Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
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7 8 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 4.14 www.spindletopdraperies.com neighborhood, updated decor, outside amenities such as decks, patios and grills. (Pools are a bonus.) Diane McKim, a Louisville resident since 1991 who has lived in the Highlands since 1993, rented her house for the frst time last Derby through Everson's website. She says that the house she lived in a few years back wasn't set up for guests. It had a steep staircase, a bathroom that could only be accessed through another bedroom, and was not within walking distance to cofee shops, restaurants or groceries, unlike her current house on Sils Avenue, of Bardstown Road in Douglass Loop. McKim, a JCPS teacher who is in her 40s and has kids that are grown and out of the house, says she writes directions for everything: to the Downs, to restaurants, to the fve or six remote controls that go to her TV. "Someone's coming into your home with a vacation mindset," she says, adding that she essentially turns her home into a private bed and breakfast. "If someone wakes up with a headache or forgot toothpaste, they're a block away from a pharmacy," she says. House renting seems to attract perfectionists. When I sit down on the couch in the living room of Mahon's impeccably decorated 2,500-square-foot home, I'm greeted with freshly steeped tea — loose-leaf, not bagged. Te place smells fresh, a little sweeter and warmer than a sterile hotel. Maybe this is just what regularly dusted draperies and vacuumed upholstery smell like, though an inofensive-scented candle may be burning in another room. Mahon, 50, is no stranger to organized party planning. She founded and runs the business Orchestr8, which specializes in event production and marketing consulting. As we sit by the gas-log fre, Mahon tells me all about what goes into prepping the house for overnight guests. "All these things that bug you about your house, that you put up with, (renting) forces you to fx them, to touch up paint and do a major clean once a year," she says. She performs what she calls a "deep clean" of her home, akin to a Hollywood actress's pre- Oscars detox. She cleans out the closets to make room for guests, makes sure there's nothing underneath beds and locks away personal items in the attic. She keeps a set of rental-only sheets and towels. As we walk through the house, Mahon points out a label-maker-printed directive that has been taped to the wall. It reads "hallway light" and has an arrow pointing toward a thin space between the wall and a cabinet. "I have everything labeled," she says. "Who'd think to look behind here for the light switch?" She'll leave current Derby glasses — souvenirs — with a bottle of Woodford Reserve and mufns for the frst morning. "I've been told I overdo it, that I need to dial it back," she says. People have this idea of the Derby and Southern hospitality, Mahon says, and she tries her best to provide that for guests. She says that sometimes she can't even tell that anyone's been in her house; other times she'll see garbage bags full of bottles. "Te bourbon's always gone," she says. "Sometimes the mufns are still here, but the bourbon's always gone." Once inquiries come in from out-of-towners, Mahon says she'll Google the people or check LinkedIn. "I'll make sure they're upstanding citizens," she says, half-jokingly, adding that most people with that kind of money to spend are responsible professionals and not "rock stars." Renters must then sign a contract that's binding by law and put down a security deposit — the details of which can be determined by each homeowner individually, unless they advertise through Airbnb, which has its own rules. For $69, those who advertise with the Watts-Roys' site can get an insurance policy that covers $3,000 in accidental damage. You know, in case someone spills expensive wine on an equally expensive carpet. Everson's site suggests that homeowners obtain a 20 percent security deposit, or the cost of the homeowner's 64-81.indd 78 3/19/14 5:27 PM