Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
21 Apr 2025
Reply rate
94.1 %
Usually responds within 2 days
Feedback
5
Email verified
Badges (3)
Details
Description
We live one hour north of Los Angeles in a small town called Simi Valley on one acre, with many native plants, birds, and lizards. You can barely tell you're in the middle of a neighborhood because of the plants towering over the walls. It looks like a botanical garden with all the diversity. We also have an herb garden, and orange, lemon, and lime trees as well.
We have two cats, Daisy and Snikers, who spend their days wandering the land outside. Snikers loves attention and will follow you asking for kisses. Daisy likes to watch you from afar It will take her longer to get used to you. We also have a smallish dog named Zuma who loves long walks.
My husband Kurt and I are retired and like to travel, Kurt likes boogie boarding and tinkering with off-road vehicles, and I, Marlise enjoy gardening, making garden art, cooking, and crafting. Even though we live in a small town, we are surrounded by mountains with native american sites and lots of fun hiking trails and bike paths. We can drive you to a trailhead and pick you up. The train station is a little over a mile from our house, and the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and Coast Starlight have departures going all over the LA and coast area. It's about $11 to get to Ventura. It's about 30 minutes drive from Universal Studios and 30 minutes drive to the beach. If you love the outdoors, gardening, and nature this is the place for you.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Language practice
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Interests
Sustainability
Pets
Movies & TV
Farming
Writing
Plant care
Photography
Performing arts
Music
Gardening
Cooking & food
Carpentry
Books
Art & design
Animals
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
Mountain
Camping
Beach
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We grew up in Switzerland and talk to each other in Swiss German occasionally, and I have some Swiss-influenced dishes I like to make. I can teach you how to make bread, give you great tips in the kitchen, and we can do crafts together in the studio that's on the property. We also lived in Canada, this is where we met. Two Swiss met and fell in love in Canada: ) and now we live in California. We love to host and meet people from all over the world, we are open to all humans as long as they lead with love and show respect to the living creatures here. My husband is a good handyman so it's possible to learn many practical things and work with different tools. We love nature and gardening and botanicals and we love to travel
Help
We need help in the yard, anything from weeding tall grass + unwanted weeds, trimming hedges, deadheading flowers, using a hand saw to cut seed pods on a tree, helping fix the irrigation, clearing footpaths. Each morning we usually will walk you through a couple jobs you'll do for the day and we help you and also do some work outside. We ask that you walk Zuma, the dog for a long walk each day (1 hour would be great). We like to cook and eat dinner together, so we ask that you help with getting a meal ready and cleaning up after dinner. Lunch and breakfast are done individually just make sure you clean up after yourself. Some light house cleaning like vacuuming, organizing etc. We love to have you doing work that you enjoy so we can talk about your interests and go from there! We love when workawayers play with Zuma and give her lots of attention : ) In the summer we like to work a couple of hours in the morning and then some in the evening when it is cooler and less sunny.
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: FluentThis host offers a language exchange
We speak German, Swiss German and English fluently and would love to teach you either language or learn yours.
Accommodation
Guest room with a bathroom across the hall for you to use while here. We will cook dinner together, food provided to you by us. we can accommodate any dietary needs except vegan
What else ...
You may want your own car/transportation. There is a train station not too far from our house, 1 mile away. There is a bus station 15 min walk from the house, with routes going throughout the city and beyond. If you are someone who needs to get around town on your own a car is recommended.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have good internet connections and space to work quietly on the computer, a computer is not provided.
Space for parking camper vans
On our property there is lots of room to park your RV. We can connect you with water and power.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Feedback (3)
Thank you
They are by far the most welcoming and nicest people I have ever met in the USA. They made me feel like I was at home from the first moment I came into their house.
They were always willing to help during my stay in Simi Valley, whatever my needs may be, and you can always have a pleasant and… read more
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Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
Thank you
They are by far the most welcoming and nicest people I have ever met in the USA. They made me feel like I was at home from the first moment I came into their house.
They were always willing to help during my stay in Simi Valley, whatever my needs may be, and you can always have a pleasant and… read more
