About your hosts

Courtney and JR live in Bar Harbor, just around the corner from Derby Lane Cottage. Courtney is a flower farmer and JR is a computer programmer. We share our house with a playful group of dogs, cats, and rabbits, and we all spend our free time tending or just enjoying our garden.

We have worked hard to make the Arbor House and Stork's Nest as warm and inviting as we would for our own families. We handle all of the reservations, cleaning, and maintenance ourselves (with a little help from our friends) so we can ensure that you will have the best experience possible. Though we both have full-time jobs, we make sure to be available for your questions and concerns during your stay.

We keep the houses as safe and healthy as we can for our guests and for the environment. These are a few of the changes we have made:

• No herbicides or pesticides on the lawn, organic fertilizers
  This makes it safer place for kids to play and makes for a healthier lawn in the long term.

• Electric lawn mower
  Mowers produce 93% more smog-forming emissions than a standard automobile (according to the California Air Resources Board for 2006 models). Plus, the electric mower is much quieter!

• Composting of yard waste and kitchen waste (with the help of willing guests)
  By using the nutrients already available on the property, we can keep the lawn and gardens beautiful without the use of chemical fertilizers.

• Switching to organic towels and linens
  Some of the most harmful pesticides are used on cotton crops. By supporting organic producers, we can help encourage more sustainable farming.

• Less toxic and biodegradable cleaning products