Bancran School
Last a week I had the luxury of staying in The Black Shack at the beautiful Bancran School.
Bancran School is located about 5 minutes from Draperstown in Moneyneena, N.I.
Owned and run by Chris and Aileen, Bancran School was originally an old school house that they have transformed into their family home. Situated in the back garden are three luxury Airbnbs. The Pod, The Loft and the delightful Tiny House that is The Black Shack.
I had such an amazing time capturing these Airbnbs and experiencing a night stay in The Black Shack. I couldn’t recommend it enough, it is a beautifully styled house and everything about our stay was incredibly relaxing. From the moment we arrived, greeted by Chris to the moment we left. I am already trying plan my next stay.
After my sweet little stay I was able to ask Chris & Aileen a little bit more about how Bancran School all started…
Tell us a little bit about yourselves and how you came to being Airbnb owners?
We are Chris & Aileen, we live in Bancran School with our two children Bella & Ollie and our furry friend Noodles. The National school building was built in 1876. It was derelict for 30 odd years when we bought it back in 2009 and we have been working to transform it into a family home since.
During our University and early working years we loved to travel. We had always talked about taking a year out but with one thing or another it never happened. So instead we saved hard and booked to go away for three or four weeks each year.
Our last big trip was about 7 years ago around Arizona, Utah and its National Parks. It was April and the plan was to camp and hike. We set up camp in Flagstaff, that night there was a freak snowstorm! -8c in a tent and a few expletives later we decided to check out Airbnb, we had read an article a few weeks earlier about this new website and thought it sounded interesting.
We booked into an amazing Mining Camp house in the middle of the woods in Flagstaff. Jeff and Kari Maurer owned the home. We absolutely loved the house and the family made us feel so welcome. The next morning we left for the Grand Canyon having fell in love with our first Airbnb experience. When we returned home we decided to complete the two downstairs bedrooms & our Airbnb hosting journey was born.
Did you know you would always have three Airbnbs? Which one came first?
After spending just over a year hosting people from all over the world in our home we were expecting our first born, Bella.
Babies need space and we decided we would get the back of the house into a bit of shape and planned for a Glamping Pod to continue our hosting experience. We plonked The Pod in the back corner of the garden and rented it for a couple of years while we tried to get the rest of the yard into shape. When we look back at the early days with The Pod we cringe a bit as the rest of the garden and yard resembled a building site but we kept it cheap and made the inside as comfortable as we could and people continued to come. We are very grateful for those early guests and would love to have them back for them to see the progress we have made since.
The double garage was built in such a way that we could put a private loft apartment up top. We completed The Loft during 2017. Having two Airbnb units we wanted a place for guests to be able to interact so we set about creating an outdoor decking space with shelter where guests could mix, have a drink, grill on the BBQ or just watch a bit of sport. The Gin Tin was built in 2018.
The old school had a toilet block outside for the pupils. When we were renovating a digger tried to remove the concrete foundations but they were too deep. Up until February 2019 it was sitting visible in the middle of the garden, it even housed a few chickens at a time! The initial plan was to put shipping containers on top of the foundations but it was working out to be very expensive and impractical due to the nature of the site. We settled for a Black Siberian Larch clad Tiny House. The Black Shack was finished in July 2019 and we had our first guests that August.
The style of each accommodation is amazing! Did you take inspiration from other places you had stayed or seen when designing them?
The Pod came really well made and we wanted to keep the glamping feel. We recently installed a new fixed bed, which has made a real difference to the space and our guest’s comfort. We’ve added a couple of comfy chairs and tried to utilise every inch of space in the small kitchen area to make it as practical as possible. The Pod got a new metal top hat in the summer to keep the top boards safe and it ties in well with the Gin Tin now.
We both wanted to give the Loft a simple Scandinavian theme, comfortable and clean lined minimalism. We went with Oak Herringbone floors and got a local craftsman to do polished concrete terrazzo kitchen worktops and the bathroom floor. Subway tiles were always going to feature in the bathroom space. We were delighted to find a grey matte kitchen that we agreed on and crammed as many appliances in as we could so guests can whip up a storm or cater for small children.
The Black Shack was built on a very tight budget so we agreed to be creative with what we had laying around. We are absolutely thrilled with it has turned out and we are very grateful to friends and family who donated materials left over from their own projects. A lot of thought went into the structure and design of the Black Shack and we are lucky to have found local craftsman Martin Maguire (Garden Rooms Ireland) who has been working with us for most of the journey.
For someone planning to stay at Bancran for the weekend do you have any recommendations of where to visit close by?
The Sperrins are jammed pack with things to do while staying at Bancran School. From hill walking to exploring one of the many local forest parks, mountain biking in Davagh, jogging around Lough Fea, visiting an outdoor play park or just taking a stroll around local towns - Draperstown, Magherafelt, Maghera and Cookstown are all just a short drive away.
We have some excellent restaurants and coffee shops on our doorstep: Apparo, Aroma and Silky’s are some of our favourites.
Once you’ve been fed there are plenty of watering holes - Regan’s Market Inn and The Shepherds Rest are worth checking out.
If you are just feeling lazy we have plenty to do on site to spend a day relaxing without having to leave. The hot tub at night while sipping a drink and watching the stars is top of the list!
We are very lucky and proud to live in an area with so much natural beauty.
What are your top tips for someone wanting to create their own Airbnb?
It is really fun but it involves a lot of hard work. We are a small family set up and we are both busy with our own jobs so we have to rely on help from our family and friends at times. It is impossible to consider doing what we do without that support and we are really grateful for it.
However, if it’s something you think you would enjoy just go for it! It is rewarding and getting feedback from our guests makes all the hard work worthwhile! Plus our kids have a ball meeting and greeting people from all over the world.
Do you have any future plans for your Airbnbs or plans to have more?
We have a few things we would like to finish on the site, things happen slowly here and it has worked for us to this point so we will get there eventually.
At the end of 2019 we bought an old school bus. The plan is to convert it into a motorhome that will accommodate Noodles and the 4 of us on our adventures. Things are progressing slowly with it at the minute but we are all very excited to see how it turns out (if we ever get it finished!!).
Click here to book your stay at Bancran School.