The interior of Leo's House

Our structures are built using contemporary and traditional natural building methods and locally sourced materials. We construct with bamboo, cob, wattle and daub, light clay, natural plasters and wood found in the area's surrounding forests. Our building methods strive to minimize the impact on the surrounding environment while blending in beautifully with the property's forests. Each of our structures is unique, comfortable and gorgeous.

Leo's House
$40 per night per person for private single with shared bathroom including all meals except Sunday dinner

$75 per night per couple for private double with shared bathroom including all meals except Sunday dinner

$175 per night for entire house (sleeps up to 6 people) including all meals except Sunday dinner

This is a breathtaking structure showcasing an assortment of natural construction techniques.

The front porch at Leo's is a study in natural building techniques & materials

The house was built using locally procured materials, including wood milled on site, bamboo, clay and even coconut shells. It is a stunning work of art, with bamboo molding, poured adobe floors, cedar siding, custom built furniture, bamboo walls with cob infill, beautiful views out the front and back porches, and much more. The property features 250 acres of protected forest, 5 kilometers of trails, fruits trees, views to the Pacific Ocean, waterfalls and swimming holes. Leo's comes equipped with a refrigerator, stove, running water, electricity, an indoor shower and one flush toilet. It has four bedrooms, one with a queen bed, one with a double bed, and two with single beds. Guests generally dine at the Main House of the Ranch though can opt for private dinners at Leo's with advance notice. Leo’s is approximately 1.5 kilometers from the main house.  Guests staying here that do not have vehicles should be aware of the 25-minute walk between Leo's and the Ranch's main facilities.  Mario, the property's groundskeeper, is available to act as your guide in the forest.

The main house, fronted by patio and organic garden

The Main House
$35 per night per person for shared room with shared bathroom including all meals except dinner on Sundays

$40 per night per person for private single with shared bathroom including all meals except dinner on Sundays

$55 per night per couple for shared room with shared bathroom including all meals except dinner on Sundays

$60 per night per couple for private double with shared bathroom including all meals except dinner on Sundays

The main house is set on the edge of our 235-acre private wildlife refuge and features close proximity to 7 kilometers of forest trails, abundant wildlife, waterfalls, rivers, swimming holes and beautiful forests that border the La Cangreja National Park.

Our group house, Jeanne's

Jeanne's House
$35 per night per person for single bed in shared house including all meals except Sunday dinner

$55 per night per couple for double bed in shared house including all meals except Sunday dinner

Jeanne's house is an attractive structure set amongst mango, banana, pejibaye, cashew, startfruit and other tropical fruit trees and sits on the edge of the rainforest. The house is outfitted with seven beautiful bamboo bunkbeds, one double bed, five Mayan hammocks, running water, electricity, a flush toilet, a gorgeous bamboo composting toilet, two beautiful and private passively solar heated showers and an indoor shower. The house accompanies 65 acres of protected forest, six kilometers of trails, a 60-foot cascade, views to the national park, and beautiful swimming holes. Jeanne’s is also home to our native hardwood nursery.

Through the trees, the Hooch

The Hooch
$40 per night per person for shared room with shared bathroom including all meals except Sunday dinner

$45 per night per person for private single with shared bathroom including all meals except Sunday dinner

$65 per night per couple for shared room with shared bathroom including all meals except Sunday dinner

$70 per night per couple for private double with shared bathroom including all meals except Sunday dinner

This is one of Rancho Mastatal’s most interesting structures and is built almost entirely out of bamboo. It's a work of art providing guests with a truly intimate experience with the nature that abounds around it.

Beds on first floor of Hooch

This magnificent private building sits high amongst the trees with dramatic vistas out towards the forest. The Hooch is outfitted with one double bed and two single beds on two floors and sleeps up to four people. It features a beautiful bamboo floor. Guests staying in the Hooch share two beautiful showers and an awesome composting toilet with interns at the Hankey House. This option is appropriate for those guests looking for a unique experience and is not appropriate for people uncomfortable going up and down ladders. And due bamboo's flexibility, the Hooch does move a bit as you do. This is probably our most popular living structure. And as with all of our other accommodations, the Hooch has perfect access to many of our trails, swimming holes and waterfalls.

