We did enjoy our stay at the barn as much as at Bangalow, and we appreciate the host's effort in looking after the home as well as us the guests.
But it's very unfortunate that the host found damages of chairs after our departure and we can understand how annoying when things like this happen, as we used to operate an Airbnb home ourselves as well as other peer-to-peer services such as Car Next Door. With all due respect and compassion, however, we could not agree to take accountabilities of the said damages as they were not caused by us, and we were shocked to receive compensation request via this platform.

As for the chair with leg issue, please refer to our notification via Airbnb 5:31pm on 24 Apr. we reported as soon as we noticed the problem. Although the host wasn't satisfied with the description of "wobbly chair", that was truly how it appeared to us. We do not have the duty or expertise to examine the nature of the defect;
As for the other chair with falling paint, we did notice that during our stay, and it kept scratch the sitter’s trousers so we had been avoiding using it. In our perception falling paint from a chair is a wear and tear issue hence not worth of bothering the host. If you look through the barn there are many other defects of similar nature, we cannot be liable for all of those.
We'd like to draw your attention to other defects we noticed, in case people are going to take the blame at a later occasion who the host notice them: the candle holders are loose and wobbly; there were some stained play cards; the swing makes squeaky noise; etc. We are not complaining of these matters, because, just like falling paint from a chair, we thought it was how it was. More importantly, it wasn't us who broke these.
We respect the fact that the host described the chairs as “they are a set and french antiques”, yet as seasonal travellers, we would have averted these objects were they precious, in order to stay away from snares like this.
On our arrival the first day, we were told that the cleaning, inspection and restoration were still in process because many issues were encountered from previous users. It’s our discreet guess that these relatively lesser damages were overlooked? Have the previous damages been reported to Airbnb also?
We take pride as a group of decent responsible adults with principles. We’re sure the host noticed we cleaned and tidied the place before we left, and we put used towels in the laundry basket and emptied all the inside rubbish bins and applied new rubbish bags. Besides, we even watered the plants in the veg garden and washed all crockeries and cutleries that we even didn’t use. If we did cause damages we would not be hesitant to let the host know immediately. E.g. we cracked a tall glass so we messaged the host straight away and asked to compensate. But for the damages that we’re innocent of, and some of which we already reported, we feel wronged to be held accountable.
If worst comes to worst, that we evilly did damage the chairs and didn't want to take responsibilities, we would have hidden them someway or make them less noticeable. How foolish is it that we purposely left the damaged chairs out so the host can spot on as soon as walk inside?
Once again, we feel sorry that broken chairs were found at the barn, and we are happy to do anything we can to repay any damages actually caused by us. We nevertheless decline the request ultimately and we're willing to proceed to the legal process if necessary.