Interested in sharing your vacation home with others?

When you’ve put a lot of energy and love into your vacation home, it’s natural to worry about how others will treat your sanctuary. Cathrine Reimann is the creator of Landfolk’s five criteria, which we use to hand-select vacation homes for our platform, and she knows exactly how that feels. Now she’s taken her own advice and shares her experience here of opening up her family’s architect-designed summer home to guests.

You’re part of Landfolk yourself, but why did you actually choose to list your own summer home on the platform?

My family’s summer house, which was designed and built by my grandparents, is one of the most cherished things we own. Now the house has been passed down, and we take turns as a family using it, but despite that, there are still many days each year when we aren’t using it. The place means the world to us, and the thought of it standing empty for so long breaks our hearts. We’ve never wanted to rent out the cottage before—probably mainly because there wasn’t a platform that could accommodate a cottage as personal and precious to us as this one is.

What do you get out of sharing the summer house with others?

When we welcome guests, we get to enjoy the summer house through their eyes, and their enthusiasm gives us so much energy. It’s surprised me just how great it is to be a small part of helping others have a fantastic vacation. It makes us even prouder of our vacation home, and our joy in it grows. The idea of being able to share it with others when it’s standing empty anyway just makes so much sense. On top of that, there’s of course a financial benefit as well, which means we have money available to invest in maintaining the house.

> The place means the world to us, and the thought of it standing empty as much as it does breaks our hearts.

But are you even allowed to use it yourself if you rent it out?

Yes, for us it’s been important to decide for ourselves when we want to share it. Landfolk is flexible in that we have complete control over our calendar—deciding when it makes sense to welcome guests and at what price. It really gives us a sense of autonomy.

Share your vacation home with us here

You’re the one behind the five criteria that a Landfolk vacation home must meet. How do you know if your vacation home meets them?

I’d say that what matters most is that it’s a personal vacation home. So if you know that you really love your vacation home, that you enjoy spending time there yourself, and that you’ve put energy and love into it, then you’re already off to a great start. I also think you can start by imagining a vacation home you’d want to visit yourself. What would it look or feel like? Is it a place where you’re close to nature? Is it a vacation home where personality and unique features make it stand out from the rest? Have you considered whether the beds are comfortable, and is there enough kitchenware? It all comes down to the fact that we want to help celebrate authentic vacation home life and all the good things it brings.

> It’s surprised me just how great it is to be a small part of helping others have a fantastic vacation.

You say that personality plays a big role. But what exactly are you looking for when you assess whether a vacation home is personally decorated?

Personal decor is perhaps the opposite of a completely generic setup, where you don’t sense any charm or the soul of the place. It could be that someone took over a vacation home from someone else and never really made it their own. It could be that they went to one specific store and bought all the decor there because it was the easiest option. That personal touch emerges when you sense that time and energy have been spent selecting furniture, knick-knacks, and little touches. It also has to do with quality—in the sense that you can tell the chosen elements are well-thought-out and highlight the cottage’s best features. That’s not to say it has to be expensive or from a specific brand. Because we also love thrift store finds that have history, soul, and warmth.

Your family’s vacation home is filled with sentimental value and memories. How do you know it’s in good hands when you rent it out?

I firmly believe that because we at Landfolk have created a world for vacation home enthusiasts—one that emphasizes the essence of vacation home life itself—the guests who seek out these hidden gems are also those who want to celebrate that very lifestyle. It’s definitely not the right place for those who don’t share that passion. Our guests are also vacation home enthusiasts, and they’re looking for an authentic experience. In my experience, the guests we welcome appreciate the place just as much as we do and understand how much love and energy we’ve poured into our sanctuary.

> In my experience, the guests we welcome appreciate these things just as much and understand how much love and energy has gone into our sanctuary.

You also spend a lot of time building a community of vacation home hosts at Landfolk. Can you explain what people get out of being part of it?

We have a community of hosts, and that’s one of the amazing things about this—because you don’t necessarily have to go through it all on your own. We have some really great resources through our community, with some seasoned hosts who are more than happy to share their knowledge and their own experiences with being a host. And that, in turn, is what’s so amazing to experience—this diverse group of hosts and the many different ways of doing things. It creates an incredibly positive culture where you can get a lot of help and inspiration.

> Landfolk is flexible in that we have complete control over our calendar and can decide when it makes sense to welcome guests.

What makes a good host in your eyes?

I think there are many different ways to be a good host, and of course, you have to figure out what feels most natural to you. Some people really enjoy going all out as hosts. This might mean greeting guests personally or setting out homemade pastries when they arrive. But there are also hosts who ensure an experience that’s just as good for their guests by taking a more hands-off approach—simply offering some great recommendations for the local area and making sure guests feel at ease, knowing they can just give you a call. That’s the beauty of it: it can actually accommodate many different types of people and many different lifestyles. You can be busy with work, have a family, and everything that comes with it—and still be a great host on Landfolk. That’s not what determines whether you’ll enjoy it and truly make your guests happy.

On average, we use our vacation homes 71 days a year, which means many homes stand empty for about 300 days a year.

Share your vacation home with us here