La Choza through the bananas

La Choza
Currently not available for rent

This beautiful handcrafted house and Tim and Robin's current home was designed by Robin and built with the help of many hands using cob, wattle and daub, lime plasters, bamboo, locally milled wood and recycled fence posts. It's a wonderful space featuring bamboo, wood, and earthen floors and two styles of earth construction. The site is also home to a beautiful earthen and bamboo composting toilet and outdoor shower, the Ranch's Elmer Hohl Campo de Pitching (horseshoe pit), and fabulous views to the highest point in the La Cangreja National Park. The front yard space is the site for most of the Ranch's bonfires.

La Casucha and its beautiful tree

This structure was built in 2007 and was our first foray into timberframe construction.  Since then, timberframing has become of our favorite building techniques.

We used locally harvested pine and pilon for the frame, cedar for the floor and teak for the deck frame. The walls are made of a combination of wattle and daub, cedar and bamboo. It's a simple yet awesome structure.  This extremely private cabin sits on the edge of the rainforest on Jeanne's side of the property and provides an amazing space to view wildlife, meditate, do yoga, or to simply enjoy the company of others. This space is for the more adventurous as it currently does not have running water though it does have access to a beautiful composting toilet and electricity thanks to a small solar array that provides dependable light. The pure beauty and tranquility of the immediate area and the comfortable queen sized bed more than make up for its lack of modern comforts.  And for early morning hikers, simply plop out of bed, walk a few steps, and enjoy the solitude and beauty of the rainforest.  The closest shower to the cabin is a 2-3 minute walk. 

Starboard Cork from Composter

Starboard Cork
$40 per night per person for private single with shared bathroom including all meals except dinner on Sunday

$65 per night per couple for private double with shared bathroom including all meals except dinner on Sunday

In early 2008, we began construction on a timberframe structure called Starboard Cork, named after a song written by Deivis Garcia and commonly performed by Alan Smith. This structure is the part-time home of long-time friends and frequent visitors Alan "Sucia" Smith and Geoff "Grandelon" Kinder and when they're not in Mastatal, we use this striking building, poised in front of some of the most breathtaking views of La Cangreja, for visitors. The timberframe and wattle and daub house, designed by Tyler See, Geoff and Al and constructed with the hands of many is nearly complete.  It boasts two beautiful bedrooms, a spectacular common space, wonderful earth sculpture reliefs, and amazing stained glass and natural art throughout.  It is accompanied by a lovely timberframe composting toilet/shower structure thanks to the hard work of Ranch friends Anne Fleusche, Erin Campbell and others. The house is powered entirely by the sun and has running water. 

The vista from the Rancho Mastatal campsite of the peaks of La Cangrega National Park

We recommend a high-quality tent and a ground sheet and a tarp, the latter to protect your tent from both UV rays and very heavy rains. There is no electricity or water at the sites, though those camping will have full access to the facilities at the houses and elsewhere.

Our Zapatón neighbors provide simple and culturally rewarding homestay

Homestays
$15 per night per person including all meals except dinner on Sunday

We offer a unique opportunity for visitors who would like to fully immerse themselves in the community of Mastatal. We work with a number of local families to offer homestay opportunities for those that want to see, firsthand, how the wonderful people of Mastatal live.

Visitors staying with families have the chance to work on their Spanish, eat traditional Tico cuisine, and work side by side with the family members. Guests lodging with families still have full access to the Ranch, and often times eat lunch with us. Breakfast and dinner is generally shared with the family. This is incredible opportunity to participate in a cultural exchange, while helping a local family to generate some additional income. Accommodations are comfortable, yet a bit more rustic than at the Ranch.

