The place was really a DISAPPOINTMENT for us. We rented for 5 weeks and paid over $10,000 because of the interesting pictures of the home. The entrance to the place has 3 supply buildings, a junk speedboat full of leaves and trash and a used vehicle. You park next to a wooden open-faced shed full of old furniture and construction supplies. It has a blue plastic tarp on the roof with concrete blocks holding it to prevent leaking. We thought we had found a service entrance, but it is the main entrance. The advertisement pictures have to be at least 15 years old. The structure is still white, but has water stains on the walls and black suit above the fireplaces. All wooden windows/doors are weathered and struggling to stay in place. The floor tiles have broken and missing pieces and the floor drains in the common area are PVC pipes with no drain covers. I counted 38 light bulbs not burning and many electrical outlets not working. The house still has wall thermostats, but none of them work as there is no longer HVAC. All of the cushions in the sitting areas are weathered and worn. They should have removable covers so that they can be cleaned between guests, but I guess no one cares? When the housekeepers left from the last guests, they did not clean the common areas and we spent the first 5 hours of our stay cleaning table tops and sitting areas as well as sweeping the common areas for leaves and tree debris. After 2 days of smelling a non-functioning fountain in the common area, we asked the House Manager if it could be corrected and how we might cool the upstairs bedroom for sleeping. She said the fountain was "on their list " and she would get us a portable air-conditioner for the bedroom. The next day a guy came and dumped 1/2 gallon of bleach from the laundry room in the scum-filled fountain and said it would clean-up in a day or so. It continued to smell because of the decaying algae and vegetation in the water. Since we were having guests, I dipped-out the fountain, cleaned and refilled the water to resolve the odor problem. I also got tools from my car and repaired broken lag screws that had come out of the concrete wall for holding the stairwell banister. This was really a safety concern as the stairs are steep and there was nothing to hold to while coming down the tiled steps. This was really needed because there is no rest room upstairs and occasional trips at night are needed. I also re-glued some of the broken furniture as we needed to it during our stay. After 5 days of waiting to cool the upstairs bedroom, we received a tower fan from Ontario, Canada. Guess the House Manager doesn't know fans are very local and aren't really air-conditioners? When my daughter arrived, she turned on the music in the common area and the neighbors called the police. The police said they were called all the time to this house and their was an on-going feud between the neighbors and this rental house. As a result, we didn't use any music in our stay for the rest of our rental time. The next day, I received a call from the house-owner and she said she would ask me to leave if she had more problems with her neighbors. I have to wonder how much of my $10,000 she would return for what I paid to stay there???
The house is supposed to be open the the common area, but future renters should know that we killed 3 scorpions, had raccoons in the common area each night looking for food and had a large rat trying to get in the front door while we were watching a movie in the living room. All-in-all, this was a $10,000 mistake for me. I don't see how the owner gets insurance on the place with the poor maintenance, lack of hand-rails or access to anyone with any disability. If you rent here, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. We were glad to leave and I don't think the place should be rented in it's current condition.