Serene private bedroom with a shared hall bathroom and a tiny, but magnificent, shared kitchen of a nutritionist, with lots of delightful things to try from the small appliances, to a variety of superfood powders. The outside space is lush with many summer harvest offerings, such as mint, tomatoes, radishes, etc. The outside spaces are delightfully enjoyed from the gentle porch swing or from the back porch with a great view of the wonder of an urban neighborhood, built on rolling hills. The space Serene. Bright during the day (with southern and eastern sun exposure) and dark at night (with double sets of blinds). It has a queen mattress, plenty of extra blankets and pillows, a small desk for your laptop or to us as a make-up vanity, plenty of closet space, a comfy upholstered chair with a reading light and a CD player with plenty of CD’s. There is a shared TV in the Living Room which you are welcome to use! LONG TERM: This is a very easy private room to settle into and rent long term, as well as short term. You have the amenities of a full house - sometimes shared with one other person or one other couple - with the rent of a single room. RENTING THE WHOLE HOUSE: You can have the privacy and space of the entire main house to yourself, simply by renting both of the two second floor bedrooms. There are 4 main options: Long term, PRIVATE ROOM - shared kitchen, bathroom, LR, outdoor spaces Short term, PRIVATE ROOM - shared kitchen, bathroom, LR, outdoor spaces Long term, WHOLE HOUSE - 2BR; private bath, kitchen, LR, outdoor spaces Short term, WHOLE HOUSE - 2BR; private bath, kitchen, LR, outdoor spaces ("Whole house" meaning the two finished floors above grade, not including the spaces used for storage.) Feel the bounty of HOME in the shared kitchen, shared bathroom, with ample and varied supplies of many kinds for you to use! Once upon a time, there was a Mom who had three daughters. That Mom had a passion for providing a beautiful, sacred, bountiful, nurturing, and nourishing home for her girls. Now, these girls are adults, and that Mom offers that same passion towards her AirBnB guests! When you go back home and ask your Mom for a band aid you get one. You ask to borrow a heating pad – and there it is. You ask for a button and thread - and she finds a great match for you. That is a bit like what staying at this house is like. It is a home in which people have cared for people, and RESOURCES are there for us to help each other be healthier, more comfortable, and more “together”. BACKYARD – Enjoy a lovely tiny BACKYARD with nature all around - birds and squirrels, as well as things for you to pick and eat in the summer, such as mint, okra, kohlrabi, collard greens (cut-and-come-again), tomatoes, and, eventually, at the very end of the summer season, huge cushaw squash for baking, roasting, sautéing and making into a favorite soup! YOUR SHARED BATHROOM: Complete with tub/shower, vanity sink, toilet and squatty potty! Enjoy! There are an abundance of offerings, besides just shampoo and conditioner. In the bathroom are a bounty of "Health and Beauty" aids all of which you are welcome to use! There is something for almost any need. Some of this bounty is from my professional engagement in a Pharmacy/Supplement/Health store, so some of the products are short dated or even out of date. Please smell and really look at all products before you use them. And feel free to take home with you up to ONE favorite product that you love! (NOT reusable things or already opened items - keep those at the house - just the personal products that once someone starts using them, feels quite personal! Please contact Amanda if you want to ask about any of the specific products). Enjoy the bounty! You are welcome to enjoy the FRONT PORCH SWING! THE BACK PORCH, right outside of the kitchen, is a great place to watch the 4th of July fireworks!! Or just see the great view of the fascinating East Reading neighborhood, built on rolling hills, while in peaceful quiet, or in great conversation! Please use the REBOUNDER, which is also on the porch, for a gentle but invigorating exercise and detox tool. Keep it located where it is, next to the house, and jump very carefully! THE GUEST GOODIE BAG: Once upon time, there was a Mom who gave the BEST goodie bags for her daughter's birthday parties! Now, as an AirBnB host, she offers a free “goodie bag” of a combination of 1 or 2 scarves or ties. There is a selection for you to choose from in your room. Enjoy! (Please leave $5 for each additional scarf or tie, beyond 2, that you take with you. Thanks!) SHARED 1st FLOOR KITCHEN Please enjoy using the variety of small kitchen appliances as well as the usual stove, coffee maker, etc. This is also where the Reverse Osmosis (RO) water filtration system is, for your filtered