Would you be willing to do a little yardwork on vacation — like running an app-driven robot mower — if it meant you could stay in a luxury property for free? Yes, friend, your vacation hinges on your green thumb and good attitude! You can stay in the Hamptons, Austin, the Florida seashore, just outside San Francisco or just outside Charlotte, North Carolina, if you don’t mind a little manual labor.
This ‘mowbnb’ comes courtesy of lawn care brand Toro, who is also supplying the battery-powered, green tools. That includes use of a new robotic mower which uses cameras to figure out the best route across the yard, managed with an app. There’s also a walk-behind mower, hedge trimmer and other toys — er, tools.
Enough about the yardwork — what about the homes? In Austin, it’s an architecturally-splendid, mid-century modern four-bedroom home on six acres with a lap pool, regular pool and volleyball court. The home usually rents for $5,588... so your time spent caring for that acreage has an immediate reward!
In the Hamptons, a lavish four-bedroom home comes with an oversized, 60-foot heated pool overlooked by a deck with bedswings. It sits on two acres and ordinarily rents for $3,571. In Wilton Manors, Florida, a waterfront home (pictured above) with a large iconoclastic orange cube element has artistic furnishings throughout, with three bedrooms on one acre, normally renting for $2,195.
The home in Mountain View, California, is a contemporary ecological rammed earth design structure with Italian cypress trees and three bedrooms on one acre, usually $1,475, while in Moorsville, North Carolina, you can enjoy a four-bedroom modern lakefront home on one acre with niche-embedded bunkbeds and a shimmering pool, which normally rents for $2,357.
Starting Wednesday, July 27, these properties can be booked on a first-come, first-served basis, starting at 1pm EST. There will be five lucky winners, one for each property. The extended three- or four-day stay for the winner and one guest will take place between Aug. 4 and Sept. 6, depending on the property. You don’t need previous experience at caring for lawns. Just don't bring your pet gopher. Good luck!