10x12 furnished room in family group house, seeking household help in exchange for rent (Shared Housing)

We are seeking a housemate to join our English/French bilingual group eco-groovy house. Ideally we'd like to find someone who can help with childcare, cleaning and other household tasks in exchange for part or all of rent and utility costs in the new... year; and/or someone who can speak French if possible. Two housemates also speak Spanish, but we speak English when we are all together.

We are a couple in our early 40s with a 7 year old, two year old, a musician/engineering graduate student housemate, and two friendly cats. We like to talk current events, play and listen to music, dance, cook good food, go swimming, hiking and camping. We like to have friends over for regular game nights, dinners and campfires in the backyard in fall and spring. The couple work as a carpenter and a democracy organizer. If you love food, music and are environmentally conscious, you’ll likely enjoy living with us.

Our kids have grown up with housemates, we had the same two housemates for the first four years we lived here. Our current francophone housemate is moving to France by mid-December.

The value of the rent is $850 a month per room, plus utilities which average about $100 a month per person including internet and housecleaning 2x a month. We are looking for someone to work 10-15 hours a week. (14.5hrs/ a week would cover all rent and utilities)

We are looking for someone starting just before Christmas or in the New Year. Our niece is moving overseas just before Christmas. Her room is furnished with a closet with decent storage space. We can take the furniture out if need be. There is some space for a bike and some boxes in the basement.

We are seeking a housemate who will:
- ideally speak mostly French with our daughter and son, and the mother of the house (please email us if everything sounds like a good fit except the French-speaking part, we know it's a tall order)
- join us for 1-3 meals a week. You’re always welcome to join us for more. The meal requirement is so that we develop a connection with you. We are community oriented folks, we aren't interested in having a housemate who just goes to their room and doesn't interact with the rest of the house. Once we establish a good connection after a month or two, it's ok to just eat together once a week.
- cook dinner once a week for the house and join us for dinner
- clean the kitchen after dinner 1-2 nights a week (days when you eat with us)


If you did want to help out around the house and pay reduced rent:
Work that would count towards the 10 to 15 hours of work per week might include packing lunches for the kids, walking with kids to the bus stop, washing and folding the kids laundry, cleaning up the common areas esp. after breakfast or dinner, babysitting, any additional cleaning beyond what’s expected of all housemates in general e.g. cleaning up another night after dinner when it wasn’t your turn. We do have house cleaners come twice a month as part of utilities, so cleaning needs are focused on the kitchen, dining room, living room that get the most use.

We would set a schedule up together based on what works for you, which could include a combination of work and cash for rent. Because of wanting things to be relatively stable for the kids we are asking for a one-year commitment to stay, though the work exchange need not last as long. Non-smoker preferred. You must have no criminal record.

We do have a fenced in backyard, and are ok to live with one relaxed and cat-safe dog.

The Neighborhood
Mount Rainier, Maryland is a diverse, creative, hippie enclave on the northeastern border of Washington, DC. It boasts the region's oldest food co-op, an awesome nonprofit dance studio/performance space, numerous art studios, lots of funky architecture and landscape design, a couple of restaurants, cute little green spaces and tree-lined streets, and proximity to the Anacostia River and its amazing trail network. A lot of great stuff goes on in town, but it's mostly quiet and peaceful at night. We are just a mile from yellow/green West Hyattsville Metro and only a 10 min walk or 5 min bike ride to express buses that go downtown and to redline stations. It's an easy metro to Howard and Univ. of Maryland-College Park. It's also an easy bike ride into DC or to other places like Hyattsville and the University of Maryland.

We have great neighbors who take care of each other and celebrate diversity.

Both our house in particular and the Mt. Rainier/Brentwood community in general is welcoming to people of any race, gender and sexual orientation and the house has been a home to people of many different races, genders and sexual orientations over the years.

The House
The Urban Homestead is a four bedroom, 1917 craftsman bungalow with an awesome deck overlooking the forested backyard. We have free laundry facilities in the basement, Verizon FIOS wifi, and a great dishwasher, but no TV or central air conditioning (just window ac units) The house has been a group house in our friend circle for over fifteen years, changing residents only room by room since around 2008. We have had housemates almost the entire time we have lived here. Our kids have grown up with housemates and we all love living with people. One of us grew up with housemates in a very similar arrangement to what we are seeking here. We are seeking a housemate who wants to be a part of the life of the house. We find that with respectful, open communication, many of our housemates become good friends and eventually like family, and hope this for our new housemate as welcome Read More