drinking water. There will also be some food offerings for you which are clearly marked. Green means GO. Red means STOP Food marked with a Green (or Blue) dot means that you can have it, while you are here, to eat. Food marked with a Red (or Orange or Pink) dot means that it belongs to someone else and you many NOT have it. There is often an abundance offered up for your use! If unsure about any individual item, just drop us a note asking! Given that the nature of highly nutritious foods is that they are also very susceptible to spoilage, there isn't a significant selection of "regular" fresh foods - in general, you need to bring your own fresh fruits, vegetables and meats, for example. Both guest rooms from the second-floor share the kitchen, as well as, occasionally, the basement apartment guest and the owner. All guests must clean up after themselves as a courtesy to the other guests. (And never create a big temperature difference on the stovetop by going too quickly from hot to cold, or from cold to hot. Careful with the stove top!) Guest access KEYS: The front door is opened with a KEY, in a key-coded LOCK BOX - for SELF-CHECK IN. The code will be provided soon before check-in. Please return the key to the key box upon your check-out. The manager is in the house next door, to the left, if any additional check-in assistance is needed. There is also a key provided for your bedroom, which you can use to lock your bedroom door. SHARED SPACES: Bathroom – is shared with one other private room (as well as very rarely the owner). Kitchen - it is well stocked with several items noted, with green markings, for guest use. Living room – enjoy the smart TV. You are welcome to use your password to access your subscriptions. Outside – Enjoy the front porch swing, the back porch views and the gardens! During your stay As the primary host (Vonda), I live next door to the AirBnB! Feel free to contact me via the AirBnB site with any questions you have or in person when needed. The owner, Amanda, is also available! Feel free to contact her via the AirBnB site. Other things to note NON-SMOKING HOUSE Three hundred dollar cleaning fee for infraction of this house rule. PERSONS WHO ARE NOT CHECKED IN ARE NOT PERMITTED IN THE HOUSE. CLEAN WATER Let all of your drinking water be clean REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER! Reverse Osmosis water is supplied to the rented rooms and is always available in the kitchen of the main house, in the dedicated faucet at the sink to the right of the regular faucet. CLEAN AIR The filters on the central heating unit are inspected and changed regularly. There is a professional-grade air-purifier, called AirDoctor and several other smaller units, which you can ask to use – first come, first served. (This is on top of an already relatively green home.) CLEAN SURFACES and BATHROOMS Touch-points and the bathrooms are sanitized regularly. The bathrooms are Super-Clean and Sanitized, by using the cleaning methods used in the "Clean My Space" YouTube videos by Melissa Maker. I use three non-toxic and covid-approved cleaning products (see The Wellness Mama website and the government website of approved Covid products) to thoroughly disinfect the bathroom after each guest. CLEAN SLEEPING I very deliberately did not purchase Memory Foam mattresses because of the problematic chemical off gassing that it is believed to put out. The mattresses are all new – 2021 or 2022 – and are dressed with mattress covers and cotton sheets. Real cotton sheets notoriously wrinkle, especially at the edges! They are cleaner and so much healthier and more comfortable for you than the microfiber sheets! Enjoy! Wrinkles in your clean cotton sheets are your friend! Eye masks are available for you use – please ask if needed. All of the laundry is done with scent-free natural detergent to ensure, as much as possible, non-reactivity for people who are chemically sensitive. (Although there can be lingering laundry smells and other smells from previous guests and from the spot remover which I occasionally need to use.) I never use dryer sheets or any other chemical product in the dryer, in order to limit chemical use and exposure. I sometimes use organic woolen dryer balls. CLEAN and SAFE LIVING Absolutely no parties, no drugs, no smoking, and minimal drinking. No fire of any kind for any reason. No use of matches or lighters, no smoking, no incense, no candles, no smudging. WE ARE CLEAN / YOU ARE CLEAN Please respect this cherished home. No dirty feet on upholstered sofas and chairs. No drippy and staining foods outside of the kitchen. You know the list! Thanks for your care. COMFORTABLE TEMPERATURE: Heat – from main furnace and personal minisplit in your bedroom. AC – minisplit. Fans are available. Please ask if you would like