Toledo lacks unique hotels and, in that void, local people have begun renting out their homes for nightly stays, primarily using the online service, Airbnb, a San Francisco-based company that has assisted over one million property owners throughout the world list their private residences for short-term accommodations. Unlike a hotel, where consistency is pedigreed to ensure a similar stay every time, each Airbnb is entirely different.
Art House on the River
Sara Weaver showed me her Airbnb in Grand Rapids, a secluded cottage along the Maumee River that she and her co-owners call the Art House on the River. It has 3-bedrooms, each painted brightly, like Easter eggs. The house is filled with paintings— over 25 in total. Its hallmark, though, is a long, wooden sun-room overlooking a forest of maple trees and the Maumee River. We were that at sunset, as the sun-room filled with a warm, pink light. The only sounds we could hear were our own voices.
The Art House is a project of four friends. Weaver runs the day-to-day operations, and the 3 other friends provide support when they can. They originally wanted to turn the property into an art gallery, a place to tour, not to dwell, but when 100 people showed up for the opening night, they discovered that people immediately felt at home. Weaver spent 8 months completely renovating the place, turning it into a full-time, year-round, Airbnb. Open for the past 2 years, the Art House has hosted over 60 guests.
The owners format each stay in order to accommodate more than just art enthusiasts. When a man who was originally from the area wanted to show his family what it was like to grow up in the countryside, Sara Weaver set up a tour of a nearby farm. The Art House has been so busy with returning and new guests that Weaver has left behind her desk job to run the Airbnb full-time. “Now I’m doing what I always wanted to do,” said Weaver.
House of Dow
Tucked deep into the Old West End neighborhood on Robinwood Avenue is a smartly manicured duplex owned by Allison Dow. Dow is a vintage clothing store owner and lifelong Toledoan, and she bought her first home in April of this year. She quickly renovated and decorated both units of her duplex, filling them with antique furniture and rotating, local art throughout the home.
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Photo: Dustin Nichols
Allison Dow offers every renter a front porch breakfast.
Dow found herself with a lot of usable space, and decided to utilize her three years of experience which she obtained while working in hospitality at the Wingate Hotel in Sylvania. In June, she began opening her doors to renters and, in less than 3 months, The House of Dow has already had over 20 guests. “People need a furnished place to live sometimes,” said Dow.
“Every single person is here for a different reason,” said Dow. Dow charges as little as $55 per night for a private room and shared bath, and up to $2,000 to rent the entire first-floor unit for a whole month. Her guests have included couples who have travelled from long distances, medical students working temporarily at a nearby hospital, and a boat captain who Dow invited to her parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner.
I spent a Saturday night in a room on the second floor. Dow gave me a key to the back door that took me directly to my room, and I was free to come and go as I pleased. It was decorated like a scene from a Wes Anderson movie with high-school band costumes and a hand-sewn tapestry that said “The World Is Yours to Explore.” I adjusted the air conditioning unit, and slept without concern. I awoke to a complementary front porch brunch: an avocado, egg, and bacon sandwich and fresh coffee. Dow’s cat, Charlotte, walked past my feet as I looked over the front-lawn shrubs and into the quiet neighborhood, feeling so much more rested than the day before.
