Bring the family or a group of old friends and enjoy a great time at Casa De Curran on Mobile Bay. Our 2-story, 3,600 sq. ft. home leads out to a spacious private wharf, great for watching the sunsets, fishing, sunning and swimming.
A Great Blue Heron, who we call Henry, is a frequent visitor, and if you’re lucky, you might see dolphins right off the wharf.
Our home is 3 miles from the world famous Grand Hotel and about 10 minutes from the restaurants, bars and shops of the increasingly renowned Fairhope, which has managed to maintain its small town charm yet always seems to be bustling with foot traffic. We're about a 40-minute drive from Gulf Shores, and all that entails.
Children are allowed, or rather, encouraged. Dogs and cats are welcome, for a $50 fee, with no size limit. Also: There is a $30 per person per night fee for every guest over 10.
There are plenty of fishing poles for adults and children, along with tackle box, live bait bucket, and assorted gear. Two crab traps, easy to bait, do a great job of catching the famously delicious blue crabs of Mobile Bay, and, in some if not most cases, will be baited prior to your arrival.
We recently added fishing lights on the end of the wharf that come on when it gets dark. Can't say always, but if conditions OK, fishing under the lights at night can be really good.
There’s a seine net for catching shrimp and other creatures. Masks/snorkels, for adults and kids, are also available.
We’ve got two kayaks, and two bikes (and likely getting more, especially if customer shows interest) for the sidewalk trail along Scenic 98, where the house is. The trail is also a great place for walking and running.
There are four private bedrooms -- three downstairs and a fourth upstairs. Also upstairs is the two-level loft, with two queen beds, a single, and bunk beds. There's another single bed on the loft porch, overlooking the Bay.
Our home is full of color, the furniture and the art, not austere at all, thanks to the efforts of my late mother, my father, and my sister Leslie. It's built and designed for comfort, relaxation and enjoyment, as a bayhouse should be.
We have a hammock and lots of chairs/recliners on the wharf. There are floaties for adults and children, as well as life preservers, and some beach towels inside.
Also available to guests is a badminton/volleyball set, which can be set up in the front yard; footballs for adults and children; baseballs and gloves (adults and children); a soccer ball; and horseshoes and croquet.
Inside are puzzles, Legos and board games for children and adults, including Monopoly, Chess, Checkers and Clue, playing cards and Crayolas and coloring/drawing books.
We recently bought a Pack'N'Play for guests with infants.
A full service kitchen has everything you need, including spices and a small library of cookbooks, many local. There's a regular coffee maker and a K-pod coffee maker, and enough coffee to at least get you started.
Two charcoal grills with starter and charcoal are starter, etc., that guests are free to use.
We've a plentiful collection of books, including mysteries, history/biography, children's books, short story collections, some classics, books of local interest, even some touchy feely stuff.
A portable Bluetooth speaker is here for your use, in the house or on the Wharf.
An information/suggestion book is in the house, and includes more about the house and property, as well as things to do in the area, places to eat, etc. We can provide these to visitors after they complete their booking.
No large parties allowed, but, as for reasonably peaceful, fun gatherings, go for it. There are plenty of places in the house to gather, or, if the mood strikes, to sneak off and take a nap or read, and, most of all, to feel at home.
Upstairs in the loft is a chair and desk and computer monitor if you have work to do.
In the summer months, especially toward the end of summer, come the world famous Mobile Bay Jubilees, when, for reasons too complex to go into here, the oxygen in the water goes to the top, and crabs and bottom dwelling fish like flounder surge toward the beach, fall into a listless trance, and are there for the netting and gigging. Has to be seen to be believed.
One House Rule: No smoking inside. It is allowed outside, including the back porch and the wharf.
We're new at this, and trying hard. Incidentally, the $300 "Host Fee," as it’s called, covers the required cleaning service. It seemed high to me, but these things are based on square footage and numbers of beds.
Lastly, and primarily because we are on the water, we require guests to sign a liability waiver, or "hold harmless agreement," in the event a guest suffers an injury on the premises, such as a child on the bunk bed or while biking or out on the water. You will find that in the Rental Agreement.
We at Casa De Curran hope you choose to stay at our house, and, best of all, become "repeat customers."
