January was another busy month full of delightful guests from Portugal, the UK, Spain, and France, each leaving us with glowing 5-star reviews. Steve explored our surroundings on a quad bike adventure with Marco, while I became better acquainted with the launderette and ironing board!
A much-needed 48-hour escape to Quinta do Bom Vento, courtesy of our wonderful friends Sam and Rich, recharged our batteries. Their hospitality, delicious food, and fun games were a true gift. It was the first break we had had in over a year and was much needed.
Also in January we were thrilled to achieve Airbnb Superhost status in just under six months, especially during the winter season. Nearly 100 guests from around the globe, from Portugal to Singapore, have enjoyed our hempcrete houses since September, a testament to our hard work.
Taking advantage of the good weather, we tackled long-overdue land work with the help of Solomon, Julie and Gabriel. I also gave our log storage a facelift, and we were filmed for season 4 of Channel 4’s Bafta nominated ‘Help We Bought a Village’ series.
Steve preserved our chilli harvest, prepped our homegrown turmeric, and learned apple tree grafting with Gabriel. I caught up on admin and, yes, more ironing! Sharing our project on a natural building Facebook group resulted in an overwhelming positive response, with nearly 6,000 likes and 800 comments, to receive such a lot of global affirmation was incredibly heartening.
Most excitingly, our guest house renovation, featuring hemp block insulation, was nominated for Building of the Year 2025 on a major architectural platform. This prestigious nomination, a tribute to our architects, builders, and hemp block suppliers, has made all the hard work and dedication worthwhile.
