Mutual aid · Pet sitting · Home sitting
Have your home and pets looked after by a local caretaker / pet & home sitter during your absences. Or ask for, and return, a small favour near you, with or without pets.
And behind every exchange, a meeting you wouldn't have looked for.
Home sitting on one side, mutual aid between locals on the other. You choose, one, the other, or both.
Owners
Someone local watches over your home and your pets. You meet them before leaving. You choose.
No subscriptionI am looking for a caretaker / pet & home sitter →Caretaker / pet & home sitters
Live in homes, with pets, in corners you would never have explored otherwise. A sit is also a journey.
I want to sit →Local mutual aid, independent of sitting
Watering a vegetable garden, putting up a shelf, sharing a skill, visiting an isolated person. No sitting, no pet required, just locals helping each other.
Discover mutual aid →Last minute unexpected
Hospitalisation, last-minute travel, family emergency: a local caretaker / pet & home sitter can take over in a few hours.
What we rarely talk about is what happens around it. Getting to know the local grandmother and her story because you helped her pick her garden fruit. Exchanging with Gerardo while he gives you a small favour with DIY, and offering him a home-made meal in return.
You don't need a pet for a meeting to begin. Asking for a small favour, offering one: it's already opening a door. Sitting a house is opening another, same gesture, two scales.
We learn, we discover, we grow attached, without looking for it. Just by leaving space for what can happen.
Before, there was someone local who would come by to water the garden, who looked after the dog, who came to fix a shutter. Someone to whom we offered a piece of cake or a small favour in return.
This habit hasn't disappeared, we simply no longer dare to ask the first question. Guardiens is the pretext to ask it again, and along the way, live experiences that no organised trip could offer you.
Your vegetable garden during holidays. Your chickens this weekend. Walking your dog after an operation. Asking for it isn't admitting a weakness, it's trusting.
No money, no subscription. That's the bet.
You know how to prune roses. You love dogs. You have two hours on Saturday morning. Propose, and live what you would never have experienced without this meeting.
That is how a local fabric reweaves itself.
A few exchanges seen on Guardiens this week
Village life hasn't disappeared. It was simply waiting for someone to dare the first question.
Et voici l'anatomie détaillée d'une annonce.
Ce qui vous attend
Voici à quoi ressemblent les gardes sur Guardiens.
Bientôt disponibleBelle maison en briques avec terrasse ensoleillée. Laïka (labrador 4 ans) adore les balades au parc de la Tête d'Or. Les deux chats sont indépendants.
Nadia
Bientôt disponibleVue imprenable sur le lac d'Annecy. Trois poules pondeuses (les œufs sont pour vous), un chat discret, un potager à arroser.
Rania
Bientôt disponibleAppartement lumineux au pied du Vercors. Milo et Louane sont habitués aux gardiens, une semaine et ils vous ont adopté. Quartier animé, tout à pied.
Giulia
Trust & perimeter
Four benchmarks for leaving peacefully: free for owners, a meeting before every sit, verified profiles, and a perimeter you set yourself.
01
Listing, applications, messaging: everything is free. No credit card requested.
02
A coffee, a visit of the accommodation, a tour of the instructions. Trust isn't guessed: it is built, face to face.
03
Identity document checked within 24h, reviews published by previous owners, history of completed sits. Everything is transparent.
04
Hyper-local for a quick fix, expanded for a change of scenery: you decide how far you want to go. Every sit becomes an opening door.
Testimonials collected from Founder programme members (January – May 2026). Real first names and cities, stories anonymised at their request.
Plus de 590 membres ont déjà rejoint le réseau, partout en France, de Valence à Quimper, de Paris à Sète.
Deux chats et un chien. On n'avait pas pris de vraies vacances depuis trois ans. Notre gardienne habite à dix minutes. On s'est rencontrés autour d'un café le jeudi. On est partis le samedi.
Nadia2 chats, 1 chien · Mérignac (33)Mars 2026 · Founder Programme
Je cherchais un logement temporaire entre deux jobs. J'ai gardé quatre maisons en deux mois. J'ai découvert des endroits que j'habitais depuis dix ans sans jamais vraiment connaître.
TomasGardien · Grenoble (38)Février 2026 · Founder Programme
On a une maison en Ardèche qu'on laissait vide huit mois par an. Maintenant elle vit. Les gens qui la gardent nous envoient des photos du jardin. C'est bizarre comme ça fait du bien.
Rania & DavidMaison de famille · Ardèche (07)Avril 2026 · Founder Programme
The habit of opening up to locals has been lost. For lack of a pretext.
Elisa, my partner and co-founder of Guardiens, arrived from Argentina with a visa that didn't allow her to work. She looked after pets. She would come home with stories: people opening their doors, their lives, freely. Strangers who ended up inviting us for Christmas.
Elisa and I looked after 37 houses in five years, in villages, cities, and hamlets.
We never looked after houses. We were invited into lives.
That's what the village used to do naturally.
Guardiens is the pretext that was missing. On one side, small favours of mutual aid between local people: a vegetable garden watered in exchange for a meal, one skill for another, a small favour returned in kind. On the other, independently, house-sitting: your keys entrusted to someone you've looked in the eye.
You will leave with peace of mind. You will return with a story. We didn't expect it to matter so much.
That's why we built Guardiens, so you could live this too.
, Jérémie & Elisa
Concrete guides to prepare your sit, and local hubs for the most active cities, Lyon, Annecy, Grenoble, and all over France.
Guides & advice
House-sitting by city
Whatever your department, you will find a sitter nearby.
You will leave with peace of mind. You will return with something else, a discovered corner, a meeting, someone you would never have crossed paths with.
Registration in 2 minutes, no credit card required.
How does it work?
Anticipez : publiez votre annonce maintenant pour trouver le bon gardien avant le pic de l'été. La rencontre se fait toujours avant le départ.
Publish your listing
Your dates, your pets, your house. A few minutes are enough, your listing is online.
Choose after a meeting
Local caretaker / pet & home sitters apply. You read profiles, reviews, you chat. Then you meet, a coffee, a visit, before deciding.
Leave with peace of mind
Once the sitting agreement is signed, your sitter moves in. You receive news. You return home, often with a new relationship.
Registration in 2 minutes · No credit card required