one. LOCAL ATTRACTIONS: • Reading’s iconic Pagoda, at the top of the mountain for a spectacular view of the city. (Runners challenge themselves with the 1.3 mile run completely uphill to the Pagoda!) • 2 blocks to a good take-out Chinese restaurant, a gas station and a convenience store. • 4 churches in walking distance. • Universities/Colleges/Schools: Albright, Alvernia, Penn State/Berks Campus, RACC, European Medical School of Massage, Drexel School of Medicine • Downtown Reading (Penn Street): The Santander Arena, GoogleWorks, IMAX theater, City Park, Sovereign Performing Center • Restaurants: West Reading (all along Penn Ave.), Farmhouse Kitchen, Judy’s on Cherry, Peanut Bar, Stokesay Castle (1.5 mi.), Reading Leiderkranz (1.2 mi.)(also the location of the Oktoberfest), The Ugly Oyster, Mi Casa Su Casa, Mt Penn Family Restaurant, Anthony’s Trattoria. • Entertainment: FirstEnergy Stadium (home of the Fightin’ Phils), Miller Center for the Arts, 3 local theatre groups, Live music in the parks, and the Santander Arena is so great that it is worth mentioning twice! • Shopping: West Reading (all along Penn Ave.), Wyomissing’s shopping center (popular chains), Boscov’s and Boscov’s Outlet Center and their occasional tent sale, Goodwill Outlet store AKA a bin store (get a wacky, useful, surprising, OMG treasure for $1.64 per pound), and driving a bit farther are the Philadelphia Premium Outlets and King of Prussia Mall. • Hiking and Outdoor Recreation: Hawk Mountain, walking and biking trails, Blue Marsh Lake, Stone Cliffe Recreation Area, Berks Nature Angelica Creek Park, Gring's Mill Recreation Area, Schlegel Pool, French Creek, Kutztown’s Crystal Cave, and Pendora Park less than a block away. • Sight-Seeing and/or Historical Areas: Kutztown’s Crystal Cave, Strasburg’s Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Longwood Gardens, Ephrata Cloisters, Daniel Boone Homestead • Medical Care: Reading Hospital, Tower Health locations, St. Joseph’s Hospital, and many others • Lancaster and the Pennsylvania Dutch Country (10 travel books about this area are in the living room for you to borrow and return.) GREAT FOR A WIDE VARIETY OF TRAVELERS Enjoy a 1911 home, lived in by ministers, professors, artists, a nurse, and a nutritionist, among others, from a four-generation lineage of the Thomas Family, which has been updated generation-by-generation, into its current quirky, beautiful, historic, stately, sometimes silly, and very functional configuration. Great for long-term stays, as well as for short stays. Great for individuals and couples. Long-term – e.g. a month, a semester or more. • Visiting nurses and other hospital personnel • Professors and other college personnel • To engage in the strong local wellness community Short-term -- e.g., 2 days, 2 weeks • Traveling through, enroute, from one place to the next. • Business travelers • Touristing in Southeast Pennsylvania – for shows at the Santander Center and other venues, kayaking, hiking, Philly fun, Train museums, Amish Country, and a building shaped like a shoe for whimsey and summer ice cream, and so much more! • AgriTourism touristing - exploring the farms and the foods! • Health seekers, e.g. exploring the farms to support a hyper-carnivore diet for autoimmune issues, the raw milk dairies when pasteurized dairy inflames, and the various farmers markets for a wide variety of fresh wholesome foods! • For Spectacular yearly events o April: Jazz festival o June: WWII reenactment – celebrating American pilots, many others, and the 1940’s! o July: Kutztown Folk Festival o October:  Oktoberfest – at Reading Leiderkranz (1.2 miles)  ScareFest o December light shows!  Koziar’s Christmas Village – 782 Christmas Village Rd | Bernville, PA 19506  Gring’s Mill - 2083 Tulpehocken Rd. Wyomissing, PA 19610  Christmas on the Mountain - 459 N 14th St, Reading, PA 19604 Long or Short-Term  To engage in the strong local wellness community: • Practices: Kula Kamala Ashram (with Swamini Sudha), Soul Centered Wellness, European Medical School of Massage, TM meditation center and other meditation centers, a wide variety of massage therapists, Reiki practitioners, and other healing arts, public walking labyrinths, and a wide variety of yoga studios, gyms, and other exercise venues. • Food: The Farmhouse Kitchen, Juice Bar (101 S. 4th St.), Good Life Organic Kitchen, many farms  A great place to write your first novel, write poetry, or brainstorm your new business. If this private room listing is not available for your needed dates, please check out our other private room, or the full basement apartment with private entrance. *************************************************************************************** *************************************************************************************** THE