A Caretaker Love Story

During 25+ years that The Caretaker Gazette has been in existence, I have received a number letters from subscribers who, in addition to finding a new career through the pages of the Gazette, have found love. Baron and Karen Tynan are a team of talented, hard-working caretakers who, via The Caretaker Gazette, found a caretaking position and one another. Here, in their own words, is their love story:

Karen: Before I ever knew about caretaking, I had told some people at the veterinary office that I worked in that I would like to live on someone’s property taking care of their animals in exchange for rent. Everyone agreed that it sounded like a great idea but no one else knew how to get into it either. Months later one of my co-workers sent me a link to a site called The Caretaker Gazette. My co-worker had found it while doing a search for a housesitter. I looked at the site and was so happy to finally have found a place to search for my ideal living situation. So I signed up and began my search. Almost immediately I spotted an ad for a position in Bonsall, California, near to where I already lived. The job entailed taking care of dogs, gardening and maintaining a presence on the property for security purposes in exchange for rent. It took me a couple of months to get up the courage to email but I finally did and got a hold of Baron.

Baron: I had been the current caretaker at the position for over five years and really enjoyed the lifestyle. My former partner decided it wasn’t for her and left. I had been searching for a co-caretaker for months and had just about given up. Karen and I emailed back and forth for a while. Karen wanted to make sure this was a legitimate situation and I wanted to figure out if she had the abilities for the job. After several emails we finally talked on the phone and set up a time to meet each other.

Karen: I could tell right away that Baron was a good person and he liked the way I interacted with the dogs. We talked a lot and found out that we had a ton of things in common. So I met the property owners and interviewed. The process went well and I was offered the position. I moved in about three weeks later and about a month after that, well…. Baron and I started dating. We felt it was a “meant to be” situation. The first day that my mother met Baron, when he was still just a roommate, she sounded off to me that I would be married to Baron in two years. She was off by two months!

Baron: Two years and two months later we got married. We were very fortunate that the property owners allowed us to get married in the same gorgeous yard where we lived and fell in love. When Karen and I are not working, we enjoy hiking and travel.

Karen: Our first vacation together was to Italy and that is where Baron proposed. Our next big vacation was our honeymoon to Belize and we recently toured the Grand Staircase area of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. Now, three years later, we have left their “exchange for rent” caretaking position for a paid domestic couple job in Big Bear Lake, California.

Baron: Karen cooks dinner for the family, cleans and organizes the house, does the laundry and ironing, runs errands and cares for the family pets. I take care of all the handyman duties, care for the horses, the tropical fish tank and pond, maintain the grounds and take care of the vineyard. Both of us tend to the garden and drive for the family occasionally. One of our favorite things to do is to walk the dogs around the beautiful property and watch all the different types of wildlife traveling through.

Baron and Karen: Our future is wide open and we can see ourselves pursuing several different avenues for couples in this field. We like the idea of becoming a chef/estate manager team, running a small inn or Bed & Breakfast and like the idea of running a second, third, or vacation home for a family. We would always like to be able to maintain an herb and vegetable garden and also enjoy the companionship of animals too. Although we love California we would be open to another beautiful area of the west as well. We feel that one of the greatest parts of being a caretaking couple is that we do have the option of pursuing all those different possibilities as well as many more that we haven’t dreamed of yet. Mostly we just really enjoy living on a beautiful property and putting our ingenuity and hard work into making it a great place to come home to for all parties involved. We love this life and are excited to continue learning more and more to further our career. We are so thankful to The Caretaker Gazette for helping us to find each other. To be able to find another alternatively like-minded person, in a world where most people suffer the conformity of their cubicles, is a gift. The Caretaker Gazette should consider marketing itself to singles too!