Finally Bought Some Land

[SlowPokePete]

Great news and looks beautiful!

And agree on the creek...what a treasure that will be.

Good luck!

SPP

[joosttx]

Love it! Congrats. Whens the turkey hunt? :). FYI get an umbrella policy for it.

[TTX1]

#winning.

You may never need to leave your acreage, however there is no shortage of D2-style farm roads, fire roads, and trails in a 50 mile radius around your spot...

Hope you like native berry pies, maple syrup, farm stands, heirloom varieties of anything and everything...

Congratulations!

[zetroc]

Two words: "guest house".

Congrats. That's the dream.

[Dallas Tex]

Absolutely gorgeous.

[j44ke]

SteveP - that explains the Assos bibs hanging on the tree. I averted my eyes just in case.

My wife is already looking at snowshoes. I'd rather have cross country skis. There's evidently a nearby apple orchard where the owner is into skiing and opens the orchards for use in winter. But that will need to wait until next winter. Fingers crossed for warmer weather in the meantime. Makes it easier to dig holes.

We joke about roughing it, but there is a really excellent ice cream shop in Great Barrington and Hudson has a restaurant called Swoon that is terrific, so roughing it doesn't mean much. Even the dirt is clean.

Houston - thanks, insurance is on the list for tomorrow. A lot of trees to fall out of, so need to be covered.

[TMB]

The only advice I would give anyone looking o build, is "don't overbuild".

Just because the concrete truck is there, or the framers are going to be there anyway don't give in to the temptation to "just add another 1000, maybe 1500 square feet."

[choke]

Very nice....congrats. I grew up in the woods with a creek about 100ft away from the house; looking at your pics brings back some fond memories.

[xjoex]

Awesome!

Last summer after the forest fire in our town we got to thinking "What if we have to evacuate with dogs? What if the house burns down?" So we bought 10 acres in Moab and it has been great. We walk the pups off the leash in the yard get to escape the winter in Colorado. The house is small, the garage is big. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Joe

[summilux]

"I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud glade."

Yeats didn't know cross but you do...

[j44ke]

After a number of cautionary tales, we've set our budget at 60% of what we can afford with the goal of getting a solid 1800-2000 sq ft. design that fits our needs. Then if there are technical adjustments or if we decide to upgrade a feature or area of the house that will improve long term durability (like sliding glass doors or mechanicals) we can do so rationally. We want a house that is easy to manage, durable through the seasons, and very simply but comfortably furnished. 2 beds, 2 (large) couches, wood stove, dining table, chairs, that's it.

Here is the LevenBetts house that started this whole process. We tried to buy it, the sellers wouldn't budge on the price, so we said okay let's build our own. How hard could it be?

"I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud glade."

Yeats didn't know cross but you do...

Oh nice work! I might have to get that carved into a stone and put somewhere on the property. I like the idea of lost and found curiosities in the woods.

I still haven't figured out how to get a dog out of this deal though. I think the creek needs a dog.

Here is the "grandma" pine tree on the property. The sellers said probably 150 years old. It's been hit at least once by lightning, and it has lost its crown, but it's still upright.

FullSizeRender.jpg

[guido]

It's been hit at least once by lightning, and it has lost its crown, but it's still upright.

I've been feeling like that a lot this spring...

Big old trees are the soul of the place. We have several on the edge of out woods that seem to be leading the others...

[monadnocky]

That looks like a border pine; I'm not surprised it's located along that stone wall.

[davids]

Very cool! Congratulations!

Is your plan to continue to maintain two homes, one the city and one in the country? Coincidentally, my wife & I were talking yesterday about old friends who've purchased a Back Bay pied a terre, while keeping their waterside home on the South Shore. We can't figure out the two-home logistics, but that probably just means we're single-resident people...

If you're thinking about building a place where you'll grow old, I'd look seriously at single-level living. Or at least a design that would allow you guys to live successfully on a single floor at some point down the road. You've definitely got the space to build out rather than up.

