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Introducing the luxury website that's shaking up the holiday rental market

All Stay One Degree properties are only leased to friends or friends of friends - Roy Riley 2017
All Stay One Degree properties are only leased to friends or friends of friends - Roy Riley 2017

It is entirely appropriate, I realise, that my three different stays on the newly launched social market for luxury holiday homes turn out to be part of a direct thread.

The owner of the charming Craftsman’s Cottage on the rural Wiltshire/Dorset border, which was my first stop, introduced Stay One Degree to a friend who had just finished restoring a remarkable 18th-century, 12-bedroom townhouse in Portugal’s Algarve, which was my second stop. She, in turn, suggested it to a Dutch couple who have a minimalist, sun-filled, two-bedroom holiday home on one of the characteristically narrow streets in Olhao, a stone’s throw away from her. That was my third stop. 

Craftsman's Cottage on the Wiltshire/Dorest border - Credit: Roy Riley
Craftsman's Cottage on the Wiltshire/Dorest border Credit: Roy Riley

But for me, who chose them randomly, it came as a surprise. Apart from them being in different countries, they were different in almost every way – prices, sizes, characters – bound only by the fact that they were all considered by their owners to be homes (that word peculiar to the English language) and not just houses. That is exactly what sets Stay One Degree apart from the rental crowd.

For all their properties are only leased to friends or friends of friends, putting them, at most, one degree away from someone they trust. This circle of trust is key to those who would love to rent out their home or second home, and cover their running costs, but are wary of a stranger stepping into their undefended castle. This, though, the first social network for luxury holiday homes, offers a reassurance that their homes will be treated as they would treat a friend’s home – with respect. 

The website aims to solve the issue of trust in home sharing - Credit: Garrett Walsh @ Algarve Photography
The website aims to solve the issue of trust in home sharing Credit: Garrett Walsh @ Algarve Photography

And it works both ways. For Tom Bennett, the mighty oak that he and his co-founder, Jorge Munoz, are growing came from Lego bricks, not acorns. Both are from an investment banking background and had homes that were empty for much of the year, as they were loathe to pay exorbitant fees to rental agencies or risk having them trashed by unvetted visitors. 

Stay One Degree | How it works
Stay One Degree | How it works

A conversation among friends in a similar position, all keen to cover running costs, led Tom to try out the idea of staying with a network of friends, on a long trip to New Zealand with his family. It snowballed quickly until he had his whole stay booked through friends or friends of friends. That degree of familiarity meant that they arrived to a welcome that included contacts for tried-and-tested babysitters, access to exclusive members’ clubs, and a huge box of Lego bricks brought up from the cellar for their youngest child. 

Happy children, happy parents. As Tom travelled, he became more and more convinced that this was an idea that would be embraced by many, as a solution to the thorny issue of trust in the rental market. Fast forward a year, and Stay One Degree now has more than 650 homes in 44 countries to choose from, and still counting…

What I needed to find though, was not a seductive retreat in Bali, Barbados or the Bahamas, but simply a weekend cottage to take our three teenage girls from their school on the Wiltshire/Dorset border. And that is how I came across The Craftsman’s Cottage.

The focus of Stay One Degree is quality not price - Credit: Roy Riley
The focus of Stay One Degree is quality not price Credit: Roy Riley

Featuring Shaftesbury greenstone under a slate roof, this early 19th-century cottage is set back from the country road that runs through the quiet hamlet of Semley. Postcard-pretty, it has a red telephone box beside the welcoming village store where bunches of wild flowers sit outside, and homemade cakes, organic breads and very drinkable rosé sit inside. It looks on to a Victorian church, complete with spire and tower, and opposite that is 17th-century Church Farm, which produces wholesome fresh milk from its herd of free-range, grass-fed Friesians. 

Bottles of this will be waiting for you in the fridge of the three-bedroom Craftsman’s Cottage, but so much more too, from owner Amanda’s banana bread to local craft cider. Antiques have been carefully chosen and mixed, with examples from the arts and crafts movement and pieces from contemporary furniture makers such as Pinch Design. There is a sprinkling of taxidermy, paintings by Danny Rolph and Fiona Winning, ceramics from John Julian Ceramics, and wood-burning fires all framed by exposed stone walls and wood-beamed ceilings. Upstairs, plump beds come with tweed-covered hot-water bottles, William Morris wallpaper and Bramley bath products. 

It is, in fact, a tribute to British craft in all its forms, echoing perfectly the little hamlet it sits in, reached through winding lanes and bordered by banks of snowdrops. 

Worm's eye view of Casa Fuzetta's courtyard - Credit: Garrett Walsh@Algarve Photography
Worm's eye view of Casa Fuzetta's courtyard Credit: Garrett Walsh@Algarve Photography

Closer to my home in the Algarve, Olhao – known for having the best fish market in the region – was somewhere I had never lingered in, mostly due to the lack of appealing hotels, bar one small one. I seized on the opportunity of a weekend or two there, seeing houses in the narrow streets of its old town on Stay One Degree. It has avoided the overdevelopment that other towns in the area have fallen victim to, by dint of its large fishing port, and remains authentically Algarvean. Its landmark red-brick fish market, designed by Gustave Eiffel in 1915, sits on the waterfront and boasts an incredible display of local bounty. 

The old town has a Moorish feel, with houses mostly whitewashed or clad in tiles and topped with flat roofs and squat chimneys. From up there, you can look across the roofs, where washing blows lazily, and watch the sun sink into the ocean. Tiny Casa Opala, an old fisherman’s house, whitewashed with a sea-blue shuttered door, was a ruin when Richard and his partner bought it, giving them a free hand to turn the interiors into the chic, clean-lined gem that they did. Two bedrooms, a bathroom and a shower room downstairs lead up to a sunny kitchen and dining area, with a terrace for al fresco dining. One flight up, and a tiny swimming pool awaits, only visible to the storks that nest on the nearby church tower.

Casa Opala's breakfast patio - Credit: Stay One Degree
Casa Opala's breakfast patio Credit: Stay One Degree

You could probably see Casa Fuzetta from there if you knew which way to look for it, as it is one of the largest houses nearby and very noticeable, with a stained-glass dome protruding from the flat roof. Owner Tara Donovan has written the story of renovating it on Stay One Degree’s website, and so successfully has it been done that waking up there you find yourself falling in love with Portugal anew. The way its particular light plays on the stones, the characteristic outdoor terraces off bedrooms, the courtyards that stretch straight up through the storeys of a building to a ceiling of vivid blue sky. It brims with sense of place: the neighbours chatting to each other in the street, the timbre of the church bells, the sea breeze that ripples the surface of the rooftop pool. 

With 12 bedrooms to fill, Tara has a team on hand to look after it, renting it out for yoga retreats when the family aren’t there. She is keen to safeguard the energy she feels the house has, so operates a vetting process; something she feels can be delivered with Stay One Degree. 

Paris of the North? Athens of the South? The cities with ideas above their station
Paris of the North? Athens of the South? The cities with ideas above their station

The essentials

Mary Lussiana stayed at the following properties:

The Craftsman’s Cottage, Wiltshire (sleeps six)
Owner: Amanda Bannister. Reference No. 208; from £225 per night.

Casa Opala, Olhao, Algarve, Portugal (sleeps four)
Owner: Richard Walraven. Reference No. 487; from £138 per night.

Casa Fuzetta, Olhao, Portugal (sleeps 24)
Owner: Tara Donovan. Reference No. 228; from £1,211 per night.