THOMAS HOUSE - history and future HISTORY: Once upon a time, a young minister named Jessie Thomas fell in love with a beautiful artist named Elizabeth. They married in 1905. In 1911, they moved into a beautiful new home in Reading, Pennsylvania, replete with stunning stain glass windows, beautiful wood ceiling beams and wall trim, and the heavy wood bannister and room doors common of that time. They had a son named Alfred. He also became a minister and came to live in this same house with his wife, Adele. They had a son, Alfred, Jr. He was an English professor who came to live in this house with his wife, Zenta. They had a daughter, Amanda, who grew up in this house, and became a licensed nutritionist with a passion for teaching, caring for others, welcoming others, and encouraging health and vitality in others, with a focus on optimal nutrition and a vibrant lifestyle. History and heart designed this home over the last 111 years that our family owned it. The Thomas family is a darned quirky family and thus this is a darned quirky home! And it is a darned beautiful, brilliant, creative, and loving family, too! Enjoy this home, as an expression of so much life which came before. FUTURE: The year is now 2022 and the Health Home Tourism (HHT) movement is starting! This Reading, PA AirBnB is aiming to transition to a Health Home Tourism destination location by 2025. The full expression of this will involve hands-on experiential health and nutrition workshops and retreats, lasting from 3 hours to 3 months. It will be an alternative to the traditional spa or health retreat - which is usually a passively received luxury, with usually only a minimal focus on an educational, experiential, hands-on, or community component which better allows the participant to continue, at home, the new healthy practices experienced. The new paradigm, of Health Home Tourism, is that the guests are all active participants in all of the health-creating practices (HCP) of the home, which are guided by a nutrition professional or a team of health professionals, depending on the length and the focus of the workshop or retreat. The activities and involvements of the participants involve their learning by DOING and EXPERIENCING, while also learning how to do and participate more MINDFULLY and to then to REFLECT deeply on all of the steps of the experience, focusing on what would feel good to BRING BACK to their regular lifestyle practices when they return back to their home. You are now in this developing future vision. A DEVELOPING HEALTH HOME TOURISM (HHT) DESTINATION! Experience, enjoy and learn in this AirBnB listing expressed in the style of a licensed nutritionist! The full HHT destination experience is slated to be complete by 2025. In the meantime, I welcome you to experience and enjoy the nurturance of a wide variety of health-enhancing lifestyle tools in the kitchen, family room, bathroom and bedroom. There is a growing list of available immersive health experiences which I am making available to my HHT guests. Please let me know how I can best support your health and healthy lifestyle, by letting me know what you liked about what you were able to try from what was provided, and by sharing your ideas of additional immersive health experience offerings I might be able to add in this simple AirBnB setting. New lifestyle visions start upon arrival, with the wooden raised bed vegetable gardens in the front, side and back yards which grow an abundance of vegetables in the summer and early fall. If you come in the “right” season, you are welcome to any excess harvest from that time. Some of the “excess” produce have been okra, radishes, tomatoes, kohlrabi, and mint. There is always an abundance of mint, in mint-season from about June through September. In addition to enjoying the mint during your stay, please pick mint on your way out to continue to enjoy for yourself and to give to family and friends, taking off about 6” to 8” from several of the taller stems, as well as some of the stems which are growing out sideways beyond the edges of the mint patches. I INVITE, THOSE INTERESTED, TO COME AND BE PART OF THE TEACHING, AS WELL AS BEING PART OF THE EXPERIENCING AND LEARNING. I am, also, developing this home as an Airbnb as another way to attract nutrition professionals and nutrition-oriented people who are interested in joining me in my vision to develop it into a Health Home Tourism (HHT) destination location and also to promote more broadly the ideas and implementation of HHT. Let me know if you, too, may be sharing your health wisdom in your own novel and useful ways, and if you are interested in joining together to create more abundant and effective outcomes of well-being for people! I look forward to hearing your story and sharing more of mine.