Industrial/Modern Full Basement Apartment with private entrance in the back of the house. The kitchen is fun, modern, and well appointed. It has new appliances and granite countertops and plenty of small appliances to explore. The bedroom has a Queen bed with comfy-cotton sheets. Yes, the rough hewn ceiling beams are, indeed, a cherry wood - rustic and beautiful! There is plenty of street parking! Enjoy the garden mint & other seasonal garden offerings!! The space Cozy. Private. Complete. A great place to explore, settle into, and feel at home. Welcome! Enter your bedroom, with a new 2022 queen mattress, and soulful dancers for the "headboard", inspiring lightness and joy. Open the door and the new bathroom is to your right, with tub, shower, vanity sink and toilet. Further down the hall is a love seat for relaxing, reading and cuddling. The biggest and best feature of this funky industrial/chic basement apartment is the new complete kitchen with granite countertops, new appliances and a wide variety of kitchen tools and supplies of all kinds, from blender to coffee maker to hot air frier, to spices and great add-ins for smoothies! You are home! This is a very easy apartment space to settle into and rent long-term. Feel the bounty of HOME in the kitchen, bathroom, and the whole apartment with ample and varied supplies of many kinds! Will this be the space that you write your next novel in? 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”. What is your “Once upon a time?” YOUR PERSONAL KITCHEN: In this AirBnB experience, you will have access to an abundance of tools, and even some foods, which you can try out in a kitchen appointed by a professional licensed nutritionist. You have what you need to possibly learn something new to create a healthier and more interesting future for yourself, both in this AirBnB and beyond! The kitchen is replete with a wide selection of NON-TOXIC cooking implements, small appliances (coffee maker, air frier, blender, etc), pots, pans, bowls, Pyrex (non-toxic and oven-safe) storage containers, etc, for your use. Give them a try! In the kitchen, in the way of food, there is coffee as well as many spices, teas, and additions to your smoothies. There may also be, occasionally, additional offerings from the home garden, great finds from the farm markets and locals stores. All of the food that is in your basement apartment is for you to use; however, only during your stay here. Please clean up after yourselves! To clean the dishes, you can either handwash them or use the dishwasher. For wiping up, be very gentle on the stovetop surfaces! (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!) YARD – on the level of your apartment The apartment opens to the outside, to a lovely, tiny BACKYARD with comfy outdoor seats and nature all around - birds and squirrels, as well as things for you to pick and eat such as mint, okra, kohlrabi, collard greens (cut-and-come-again), tomatoes, and, eventually, at the end of the summer season, huge cushaw squash for baking, roasting, sautéing and making into a favorite soup! YOUR NEW PRIVATE BATHROOM: All is new, as of 2022, pristine and complete with tub/shower, vanity sink, toilet and squatty potty! Enjoy! There is a special targeted third source of heat for this room - a small electric in-wall heater - in addition to the home's primary heating system, and the basement mini-split heating system! You can be as comfy and cozy as you would like!! 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! OCCASIONAL WASHER/DRYER SHARING: For anyone staying longer than 3 nights, there may be the requirement to make mutually agreed upon times for the manager to come into the space to use the large washer/dryer - which is the only one in the house. It is a large washer/dryer and you are welcome to use it anytime during your stay. Detergent is provided. You are welcome to enjoy the FRONT PORCH SWING! THE BACK PORCH, right above you, is a great place to watch the 4th of July fireworks!! Or just see the great view of the fascinating neighborhood -- that East Reading is built on rolling hills -- 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 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! (The stash of scarves and ties to pick from will either be in your apartment, or on the horizontal metal bar on the right of the TV stand in the Living Room on the first floor.) (Please leave $5 for each additional scarf or tie, beyond 2, that you take with you. Thanks!) PRIVACY – WINDOWS The deep, high placement of the windows in the basement kitchen, sitting area and bedrooms along with the irregular ceiling, makes it impossible to use traditional window coverings. I have crafted, and will continue to update, light-weight folding panels to cover the windows. Each window has one of these. In a few places, I was able to also add a pull-down blind a few feet in front of the window. There is now complete privacy on all windows! PRIVACY – ENTRANCE DOOR A simple café curtain rod and curtain covers the glass in the entrance door. When wanting to get more light into the bedroom, you can take the light curtain rod and curtain off the hooks and put it on identical hooks just inside of the closet, to the left, for storage, until needed for privacy, again, on the door. PRIVACY – BEDROOM DOOR WHICH OPENS INTO THE HALL The window panels of that door are covered with decorative privacy stickers. Guest access It is a FULL APARTMENT and you have access to it all! (With some minimal washer/dryer sharing.) Arrive to this 1911 historical home, and walk around to the right, past the vegetable garden boxes, on (sometimes uneven) steppingstones (careful!), and down a few steps to your magic garden, to the private entrance of your peaceful, complete and very funky industrial/chic apartment! The door is opened with a KEY, in a key-coded LOCKBOX - for SELF CHECK-IN. The manager is in the house next door, to the left, if any additional check-in assistance is needed. 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, minisplit, and 2 small wall-installed heaters. AC – minisplit. When not needing or using the minisplit in the summer, please run the dehumidifier and empty it each day into the sink. 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. • 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, and Pendora Park less than a block away. • 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: o 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. o 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 Industrial/Modern Apartment listing is not available for your needed dates, please check out our two other, more basic, listings as well. *************************************************************************************** *************************************************************************************** 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 lifestyle practices when they return back to their home. You are now in this future vision, as it is being developed. A DEVELOPING HEALTH HOME TOURISM (HHT) DESTINATION! WELCOME! Experience, enjoy and learn in this developing Health Home Tourism (HHT) destination – which is being developed from this AirBnB listing, which is currently 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 and bedroom. (Let me know if you are interested in seeing and exploring the offerings in the main house as well.). 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 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.