Kid friendly suburban home in a residential neighborhood.
House • Castro Valley CA United States
4 Guests
3 Bedrooms
3 Beds
2 Bathrooms
Pets welcome
1 Car space
Primary home
Exchange types accepted
Simultaneous
Non-Simultaneous
Non-Reciprocal & Globe
Hospitality
Statistics
Listed April 2021
Views 2640
General overview
Welcome to our home! This is a pretty average suburban home. It's simple, but cute, and we love it. It's one story, but does have steps down to it, and steps down to the backyard. it's 3 bedrooms with a playroom, 2 full baths- one with a shower and tub, one very small with only a shower- and lots of toys and a kid friendly yard.
The space
You walk in to the front door and are in the living room. I love our big, north facing window! If you keep going straight, you come to our bedroom area. it has 3 bedrooms (the master is set up as a kid's room- it has two closets), and a bathroom with shower and bathtub. Two bedrooms have a twin bed, and one has a queen bed, with a treadmill in the room.
Returning to the living room, if you go across the front of the house, you have the kitchen. It's pretty well stocked, I think. If you go straight through the kitchen, you come to the dining room, which is a long narrow room, but pretty big. We have a table that seats 6. If you keep going straight, you come to the playroom and "laundry room" (just a corner of the playroom). At the moment, it has a loft bed for playing in, a trampoline (watch heads of any tall people!), lots of toys, some drums, and a piano. It also has a small bathroom with a shower. You will also find another door in this room towards the front of the house, and that goes to a storage area with a garage door.
If you turn towards the back of the house from the dining room, you come to our back doors. They are nice french doors that let in a lot of light, especially in the winter, since they are south facing.
Our backyard consists of a small cement patio, a detached office (which will remain locked and not part of the useable area), a small garden plot, a dirt pit for the kids to dig in, a climbing dome, a few bench swings, a "roller coaster", and lots of grass to play on! In the summer and fall, the grass tends to be pretty dry and brown, but in winter and spring, it's usually lush and green.
Guest access
Our house is one story, but there is a pretty steep hill from the street down to the house, and a few steps in to the backyard. The back yard is flat, though, the front yard is sloped. To access the house, you can go down the steep driveway, or down steps.
I'm afraid it's not ADA compliant, and would be difficult for anyone in a wheel chair or that has difficulties with steps, though maybe not impossible. You can avoid the steps via the driveway, but it is very steep. There is one small step up to the front patio, and then the step to get in to the house.
There are no steps inside the house, not even any carpet. There are steps to the backyard, but you can also access the backyard through the front door and around the side, and that is flat except for the aforementioned small steps to the patio and in the house.
Notes
There is one parking space in the driveway, but it is fairly steep. One or two cars can usually fit on the street. We are a non-smoking family, and it is best if our guests are, too. We do have a dog, and foster cats. No cats will be there at the time of any exchanges, but it might be important to know for any allergies.
Our dinning room table only has stools for chairs, none have any backs. I find it helps my kids to sit up and not fidget as much at dinner, and that was a choice we made long before I'd ever heard of home exchanges. I hope it is not a problem!
Features
Washer
Dishwasher
Clothes dryer
Oven
Microwave
Coffee machine
Fridge
Iron
Hair dryer
Heating
Air conditioning
TV
WiFi
High Speed Internet
Bathtub
First aid kit
Wheelchair accessible
Smoke alarms
Fire extinguisher
Bed sheets
Towels
Workspace
Fireplace
Home cinema
Toys
Gym
Sauna
BBQ
Pool
Hot tub
Balcony
Garden / yard
Deck / patio / courtyard / terrace
Covered porch / verandah
Kosher home
Meat-free kitchen
Gated community
EV Home Charger
Bikes
Camping gear
Kayak
Tennis court
Standup paddleboard
Travel Styles
Long term
Weekend
Adventure
Budget
Family
Romantic
Sport and leisure
Foodie
Relaxing
Hiking
Cycling
Last minute
Accessibility
Single level
House rules
Suitable for infants under 2
Suitable for children ages 2-12
Pets welcome
No smoking
Allergens
Carpet free
Smoke free
Dates of Availability
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Neighbourhood
We love our neighborhood! It is cute, safe, and friendly. If there's one thing the bay area is well loved for, it's our weather, and our area has some of the best. We don't get much rain, and have more sunny days than not. it seldom gets too hot or humid (unfortunately, we do not have air conditioning for those rare truly hot days).
Our house is at the end of the street, so there is a small section where children often play, and there are two basketball hoops. None are ours, but they are used by everyone in the neighborhood.
Getting around
Things will be much more convenient with a car. We do have a local bus, but it does not run often or service many areas around town. The local shops are about a 30 or 45 minute walk, but only 5 or 10 by car.
Map of Approximate Location
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People Like Us Local Guide
During COVID, I'm happy to meet somewhere outside and masked. We could do a picnic or a hike. And I'm happy to just be a friend!
I was born and raised here, but am not the most cultured person around, so I wouldn't be an amazing guide, but I'm happy to share what I know, or help where I can!