Our wattle and daub and bamboo classroom

The Classroom
Our delightful, open-air and spacious classroom, located behind Jeanne's House, provides an awesome space for lectures, presentations, yoga, meditation, studying, reading and hanging out after hours. This bamboo framed structure also built using cob, wattle and daub and wood, comes equipped with a secured storage area for educational equipment, hammocks, two large tables with benches, a lab space, rocking chairs and great views into the forest and out to one of the Ranch's agricultural areas featuring bananas, pineapples and plantains. It's built on the edge of the rainforest and offers wonderful access to Jeanne's trails and house. It also boasts water and electricity, a screen for watching movies and showing presentations, and a massage table.

The barn and toolshed

Toolshed, Barn and Workshop
We have a fully functioning work area that includes a timberframe/wattle and daub toolshed, a bamboo barn, and an open-air workshop. The structures themselves provide inspiration as well as a wonderful environment for interns and local workers to learn about natural building techniques and furnituremaking and work on a whole host of building-related projects. It's a comfortable, enjoyable and entertaining setting that provides countless memories for those spending time in this area of the Ranch. We have a full assortment of power and hand tools, locally sourced materials, a section on natural building in our library and competent builders on site, all which provide an ideal situation for building enthusiasts.

Cob, wattle and daub composting toilet and shower photo by Tim O'Hara

Composting Toilets and Showers
The Ranch has five composting toilets and an equal number of outdoor showers, all constructed with the same amount of care, craft, and beauty as the living structures found throughout the premises. Rancho Mastatal successfully composts almost all of the human waste generated by its inhabitants and guests and uses the rich compost throughout the Ranch on ornamentals and bamboos. The use of composting toilets saves an enormous amount of precious water, provides the Ranch with valuable fertilizer and greatly reduces the stress on the Ranch's septic systems. Composting toilets are new to many people that visit the Ranch and take a little getting used to but most people leave the Ranch with a newfound love for the technolgy and a curiousity for how to build one at home. In 2009, the Ranch unveiled its first methane bidigestor toilet and uses the methane generated from human and other waste to cook with. With this technology, the Ranch has reduced its use of propane by about 40%.

Meth Lab photo by Carolyn Monastra

Biodigester Toilet
We are currently capturing methane produced from our bidigester toilet to cook with in the Ranch's kitchen. The biodigester also provides the Ranch with nutrient-rich fertilizer for our nursery and fields. We encourage as many interns and guests as possible to use the biodigester toilet so that we can maximize our methane production in an effort to reduce our dependency on imported propane. It's a simple, life-changing, eye-opening and magical little system. Jose Luis Zuniga, the organic coffee and vegetable producer who provides us with all of our java, helped us to design and build it. We are sincerely grateful for his important contribution. This system provides us with product that both enhances our vegetation and allows us to cook while keeping methane, a damaging greenhouse gas, out of the atmosphere. Another step to close the loop.

The Ranch's Chickens

The Kevin F. Costner Hen House
The Kevin F. Costner Hen House, named by former intern, designer, and builder Kristi Knudson after her favorite heartthrob actor Kevin F. Costner and star of many a Hollywood blockbuster including Dances with Wolves, Bull Durham and Waterworld, provides accommodations for our 50-plus female avian friends. Their eggs provide a rich source of protein and loads of enjoyment for Ranch interns and guests. The beautiful timberframe structure in which the hens live part-time is a comfortable and safe nighttime resting place. They stay inside after dark, away from prowling nocturnal rainforest mammals and reptiles, and roam free during the day to exercise and supplement their diets with the plentiful bugs found around our garden bench. They also consume a good chunk of our kitchen waste turning it into valuable fertilizer. We collect their eggs daily before they make their way into our kitchen to be transformed into bread, pancakes, stratas, muffins and other culinary delights.

