We're located in beautiful South Bohemia on the edge of the Czech Lake District and Highlands, 70 miles south of Prague.

Breathtaking countryside surrounds the property, both forests and open fields. The country roads are lined with pear, apple and cherry trees, and there's an abundance of wild flowers such as chamomile, poppies and cornflowers. Visitors to the area often spend time picking mushrooms and wild fruit (bilberries, strawberries & raspberries all grow in the forest near the house). Other local wildlife include deer & wild boars. In the summer the garden is lively with birdsong, you can visit the bats in the attic and watch the firefly in the evening. In the winter there are wood fires, snow cover, blue skies and beautiful frosted trees.

We can offer good food, WIFI & native English conversation practice.

South Bohemia

If you have (or want) experience of sustainable reconstruction, reed bed water processing, larch roofing, willow craft (november), cider making, mushroom collecting (summer & autumn), wild greens, wood burning stoves (& chopping wood!), mosaic making, organic apple farming, solar water heating (summer), composting toilets, heat pumps, spinning yarn, gardening, swimming pond construction, or DIY, we'd love to host you.

If you have no experience of any of the above but have a practical soul, we have lots of wood chopping and reconstruction work which will help you build up your muscles and appetite!

We also have space for an unskilled domestic helper 12 months a year and even when we are otherwise full (marked red on the calendar) - so please let us know if you would be interested in this specific job. This would involve general house cleaning, cooking and looking after animals.

English, Czech

Twin beds in private rooms. We can host larger groups.

We are a British couple in our thirties who have moved to Central Europe to make a more sustainable life for ourselves and explore a different culture at an interesting point in history. Our animal entourage consists of several hens, 3 cats, 2 merino lambs, a goat and a Rhodesian Ridgeback dog.

Local sights includes the Hussite fortress town Tábor, plentiful walks and cycle routes (on well marked out routes), a narrow gauge railway, Cervena Lhota (a red castle in a lake with an outdoor theatre) and countless outdoor swimming opportunities. In the winter you can ice skate & cross country ski (the nearest downhill slope is 10 miles away).

There is a village with basic shops, pubs and restaurants 4km from the house, from where there is a direct bus to Prague. There is a (n early) daily bus from outside the door to Ceske Budejovice - the main town of the region. We also have (old) bikes you can borrow.

The house is two miles from the site of the last Czech Hussite battle in 1435. The property is well situated for those wishing to visit the 7 World Heritage sites in the area.

We prefer to host volunteers for one month however this can be extended if you get on well here. We have been living in house shares for many years, so we hope we're okay to live with, however we can only commit to a longer stay after spending time with a volunteer.

While you are here, we would love to teach you what we know about sustainable living, edible mushrooms, wild greens, knitting and restoring woodwork.

As well as foraging for fuel, mushrooms and wild greens, we make our own bread using a wild yeast starter, and make our own pasta using fresh eggs from our rescued hens. One of us is veggie and the other is a keen cook and meat eater - so we're always happy to accommodate herbivores, omnivores and anything in between. We eat a (sustainable) mainly vegetarian diet, but occasionally buy free range meat to cook a builder's breakfast or Sunday roast dinner.

Please let us know in your first email approximately when you would like to visit. We have one weekend "off" a month - therefore the project is closed to visitors on the fourth weekend of every month - so we ask you to spend that particular weekend somewhere else - such as beautiful Cesky Krumlov.

We can host workawayers from whenever the snow melts in the spring (which can be any time between February and April) to when it falls again in the winter (November usually). Though we have space for a housekeeper (or a couple) over the winter you would have to be hardy souls to deal with the cold.

Please make the most sustainable travel arrangements you can to reach us - Europe has a good coach travel network and though the prices of short haul flights are tempting, think of the CO2. We will give an extra weekend off to anyone who arrives here without air travel.
The direct bus to our local village goes from Prague Roztyly bus station at 3.15pm on weekdays, as well as 5pm and 5.50pm on Fridays. On Sundays the bus goes at 6pm. There is no bus service on Saturdays.