Your 60% idea seems appropriately cautious. I'm going to throw out an idea here - Have you looked at pre-fab options? Our (1999) home is a modular build, and the factory-built pieces are supremely solid. I'm guessing it would save some construction costs over building from scratch, too. You clearly want a clean, modern look and I bet there are ways to use pre-fab modules to get to that kind of design.

Keep us updated on the progress. This is fun to watch unfold!

[j44ke]

That looks like a border pine; I'm not surprised it's located along that stone wall.

It's marked on some earlier surveys of the land as both a corner & as a "X distance from lg pine" measurements.

[Too Tall]

Save some lumber for the tree house.

[Nierman]

Very cool! Still a dream of mine - having grown up on acreage - but in '98 we built on the edge of suburbia with my back yard adjacent to 3000 acres of conservation land with trails and lakes. Every time we think of relocating we rethink our current amenities.

Long term plan once our dependents have moved out, is to do like xjoex & build an 800sqft cabin in the foothills above Colorado's Wet Mountain Valley as an escape pod. Singletrack is a bit lean, but gravel for days. Love the view.

Then I can justify one of these:

[j44ke]

Very cool! Congratulations!

Is your plan to continue to maintain two homes, one the city and one in the country? Coincidentally, my wife & I were talking yesterday about old friends who've purchased a Back Bay pied a terre, while keeping their waterside home on the South Shore. We can't figure out the two-home logistics, but that probably just means we're single-resident people...

If you're thinking about building a place where you'll grow old, I'd look seriously at single-level living. Or at least a design that would allow you guys to live successfully on a single floor at some point down the road. You've definitely got the space to build out rather than up.

Your 60% idea seems appropriately cautious. I'm going to throw out an idea here - Have you looked at pre-fab options? Our (1999) home is a modular build, and the factory-built pieces are supremely solid. I'm guessing it would save some construction costs over building from scratch, too. You clearly want a clean, modern look and I bet there are ways to use pre-fab modules to get to that kind of design.

Keep us updated on the progress. This is fun to watch unfold!

Yep, two homes. We've been renting in Amagansett for about 8 years, so we've practiced. You always forget something at the other place, and you are never at the country place enough. But that's only been Sept-May, so no summers and we're wondering how this will affect our travel plans. I think we'll just invert and travel in the winter to somewhere sunny to keep the joints limber. Eventually we'll trade our city apartment for a sleeping closet or just ditch city life and take to the wilderness. The house will be designed with sprightly 60-70 year olds in mind.

We have looked at prefab. Original plan many years ago was to buy a prefab from Alchemy Architects and put it in the Chiricahuas down in AZ. But that's not practical with my wife's need of a nearby international airport. These architects have really studied airflow & passive solar, and the three houses of theirs I've seen all have this crazy ability to heat and cool in contrast to the season. Their newest house requires almost no supplementary heating due to passive solar, and the original house we saw had a built-in breeze in summer. Zero wind outside, and then in the house there would be a nice breeze. Uncanny. So we like the idea of something where energy management is the design, and it seems like having total control over the shape is key to that.

[xjoex]

If you're thinking about building a place where you'll grow old, I'd look seriously at single-level living.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. Our place is single level and I now hate our other house for having so many stairs!

You definitely need a dog. A big furry bastard, preferably bought from the farmer who owns the orchard.

-Joe

[j44ke]

Very cool! Still a dream of mine - having grown up on acreage - but in '98 we built on the edge of suburbia with my back yard adjacent to 3000 acres of conservation land with trails and lakes. Every time we think of relocating we rethink our current amenities.

Long term plan once our dependents have moved out, is to do like xjoex & build an 800sqft cabin in the foothills above Colorado's Wet Mountain Valley as an escape pod. Singletrack is a bit lean, but gravel for days. Love the view.

Then I can justify one of these:

Hah! Good plan. I've already been offered a deal on a Gator with a snowplow attachment, but I know well enough to reject offers like that. There are reasons for eager offers to sell machines.