Turning a childhood home into a place to share with strangers

Chris Sorbe’s father wanted to stay busy during retirement, so in 2015, with the help of his son, they remodeled their family home in Glendale, Utah and began listing it on Airbnb three years later.

Situated halfway between Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park, the Hummer Hill vacation rental has been a welcoming place for visitors over the last decade.

Two years ago, Hummer Hill experienced its busiest October ever, thanks to consumer demand for travel experiences and an influx in international travelers. But in recent years, bookings from travelers abroad have become few and far between.

“The business used to be 50% foreign visitors and 50% Americans,” said Chris Sorbe, owner and caretaker of Hummer Hill. “Over the past two years, we’ve only had one group from Canada, and then one group from India.”

Sorbe has responded by decreasing nightly rates to around $179, a roughly $50 per night decrease from two years ago.

But at the end of the day, Sorbe wants to continue to create a place where people from all over can visit, explore, and feel at home.

“I've sat down with guests from around the world, and we sit out by the campfire and make s'mores,” Sorbe said. “We can recognize this shared humanity we have even in this little, tiny town in southern Utah.”

Click the audio player below the headline to hear Sorbe’s full story.