Although every house on Fire Island is run a little bit differently, there are general rules and 'guest' regulations that just make you a good housemate. The following guidelines were developed by Eytan, owner of The Beach Store.com and master house-runner. He has asked me to include them on this site for anyone who needs some guidelines.

Weekend schedule Holidays Guests Food Bill
 Bar Entertaiment Cleaning Service Laundry

Guests:

In order to keep the house comfortable, we must limit the number of guests per weekend.  Guests are welcome, but Eytan must be notified when you are planning to invite friends.  Your guests are your responsibility!  You must make sure they comply with the house rules and that they are courteous and pleasant to all house members.  Guests will be charged a fee for the per night of their stay.  Please don't take advantage of guest fees by having the same person come out week after week, or it won't be fair to the rest of the paying house members.  (The guest fees are applied towards paying the house bills, e.g.: electricity, telephone, water, gas, cable, cleaning service… etc.)

Food & Beverage:

FIB Note: Most houses are run with a "food plan". that means that for a certain fee (the fee can change depending on what was bought that week), you are assured that the person who runs the house will keep it stocked for the entire weekend.

A well run house is fully stocked with food and beverages, and we take care of most of the meals at the house.  Therefore, we strongly encourage the house members to commit to Saturday night dinner, when applicable.  At the end of the weekend, the food and beverage expenses will be divided among everyone at the house (guests included), using a points system.  Points are allocated according to the length of stay in the house, e.g. if you came Saturday rather than Friday you'll be charged less points.  There will not be any compensation for those who "just eat a salad" or "didn't eat the chicken".  However, we will try to accommodate everybody's dietary restrictions - just ask!

As we stock the house at the beginning, we will make a one time stock-up collection of $100 from each member of the house at the beginning of the summer!    Please note that the management of the house pays for all the staples (i.e. plates, flatware, napkins, paper towels, detergent, soap, cleaning products, toilet paper, garbage bags, storage bags, foil, plastic wrap, condoms, and tanning lotion)!

Based upon previous years, we estimate that the food bill for a typical weekend will vary from $40 to $45 per person.  (You may write a check.)  

Bar:

 With the stock up charge money, we will buy most of the common liquors, i.e. vodka, tequila, rum, whiskey, gin, etc... However, You are strongly encouraged to bring your favorite bottle of something, or a case of beer when coming out.   Even though we try to stock-up a full bar, we still need your help to complete it and keep a good collection of liquor throughout the summer.  Some of the money from the food bill will be applied toward beer, liquor, & soft drinks.

House Entertainment:

The house is fully equipped!  We have a sound system, a CD player, VCR, 18" satellite dish,  TV, Sony Play Station, and a few board games for rainy afternoons.  If you have good board games at home, please bring them out.  You are also encouraged to bring out your favorite CDs.  However, you must remember the music rules:

   1. You may never interrupt a song in the middle. (unless it is a REALLY bad song!!!)

   2. You may not play more than 3 songs in a row, without letting somebody else choose his or her tunes.

Cleaning Service:

For our convenience, the house will be cleaned every week.  The cleaning service vacuums, dusts, and sweeps the floors, rearranges the beds and couches, cleans the kitchen, runs a few loads of laundry, disinfects all the sanitary facilities, etc.  When you arrive on Friday night the house should be spotless.  Please let's make the effort to keep the house as clean as possible throughout the weekends, and the entire summer.  As a courtesy to others, please do your best to keep the house clean and neat.  When returning from the beach, please rinse your feet before entering the house, so you don't track sand into the house.  There's a loaded hose in front of the house for that.  Our summer will be better, if we are conscientious and concerned with our environment and our housemates.

Laundry / Sheets & Towels:

Laundry is the most difficult thing to manage in a share house.  There is a washer and a dryer in the house, which are used exclusively for the sheets and towels.  Please don't use them for your personal belongings!   Certainly, do not bring your dirty laundry from home, and don't wash your sneakers:) To manage the laundry situation, we need your cooperation.  Although, we do have sheets and towels in the house, we would appreciate it if you would bring your own.  This will help reduce the amount of laundry that accumulates at the end of the weekend.     Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

Weekend Schedule:

As a house policy, it is not appropriate for a house member to come out on their off weekend uninvited.  If the house is not crowded, with the proper planning, you may be able to visit.  We will always be more than happy to make up for any weekends that you may miss.  If you would like to use the house during the week, please notify Eytan in advance to make sure that the house will be available.  A ½ share member is entitled to one one-week stay at the house during the weekdays. Please note, we do not encourage members to quit their job and move in for the summer : )

Holiday weekends:

All house members are invited to visit on the holiday weekends (Memorial Day weekend, Independence Day weekend, and Labor Day weekend.)  As you can see on the weekend schedule, there will be specific bed priorities on two of the holiday weekends. On Labor Day weekend, the groups (A/B) will switch - one night on, and one night off.  We will need your cooperation during these weekends.  There will be more people than on a usual weekend and everybody has to be especially considerate and understanding.  But, be assured these are the best weekends of the summer.  Guests will not be allowed on the holiday weekends!  

See You out there!!!