Oklahoma's top new Airbnb host for 2022 has a surprising location for his guest house.

An artsy enclave of Oklahoma City or Tulsa? No.

Hopping Hochatown with its luxury mountain cabins? Sorry.

Comfortable accommodations at Medicine Park, the historic resort town at the foothills of the Wichita Mountains? Nope.

Airbnb's top new host in Oklahoma in 2022 offers a rustic cottage at the end of a dirt road in the middle of a pasture outside the town of Calera, population around 2,100, some 150 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.

The listing on Airbnb tells part of the tale of what makes the farmhouse attractive, mostly to folks from south of the Red River a few miles away. Texans and others are drawn to the listing title: FARMHOUSE ON 20 ACRES-LAKE TEXOMA GETAWAY.

More than a rustic farmhouse attracts folks to this top Oklahoma Airbnb

Ah, the popular lake is just a few miles to the west. But just about as close to the north is another big draw: Choctaw Casino & Resort in Durant.

And on the place itself, Pickles the horse whinnies, nickers, blows, snorts and makes other horsey sounds, and chickens cluck. Thirty of them.

The clucking hens — "Feed chickens and pick your own true free-range chicken eggs!" — captivate urbanites and suburbanites, said Erika Felder, who is the Airbnb host along with her husband, James. They live in the main house, shouting distance from their Western-themed short-term rental.

"People from Dallas are fascinated that we have chickens," she said.

"Please keep in mind that we are in the country and live on a dirt road."

Their guesthouse has two bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, a smart TV in the living room, and a dining area. Outdoor features include a small fishing pond, hammock, play area, several fire pits, and a patio with furniture for stargazing.

"We are excited to have y'all at the farm!" the Felders say on the Airbnb listing. Lest any sophisticate browsing listings for a getaway miss the full import of pasture, Pickles and chickens, they hammer it home, repeating it three times: "Please keep in mind that we are in the country and live on a dirt road."

James is 42 and retired from the U.S. Navy as a chief petty officer. He knows country. He grew up in the Moss area near Holdenville in rural Hughes County. He was surprised by the success he and Erika have found at Calera, in rural Bryan County.

She's 32, a former traveling nurse now working on a master's degree to be a family nurse practitioner, and grew up in the Los Angeles area. Son Wyatt is 5, and his mom is pregnant, so she said it will be a few months before she gets to ride Pickles.

They were living in Idaho when he decided he wanted to move back home to Oklahoma. They found the 20 acres with the two houses on Zillow and bought the property in August 2021.

"To be honest, I didn't think it would do very well," James said the other day by phone while feeding Pickles, his gift to Erika for Christmas. He said becoming an Airbnb host was her idea. "I thought it was a little bit crazy," he said. "(I thought), 'Nobody's going to want to come out here.'"

But somebody did.

"James has over 90 check-ins, maintains a near-perfect 4.97 rating and is already a Superhost after beginning hosting just this year," Airbnb said in reporting its top new hosts in each state. "He joins numerous other first-time Hosts in the state who are earning important additional income during this difficult economic time."

Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 of last year, new Airbnb hosts in Oklahoma with only one listing, like the Felders, earned more than $12 million, Airbnb said.

"It really has taken off with the casino close by, and the lake," Erika said.

Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Top new Airbnb host in Oklahoma is near Lake Texoma and Choctaw Casino