Had I been younger, single and without children, I'd do it for the experiance. I'm pretty sure that some sort of "minimum wage" could be negotiated with the owners in addition to the room/board etc. At least enough to have some spending money. But then, since they are in an isolated area, chances are that you only get to town every few months. So you won't be spending much money there anyway.

And as the owner is a PH, so much the better! The year might evolve into other interesting job possiblities.

Erik