathing, swimming, fishing, playing
Access to miles of private hiking trails & rest of farm
PRICING
Nightly Rate based on occupancy of 8 (3 night minimum stay) ......................................................................... $185
Service Fee .................................................................................................................... $100
Plus all applicable NC and Watauga County Taxes
Have you lived in a movie set!?
Indeed, the Pioneer Homestead was used as the old homeplace in The Mountain Minor movie, filmed on Willet Ponds Farm in 2017. This award-winning feature film gives us a slice of life from rural Appalachia in the 1930’s, when the Abner family portrayed in the film subsisted on green beans and Old Time fiddle tunes. Watch the movie before you come to spark your family’s imagination and serve as a pretext for discussion with little ones. Let us know if you’d like to help on the farm and you can join in some of the tasks you see the Abner family “enjoying” in the movie.
