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PUTTING the key in the door and walking into their ‘new home’, Samantha Frewin and her husband John Oxenham are stunned by what greets them.
Instead of a three-bed terraced or a tiny new-build, the couple have stepped into a 16th century forty-room mansion complete with a vast library, parlour and dining room.
The stunning gardens have been home to royalty and the stables house a dozen horses.
But Samantha, 46, and John, 65, have not paid millions for the property - in fact, it hasn’t cost them a penny but will be their home for the next few weeks.
“We never even pay rent,” Samantha tells Fabulous in this exclusive interview.
“We’re not heiresses or millionaires. We’re found the perfect way to holiday in posh homes and castles all over the world and not have to pay.
“We have lived in stately homes, former palaces, mansions, Swiss chalets, sprawling farms, converted barns and homes with pools and movie theatres.”
Their secret? The couple are house and pet sitters, travelling all over the world whilst only paying for the cost of their journey.
“People think there is a catch but there isn’t," John explains.
“Since we signed up to TrustedHousesitters in April 2021 we haven’t stopped travelling.”
Retired accounting expert and part-time community forum staffer Samantha, and her husband John who is a retired pilot, normally live in a four-bedroom cottage in Chipping Norton, West Oxfordshire.
“I am retired from a government job and during lockdown John’s work as a BA pilot slowed and we decided to fast track his retirement,” says Samantha.
However, the couple who are experienced world travellers due to John’s work for British Airways didn't want to give up the globetrotting ways.
“I did some research and discovered TrustedHousesitters,” Samantha says.
The website, established in 2010, allows people who have homes to find reputable house sitters and pet sitters.
In the last fourteen years the site has grown in popularity and is used by millionaires, farmers and average homeowners globally.
Samantha collected personal and business references and set up a profile on the website.
“Just before John retired, I started applying for house sitting jobs and within two weeks of him leaving BA we had our first house sitting job,” she says.
The couple’s first sit was a weekend in a half a million-pound three-bedroom house in Windsor close to Windsor Castle caring for a black Labrador called Milo and a beagle called Luffee.
“We got to use the house while the couple were away and care for the dogs,” John says.
“We had an amazing time and got asked back in August for a week’s house-sitting.
“There is no payment but we get our accommodation for free.”
Since then, the couple have been booked solid to housesit all over the world.
Samantha explains: "We spent Christmas and New Year looking after an amazing Swiss chalet on Lake Geneva and caring for a golden retriever called Truffle.
“Watching the NYE fireworks over Lake Geneva and living with the locals during the festive season in luxury accommodation felt more like a holiday than work.”
One of the biggest and most expensive homes the couple has housesat at was an estate in Staffordshire built in 1660.
“It’s been in the same family for 350 years and when we arrived and saw the ‘house’ had forty rooms it was a dream come true,” says Samantha.
“The property includes centuries old gardens and the library, dining room and parlour is kept like it was a hundred years ago.”
The couple looked after the house and cared for 12 horses in the stables while the family was away.
“The house has an amazing history, it was like a palace and we got to stay there for free,” says John.
While the couple also house sit for typical terraces a sprawling home wasn’t a one off.
“We got to spend three weeks in 2022 and five weeks in 2023 staying in a Spanish villa looking after Milo, a 26-year-old tortoise,” John says.
To become a member of the Trusted Housesitters, potential sitters have to pay £89 in an annual subscription.
With all the finer details arranged through the site, all members build their profiles through references, recommendations and police background checks, giving homeowners peace of mind that their property and animals are in safe hands.
They then have to work on their approval ratings, as pet owners are far more likely to choose a sitter who has successfully sat for animals on the site previously - and according to the experts, the quickest way to collect good reviews is to sit for a number of owners locally.
Once you become a top sitter the world is your oyster, as there are mansions with swimming pools, rambling farmhouses and penthouse suites all up for grabs on the site.
The British business now operates in 150 countries and is one of the biggest sites of its kind with nearly half a million members.
A spokesperson for TrustedHousesitters says: "We offer authentic travel experiences that money can't buy, and the fulfillment of looking after an animal that will welcome you into its home while being spared the stress of foreign travel or a new living environment.
"It's a richly rewarding experience, and one that is proving to be a win-win for animal lovers all over the world, whether they are homeowners or people who want to travel and care for pets."
“The property had five bedrooms and three bathrooms, a pool, and three holiday homes which we got to use.”
Samantha adds: “There were olive groves and amazing countryside. Milo was an easy animal to look after.”
Every time the couple do a housesit, they post a review of the homeowners, as well as the experience, and the owners post a review about them.
“It’s fair and we have gotten amazing comments,” Samantha says.
“We give the animals a holiday while we are there walking the dogs and taking them on adventures.
“People love that.”
The couple have experience with a whole variety of animals, having housesat for people with sheep, pigs, cows, chickens and even quails.
“You have a video call with the homeowners to get to know them and they leave instructions,” Samantha explains.
“The pets are precious to their owners, and we send videos and pictures of their animals so they know they are being well looked after.
“We buy our own food although some owners will leave out hampers and in exchange we make sure there is food available for when the owners come home.”
The pair are currently booked in to house sit in Asia, the USA and South America as well as discussing sits in the Middle East.
It’s an amazing way to holiday and to see how the other half lives.
Samantha Frewin
“It’s an amazing way to holiday and to see how the other half lives,” Samantha says.
“We get the local experience and the chance to live in homes which are never open to the public.”
The couple are routinely asked back by homeowners who were so thrilled at the job they did or how well they cared for their pets.
“You have to treat the homes, castles or palaces as you do your own home,” says John.
“We still get cards from dogs we have cared for, though obviously posted by their owners.
“The key to getting as many sits as we do is to respect the homes and pets, to be involved and get good reviews.
“It’s not just a holiday you get the luxury home away from home experience and the chance to see the world for almost nothing.”