Feedback
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Casual, home made floor plan. Not at all to scale, but I thought it might be helpful!
Our front yard to the left from the front door.
Our front yard to the left from our front door.
Living room toward the front door.
Living room towards the couches.
Living room towards the kitchen.
Living room towards the hallway.
Living room towards the book shelves.
Hallway from the living room to the big bathroom and bedrooms.
Big bathroom.
Big bathroom sink area.
Big bathroom looking towards the door.
Yes, it's a very small bathroom, but since it's much bigger than our other bathroom, we call it the big bathroom!
Our amazing heated toilet seat and bidet!
The shower and tub in the big bathroom.
The hallway looking towards the blue and middle bedrooms, big bathroom on the right, living room on the left.
The hallway looking from the blue bedroom towards the big bathroom and grey bedroom.
The hallway linen closet. The large bath towels are stored here. There is no door handle, so we open it by pulling gently on the hanger thing over the door.
The inside of the hallway linen closet.
Blue bedroom. This bedroom has a queen bed.
Blue bedroom view of the window.
Blue bedroom including the closet.
Blue bedroom right side.
Blue bedroom left side.
Blue bedroom closet. This is as empty as I can get it for you! The purple there are the extra sheets for the bed.
The middle bedroom. This room has a bunk bed, with a twin on top and a twin on bottom.
Middle bedroom view of the window from the door.
Middle bedroom view from the window towards the closet.
Middle bedroom bed and window.
Middle bedroom with the printer. I know it's a lot of stuff, but this is our one and only home, and I can only pack up so much.
Middle bedroom closet. This is as much room as I can make for you!
Grey bedroom, with a twin bed and rocking chair.
Grey bedroom with instruments. Like the middle bedroom, I know it's a lot of stuff. If you have kids, they'll love it!
Grey bedroom towards closets.
Grey bedroom towards the door.
The linen closet in the grey bedroom. Small bath towels, hand towels, sheets, pillow cases, and washcloths are kept here. Plus extra blankets on the very top!
Grey bedroom closet. This is as much room as I can make for you!
Kitchen from the living room to the dining room.
Kitchen nook with bread maker and air fryer.
Kitchen sink-side, from dining room to living room.
Kitchen fridge-side, from dining room to living room.
This is what my kitchen pantry is likely to look like for you. Some room for your own stuff, and you are welcome to anything here!
Kitchen pantry with the door closed. It has a few patches on it...
Dining room from the backyard, towards the front.
Dining room from the front yards, towards the back. The kitchen is on the right; the playroom on the left.
The back door from the dining room.
The playroom. The laundry corner is to the left. The door you see is to the garage / storage. There is a treadmill and trampoline! Though anyone over about 4 feet tall needs to be careful to not hit their head on the ceiling when they're using the trampoline... And to the right is the little bathroom. And yes, that's an old crib mattress taped to the wall behind the treadmill, to be padding in case of an accident. Safety first!
The laundry corner in the playroom. To the left is a dresser, and the top few drawers are cleaned out for you to use. The bar across the top is to hang dry clothes, if you'd like. The rest of the playroom is to the right.
The garage / storage. You are welcome to use the bikes- there are helmets around, too. There is also a chest freezer (the white thing on the left), but that is full of my food. You're welcome to eat the food if you'd like, and you're welcome to put food in it, if it will fit. But I can't empty it out much.
The little bathroom. It's very, very small, and has a sliding door.
The little bathroom. It only has a shower, no bath.
The shower in the little bathroom.
The side of the house, from the front to the back.
Backyard. Yes, the fence is held up with a piece of wood for now. Wood is REALLY expensive right now, and we've been unable to replace the fence. It is secure.
My backyard garden and very spotty house. I admit, I am quite embarrassed about this. We got new insulation, which is why there are spots all over the outside walls. However, we haven't yet been able to repaint. So between the propped up fence, and the spotty walls, my backyard isn't at its prettiest. But we still love it, and my kids and all the neighborhood kids love it! It's not at its prettiest, but it is lots of fun.
Backyard from the east to the west.
Our "roller coaster". This thing looks simple, but it is a HUGE hit with the kids. My littlest was riding it at 16 months, and my oldest is still riding it now, at 137 pounds.
The back of our house. Please excuse the spots, hopefully we'll be able to get it painted one day.
Our backyard includes two swings (only one pictured here), the roller coaster, and a dog house. The external office you can also see here is not included.
The backyard has two swings, a shed (has a few toys in it for the kids, and also things they shouldn't play in, like compost and tools), and an awesome climbing dome. All the kids in the neighborhood love it! it also has a rope hanging from the middle for them to swing on.
Our dirt pit! This is a neighborhood favorite, especially on hot days when the kids bring out the hose. We have shovels, pieces of wood, buckets, and various construction trucks for the kids to build this in to whatever they want. Notice there's even mud on the fence... Not sure it's a favorite of all the moms in the neighborhood, though! It's currently a river with bridges over it.