Laura and Steve welcomes you!
The Shackteau is named for the concept of a grand gathering space with fabulous food and wine, nestled into rustic Maine charm. We are your hosts, Laura & Steve Bowden. We are a straight couple with many friends and family in the LGBTQ+BIPOC community.
As with so many of us, the pandemic inspired us to transform "things we want to do someday" into "things we will do right now." Because life is short.
We both spent over 20 years in corporate America before semi-retiring. With The Shackteau, we are laying the foundation for a post-retirement career more aligned with our values and interests - and hopefully putting some good into the world while we’re at it! In 2017 we purchased 6 acres on a lake in Maine with the idea of turning it into a family camp. We thought “someday” we might run a hospitality business which would allow us to retire with a different kind of lifestyle: Hosting in the warm months and traveling in the cold months.
It’s been a rollercoaster getting to this point. Two kids graduated from college. A daughter got married and moved to Freeport area in Maine; we were nearly scammed out of our house budget by an an unscrupulous builder; couldn’t get a new builder for over a year; our pre-covid request to adopt 2 miniature horses came through in the middle of covid and we didn’t have a barn; and of course the Pandemic was a challenge all around.
But then an early retirement buy-out from Laura's job in financial services was the icing on the cake. And in the fall of 2021 we sold our historic South Boston home and started our next chapter!
We are two people who have loved traveling abroad. Steve was born in France and Laura in Wisconsin, but we have lived in Boston for the majority of our lives. We love food, wine and cycling; animals, nature and holidays (especially Halloween). We love providing hospitality in the form of cooking for the multitudes. Steve makes Cake-Boss-style cakes. We host an annual holiday party where Steve constructs an enormous gingerbread house modeled after famous architecture and everyone we know comes to decorate it. We host an annual 20+ person outdoor sit-down dinner over Indigenous People’s Day weekend. We ran successful 2-unit lodging in Boston (you know the name of that one, but it gets deleted from profiles) and are addicted to sharing stories over wine with complete strangers. We participated in a local non-profit that matches Boston medical patients to free lodging when they could not afford to stay in the Boston area, and a similar non-profit for cross-country cyclists. We like to have fun!
The Shackteau is a labor of love.
We are here to serve. So hope you're hungry.
The Shackteau is named for the concept of a grand gathering space with fabulous food and wine, nestled into rustic Maine charm. We are your hosts, Laura & Steve Bowden. We are a straight couple with many friends and family in the LGBTQ+BIPOC community.
As with so many of us, the pandemic inspired us to transform "things we want to do someday" into "things we will do right now." Because life is short.
We both spent over 20 years in corporate America before semi-retiring. With The Shackte...
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My pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Relationship status: Single
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Phone verified
Agency partner selected by misterb&b
Because we foster the largest community of global gay travelers, we want to ensure all are welcome anywhere we go. Full apartments are in high demand around the world. To help ensure you can travel and feel welcome anywhere, in addition to our gay and gay-friendly hosts, we’ve selected agencies to offer apartments in cities across the world.
Because gay is in our DNA we ask each agency to affirm their welcoming attitude and acceptance of our community by agreeing to the charter below:
- Checking this box certifies that the management and staff of your agency welcome all people regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression
- Further you agree to challenge homophobic and transphobic behavior and ensure a positive and welcoming environment for our guests
- Through a courteous attitude, excluding judgment, your agency will work to ensure a peaceful stay for its LGBTQ+ clientele (information, safety, quality of service and discretion)
Stay like a gay local and feel welcome anywhere you go - misterb&b
Laura and Steve's accommodations
1 review as host
Laura and Steve welcomes you!
The Shackteau is named for the concept of a grand gathering space with fabulous food and wine, nestled into rustic Maine charm. We are your hosts, Laura & Steve Bowden. We are a straight couple with many friends and family in the LGBTQ+BIPOC community.
As with so many of us, the pandemic inspired us to transform "things we want to do someday" into "things we will do right now." Because life is short.
We both spent over 20 years in corporate America before semi-retiring. With The Shackteau, we are laying the foundation for a post-retirement career more aligned with our values and interests - and hopefully putting some good into the world while we’re at it! In 2017 we purchased 6 acres on a lake in Maine with the idea of turning it into a family camp. We thought “someday” we might run a hospitality business which would allow us to retire with a different kind of lifestyle: Hosting in the warm months and traveling in the cold months.
It’s been a rollercoaster getting to this point. Two kids graduated from college. A daughter got married and moved to Freeport area in Maine; we were nearly scammed out of our house budget by an an unscrupulous builder; couldn’t get a new builder for over a year; our pre-covid request to adopt 2 miniature horses came through in the middle of covid and we didn’t have a barn; and of course the Pandemic was a challenge all around.
But then an early retirement buy-out from Laura's job in financial services was the icing on the cake. And in the fall of 2021 we sold our historic South Boston home and started our next chapter!
We are two people who have loved traveling abroad. Steve was born in France and Laura in Wisconsin, but we have lived in Boston for the majority of our lives. We love food, wine and cycling; animals, nature and holidays (especially Halloween). We love providing hospitality in the form of cooking for the multitudes. Steve makes Cake-Boss-style cakes. We host an annual holiday party where Steve constructs an enormous gingerbread house modeled after famous architecture and everyone we know comes to decorate it. We host an annual 20+ person outdoor sit-down dinner over Indigenous People’s Day weekend. We ran successful 2-unit lodging in Boston (you know the name of that one, but it gets deleted from profiles) and are addicted to sharing stories over wine with complete strangers. We participated in a local non-profit that matches Boston medical patients to free lodging when they could not afford to stay in the Boston area, and a similar non-profit for cross-country cyclists. We like to have fun!
The Shackteau is a labor of love.
We are here to serve. So hope you're hungry.
