This Brockton couple rents their pool to strangers — How does that work?

BROCKTON — Solmaz Celik McDowell grew up in Turkey, close to the Mediterranean, but not within walking distance for a swim. On beach days, her family would take carloads of friends and neighbors.

"Swimming was always to be shared," she said on a recent visit to her West Side home.

Solmaz keeps family tradition alive by renting out her home's heated, outdoor salt-water pool.

From May through early August, the couple rented out their pool 31 times. They use an Airbnb-like app called Swimply to organize the rentals.

"We like to see people having fun in our pool," said Solmaz, a historian of enslaved Africans in the Ottoman Empire. That research interest gives the pool its name: Diaspora Pool.

She and husband, Ceasar McDowell, moved from Watertown to Brockton the first summer of the pandemic. Looking for more space and greater diversity, they found both in Brockton.

Risky business?

Some might think it's crazy to invite strangers to your personal pool, with the risk of lawsuits if something goes wrong. But Solmaz and Ceasar said an insurance package offered through Swimply gives them peace of mind.

The company provides a $1M host liability insurance policy and says hosts are eligible for property damage protection of up to $10,000.

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Some authorities have cast wary eyes on app users. A province in Canada warned Swimply hosts that they risk their pools being considered "public pools" by renting them out, triggering fines for violating regulations. Swimply overcame a potential legal challenge on the same lines in Wisconsin in 2021. The city of Palm Springs, California, has prohibited Swimply listings for residents who hold city-issued short-term vacation rental permits.

'They were so respectful'

The McDowells impose a few pool ground rules: no alcohol, no smoking and life vests for children. As befits a host of Turkish descent, hookahs are allowed as an exception to the no-smoking rule.

The couple admits feeling wary when a group booked their pool for a 21st-birthday party. But the young people seemed committed to proving themselves good guests.

"They were so respectful," Solmaz said.

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If you've got a pool and are considering renting it out, the McDowells have some advice: Make sure you like people. Swimply has no rule that hosts have to be at home when guests come over, but the McDowells said they tend to be on the property.

Rates for the McDowells' pool start at $45 an hour for up to five people. They cap the number of guests at 15.

The McDowells declined to say how much money they've made on rentals. But they're covering their costs, said Ceasar, who is an MIT professor.

"It pays for us to have a pool," he said.

Swimply claims some of its hosts generate six figures of revenue, and that since the company's founding in 2019, its hosts have ginned up $22 million.

The McDowells take hosting seriously. They've renovated part of their basement, giving guests a bathroom, a place to change clothes and a fridge to store food and drinks. Guests also get to enjoy the fruits of Solmaz' work as a furniture flipper. She turns yard-sale or trash day finds into works of art.

A check of Swimply's site on Thursday, Aug. 11 turned up about a dozen pools for rent in the circulation area of The Enterprise. Prices ranged from $30 to $89 an hour for up to five people, with pools ranging in size from circular above-ground pools to ones 40 feet by 20 feet.

Sharing their refuge

The McDowells' pool is just yards from busy West Elm Street, but it doesn't feel that way. They've surrounded it with cryptomeria, fencing and a vegetable garden, which currently is producing eggplant, okra, zucchini and cucumber. Lots of cucumber.

Ceasar said the 1925 house once belonged to executives of a shoe company which later became part of Reebok. It's a reminder of the wealth Brockton has produced over the decades. And the McDowells are eager to share their part of it.

Send your news tips to reporter Chris Helms by email at CHelms@enterprisenews.com or connect on Twitter at @HelmsNews. Thank you, subscribers. You make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Brockton Enterprise.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton Swimply: Solmaz and Ceasar McDowell rent their swimming pool