Questions, answered the way we answer them

Two dogs, $60 each for the stay, told to us before you arrive rather than found on the camera at the alley gate. The side yard has a gate, not a dog-proof fence, so a dog that digs or jumps should not be left out there alone. Dogs are not allowed on the beds; we charge the cleaning of a bedspread at cost if they are.

Central air on the main floor, which covers the front room, the dining room, the kitchen and three of the four bedrooms. The attic room has its own window unit that holds about 78°F in July. The screened porch has a fan and the weather.

We hold $400 against damage. It is not taken from the card at the time of booking; it is authorised on the day you arrive and released on the day after you leave, once we have been through the house. In twelve years we have kept part of it four times, and each time we sent the photograph and the invoice for the repair.

More than sixty days before arrival, everything back except the $75 we have already paid the cleaner and the card fees. Inside sixty days, the deposit on the stay is ours unless we let the dates again, and if we do let them we refund what we took. If something serious has happened to you, write and tell us; we have torn the rule up before.

Check-in is after 16:00 because the cleaner needs the morning, and on a changeover Saturday she needs all of it. If the house is empty the night before we will usually say yes to noon, and we can only know that in the week before you come. Bags can be left in the hall from 11:00 on the day you leave.

It is an ordinary city street. Cars all day, the neighbours' dog at about seven in the morning, and a freight train across the trestle four blocks away most mornings between 5:30 and 6:00. The back bedroom and the attic room are the quiet ones. If you sleep badly, take the back bedroom and shut the window.

Four steps up to the porch and two more into the hall, and there is no ramp. Once inside, three bedrooms, the full bathroom, the kitchen and the living rooms are all on one floor. The attic room and the basement laundry are the only parts that need a staircase, and the attic stair is steep.

Weeks only from the fourth Saturday in May to the end of August, Saturday to Saturday. The rest of the year the minimum is two or three nights depending on the season, and the price sheet on the home page tells you which before you ask us.

Nobody. You have the whole house, the porch, the yard and the alley space. We live eleven minutes away, we come when something breaks, and we do not come otherwise.