The River House at the Swinging Bridge

The River House at the Swinging Bridge is an ideal holiday destination for gatherings of families or friends. Boasting a three bedroom 1790's farmhouse, 3 additional sleeping bungalows, a game/film room, a covered fire pit, a private woods, a Caldera salt water spa pool, a wood burning sauna, a natural swimming pool, 1000" of river frontage, and plenty of games and additional amenities, one need not leave the property to enjoy oneself. But hiking and biking trails abound, and breweries and vineyards are minutes away.

The River House at the Swinging Bridge is a thirteen acre property with a two-acre fenced compound comprised of six buildings. The main building in the compound is a three bedroom, two full bath 1790 farmhouse. Heated and centrally air-conditioned, the farmhouse boasts a cosy library with a Rumford wood-burning fireplace, a large, wood-paneled, fully equipped open kitchen/dining room with a homemade hemlock table that easily seats 12, and a sunroom with a sleeper couch. Tucked behind the main house are two heated/air-conditioned, hemlock-paneled bungalows each equipped with a bedroom, bathroom, and small half-kitchen. In one of these bungalows, the queen bed is in a loft with a pullout double sofa on the ground floor. Across from the main house, overlooking the Robinson River, is a third bungalow - our recently completed River Cottage - that opens up onto a 30'x30' deck overlooking the Robinson River. A fifth structure within the compound is an old stone spring house that has been converted into a wood-burning sauna. A sixth structure, a 20' x 20' garage (also heated & air-conditioned), serves as an additional hangout space, complete with a bar, poker table, pullout couch, and dart board. A large pull down screen and speakers are available here to play music or project films. Attached to this garage is a 20' x 30' overhang area. A Breeo smokeless fire pit sits beneath this overhang, and just beyond the overhang area a larger stone-circle fire pit is available for under-the-stars camp fire enjoyment.

The property includes 1000 feet of Robinson River frontage, and a small trail beside the River Deck bungalow leads down to a spot on the river that is lovely for soaking (or, when the water is high enough, tubing: BYOT) in the mountain fed water. But the compound also features a Caldera salt water spa pool and a refreshing BioNova natural (chemical-free) pool. Some care must be taken with regards to the pool. No babies in nappies and limited sun cream use (this goes for the spa pool, as well). But the pool makes up for this extra effort by providing a wonderfully natural swimming experience and eliminating the need for a shower afterwards (no chlorine to wash off). The filtration system for this natural pool involves running the water through gravel beds in a small pond just behind the pool, and this pond is a wonderful natural habitat to explore, teeming in the summer with frogs and dragonflies and the occasional turtle. A great blue heron occasionally makes a visit from his home on the Robinson River.

Across from the property's two acre compound -behind the barn - is a 10 acre wood with trails and a couple of lovely meadow areas where in the summer, at night, one is often treated to a magical firefly show. Deer, rabbit, and fox encounters are not uncommon here.

We spend a good deal of time here ourselves and the house is furnished with many of the comforts of home. In the main house there is a library room full of books for both kids and adults and a selection of DVDs and board games. This room has a wood burning fireplace and is very cosy on cool nights. In the dining room there is an electronic keyboard and a guitar is kicking around, though it might be out of tune.

Outdoor games are also abundant - there is a ping pong table, a boules court and balls, badminton equipment and space to play, whiffle ball and bat, a football ball, frisbees, etc. There are pool floats and a couple of noodles for the pool.

We recently installed Starlink internet and a mesh system that provides internet throughout the main compound. The strongest signal (100+ megabytes/second) is in the game room.

See our many 5 Star reviews here: airbnb.com/h/riverhouseatswingingbridge