Goats in the Goat House photo by Timo

The Goat Houses
In addition to our hens we raise goats, ducks and fish and continue to slowly expand our animal husbandry activities.  Thanks to the building prowess of TYLER and PROFESSOR WATSON, the goats now have two amazingly luxurious abodes, one for the does and the other for the buck and whether (castrated male), in which to lay their heads at night.  These beautiful and fun-loving bovids spend much of their day browsing outdoors helping to create new growing space for the Ranch and adding valuable manure to the food systems before retiring to the safety and warmth of their new digs out near the hen house, pond and Casucha.  We milk the lactating girls twice a day and produce our own goat cheese for guests and others.  

The Ranch Nursery

The Nurseries
We maintain a tree nursery stocked with hundreds of native and fruit species including Purple Heart, Cristobal, Almendro, Cocobolo, Ron-ron, Guanacaste, Pejibaye, Balsamo, Roble, Gallinazo, Pochote, various species of tropical cedar and more. Tom McDonald manages the nursery with his groups, our interns and local help and with their assistance has planted thousands of trees in the region since 2001. We expanded the tree nursery in 2009 to be able to increase our reforestation efforts.  We also maintain an active and dynamic garden nursery to supply our growing gardens and to fulfill the needs of anyone looking to grow more food in our region.  

Food
We provide visitors with three wholesome, delicious meals each day. Incredible, healthy and scrumptious food is one our trademarks and generates more positive comments than almost any other aspect of the “Ranch Experience”. Meals are mostly vegetarian. We encourage anyone who enjoys the culinary arts to help out if they would like. For snacks we generally have our own bananas available and on most days we offer a baked sweet bread in the afternoon.

Payment Preferences and Options
Our preferred form of payment is cash, either in United States or Costa Rican currency (colones), paid to us prior to your departure from Mastatal. Our Costa Rican bank does not accept foreign checks, or traveler's checks from a third party. If you would like to pay prior to arriving to the Ranch, you have the option to send us a check to our US bank, or to pay with a credit card via PayPal.com.

To send us a check drawn on a US bank prior to your arrival to Costa Rica, please make your check out to Tim O'Hara and send to:

Kevin P. O'Hara
Vice President
M and T Bank
68 Exchange Street - 2nd Floor
Binghamton, NY 13901

If you would like to pay with a credit card, please go to Pay Here with Credit Card and click on the PayPal button. PLEASE ADD 3.9% OF YOUR TOTAL BILL TO YOUR PAYMENT WHEN PAYING WITH PayPal.

Our bounty

Laundry
A local woman and our close friend Annia is available to do laundry at a reasonable cost or folks can do their own in one of the outdoor sinks/basins or in our hand-cranked washing machine designed and built by Greg Watson. Bring biodegradable laundry soap with you if you plan on doing your own.

Phone and Internet
There is a public telephone in the center of town.  This phone does not accept incoming calls from the US or Canada but does allow outgoing international calls with an in-country phone card.  The number is 2410-6085.  This phone is at times out of service.  The local pulperia sometimes sells phone cards but we recommend that if you plan on making a call on this phone while in Mastatal that you purchase a phone card or two prior to arriving to the Ranch.  There is also small Internet cafe in the town of Mastatal (open Monday through Saturday from noon to 8 p.m.) where you can make outgoing international calls without a phone call and use the Internet.  One of the four computers there usually has SKYPE accessibility but not always. The next closest Internet services are in Puriscal, a two-hour bus ride from the Ranch. We do have a phone at the Ranch though it is generally not available for guest use except in the case of an emergency or when other phones in town are down.  The Ranch's phone number is 2410-6263. 

Special Transportation
To arrange a private shuttle from or to the airport, the Central Valley, Quepos, Puriscal, Jaco or just about anywhere else in the country, please contact our friend and driver Fernando Arias, 011 (506) 2416-7961, 011 (506) 8633-2967, gomastatal@gmail.com.  Fernando's a wonderful person and an amazing resource and will gladly spend whatever additional time you need with him to pick up supplies, stop by the bank, eat or do just about anything else prior to arriving to your destination. For more information go to our Directions page.