The Starling House in Swannanoa, North Carolina

Over the weekend, Alex and I stayed at the cutest A-Frame cabin called The Starling House in Swannanoa, North Carolina. We have always wanted to stay at a tiny house so we booked this Airbnb when we came across it earlier this year. Because it’s absolutely adorable and close to Asheville, it’s pretty popular. In fact, Thanksgiving weekend was one of two weekends available when we made our reservation back in June.

There were some things in the Airbnb listing we had overlooked and some things we just didn’t know until we got there, and I am sharing those things in this post in case it helps anyone planning to stay at this tiny home!

WHAT TO EXPECT

Walk up to the A-Frame – It was 100% my fault for missing the detail in the Airbnb listing but The Starling House is “atop the ridge” meaning it’s at the top of a hill. I would say the walk up to the house equates to about three or four flights of stairs–I was out of breath each time I reached the top lol. There are a few steps put in along the way but you have to watch your feet.

Outhouse – Because there is no running water, there is no plumbing. They do have a private outhouse (just for The Starling House guests), maybe 10 feet away(?). We didn’t mind using the outhouse itself but leaving the cozy A-Frame to go use the bathroom was not fun because it was pretty cold while we stayed.

I have a full tour of the A-Frame on my YouTube channel that you can check out if you’re curious!

WHAT I WISH WE HAD DONE DIFFERENTLY

Bring hand soap – They do have a hand sanitizer in the outhouse but it doesn’t replace hand washing for me! The A-Frame has a little sink that is connected to a little water tank so I wish I had brought hand soap to use. They provide dish soap which I used like hand soap but I am not sure if it works like that haha.

Bring a lamp – While the A-Frame has a few different light sources including twinkle lights, there isn’t a big ceiling light. I tried to read at night with a little camping light we brought but I just couldn’t make it work. They have a few outlets throughout the tiny house so it might be a good idea to bring a small desk lamp with you.

Visit in October – This is more for visiting the mountains in general. Because we went at the end of November, almost all the fall leaves were gone. I kept thinking about how gorgeous it would be during peak leaf season, especially the back patio. It would also be nice to visit before the daylight savings ends and when it’s a little less chilly.

All in all, we loved our stay at The Starling House! It really was cozy and magical. If/when we go back though, I would like for it to be in October and I might bring a few more things. 😉 Here’s the link to the Airbnb listing again.