Hello,
We are an American family restoring a historical building in VERY rural Germany. In our daily lives, we are quite introverted but we travel ~once per month. Our main hobby is DIY renovations, but this is exceptionally difficult with 2 preschoolers (age 2 & 5) who need constant attention. We also like game nights, hiking, audiobooks, beer, and have a massive indoor garden. Our house is usually messy with a backlog of chores and half-completed projects. We don't expect you to clean up after us.
We left academia and now Dad works full time and Mom stays at home managing the kids, household, and renovations.
The best fit for our family would be someone introverted who will make their own entertainment most evenings/off days (artist? writer? reader?) or someone who will use our house as a "home base" and go travel elsewhere during the week. (We are 90 minutes to Frankfurt and 3 hours to Paris.)
Couples are welcome.
A German speaker would be ideal as we all need to improve our German.
Mom speaks English, bad German, and bad French. Dad speaks English and very bad Spanish.
We are a non-religious, meat-eating family, but we can accommodate many preferences. Our 5-year old boy loves his dollhouse and our 2-year old girl is usually a T-Rex. They thrive on constant attention.

You get: a mini apartment (with kitchen) in a historic building plus meals with the family (but it's a lot of fruit and frozen pizza). Our village is a beautiful, forested location with lots of bike and hiking trails, horse farms, and bus/train stops. However, it is VERY rural with no shopping or restaurants in town, just a bakery open 5 mornings a week. Mom is happy to drive you around within ~1 hour distance and we will provide a bike. If you travel with us, we pay your expenses. If you're taking a break from academics... Mom can tutor organic chemistry, calculus, and PhD-level English writing, including grants.
You give: 2-3 days a week of TV-free childcare (PLAY!) in 4-8 hour spans so we can work on renovations. We are flexible around YOUR schedule. Mess and outdoor play are encouraged. Additional hours of childcare and/or reno help are negotiable and paid. Another local family is also interested in paid childcare. If you want to leave your mark on a historic building (mural? ownership of a Project? message hidden in a wall?) that can happen.