My new/old house in a small upstate New York town has a tiny yard. At first I thought I could make do. I'd get some foliage up on trellises to provide privacy, fence the deer out all around so I could plant anything I wanted anywhere I wanted to, and eventually make it a little paradise. I suppose I could still do that, but I long for open spaces, and fragrant woods, and running brooks, and and and...
So today I went a lookin' for the perfect retirement getaway property. Check out what I found!
I pulled up to the beginning of the driveway to the house, waited for the land specialist Paul (from Whitetail Properties) to arrive, and wondered how on earth we were going to get up the muddy, rutted lane. I knew my car wouldn't make it up the first fifty feet of the more than three thousand feet to go.
Paul pulled up with this contraption on a trailer! I spent the afternoon riding (if you call being scared shitless "riding") around a ninety six acre parcel on this thing. At one point bramble got tangled in my hair and nearly pulled me out. My hair ripped out instead. Paul seemed to think he had taken his vehicular mischievousness just a tad too far, and took it easier on me after that.
I could show you shots of several streams, forests, fields and muddy roads, with not a single sighting of another house, road, power line or car, but what I really want you to see is the cabin. Whitetail Properties says:
Open concept in its design, and impressive in its construction, this all hand hewn log home boasts massive cabers for the center beams, which are 14” x 10”, with 18” x 24” log faces. The joists are 8” x 6”. The floorboards are made with wood from the property harvested by the Amish, and are a medley of Pine, Hemlock, Cherry and Ash alternating in width from 7”, 8” and 10” and fastened with custom made cut nails. The kitchen floor is pine, with a hardwood subfloor is laid at 45 degrees to the joists. There are three antique interior doors custom made from chestnut, and the main doors are detailed with custom made wrought iron hardware crafted by a Dutch Blacksmith. The chimney is central to the home and made with Georgia Brick, and the flue Ohio Superior Clay with a 6” I.D. This home is a true green experience with no plywood, no poly materials, no glues, etc. fashioned with dowels, windows with wood muntins and all natural materials throughout the home, living here is a fresh breath of being in sync with nature and the joy of experiencing an off grid lifestyle and green footprint.
Who cannot understand my wanting to see this cabin, and to meet the now-elderly woman who has been living in it for the last thirty years?
Although I took a great many shots of the inside of the large cabin, it feels a bit invasive to publish those, so I've selected just two for you.
Here are two shots of the woods near the cabin.
So far so good, eh? You want to have this property in your life too, right?
Let's move on to the day to day living.
Madeline is quite an interesting human. She has an impish smile, and she effusively exudes joy. I expected this of someone choosing to live as she does, and was very excited to meet her. She did not disappoint.
Madeline, who does not want me to publish her picture, is moving to Kentucky. She doesn't know where yet, and she knows no one there. I have no idea why she is leaving. If I had to make a guess, I'd say anyone who has been trying to live as she does in New York State can see the writing on the wall, and wants to flee to a more sane state. Perhaps she doesn't want to work quite so hard, but she is moving a second, smaller cabin on the property (in the shot with the vehicle) to Kentucky with her, and hopes to live in it, so I don't think that what I see as hard living seems hard to her.
She has lived on this property with nothing more than two propane fueled generators, one for a small fridge, and another to pump water when she needs more than what she can pump by hand at the kitchen sink.
She does not have a contraption to bring her up to the cabin when the road is impassable which, by the looks of it, is often. The road is on an old railroad bed, and has a rather long section that drops off steeply on both sides, not much wider than a railroad trestle. This was one of the points that scared me shitless. When her Subaru can traverse the road, she somehow manages to cross. If she needs supplies when she can't drive, she walks the 3/4 mile to the road and back again with those supplies. I expected her to have raised and preserved a lot of her own food, but she does none of that, so nearly everything she eats or uses, and everything her six cats need, has to make that trek across a muddy expanse, often by foot, cart and sled. She probably forages; the property is abundant with natural food, and I saw a large box full of tinctures that appeared to have been homemade.
When I arrived, she was bringing a wheelbarrow full of wood in from the woodshed. The cookstove was blazing and the cabin was toasty warm, even though it is not insulated.
The house is not insulated, but the chicken coop, which appears to be in excellent shape, is. I understand that she did tend some livestock in past years, but there are none there now.
Then we got to the oddest thing of all.
Madeline eschews toilets in the house. The listing boasts a compost toilet, but apparently I am the first interested buyer to ask to see said toilet, as Paul had never looked inside that particular shed.
Use your imagination to figure out where human waste goes. I was grateful I didn't feel the urge, if that gives you any ideas.
All this is not enough to turn me off, because this property is gorgeous, has had no toxic chemicals used on any of the 96 acres for more than fifty years, and the cabin is in excellent condition as far as I can tell. It was certainly built to last. But I cannot pay her price, not since I see a good hundred thousand dollars of work that needs to be done for me to even use it as a getaway. It needs a good road, a full bathroom, electric brought in and the house wired and plumbed, excavation near the pond, which is turning to swamp. How I had hoped to love this place, and its resident, and I do. But I can't afford the work that needs to be done, and I can't envision spending my retirement in the manner Madeline is spending hers.
My search for a retirement getaway continues. Maybe 2022 will be the year.
Happy New Year to all!!!
Sounds idyllic to me, as my farm is ish like that, outside toilet, I wash in the yard for 9 months of the year, I do have electric though, running water and a well, but I also have all mod-con apartments to bugger off to when needed, and my drive was a slush nightmare today too.
My plan would be to keep the house in town, and shut the cabin down for winter. I'm still thinking about making an offer, but it would be more than 100 grand less than she is asking and likely to be refused. I might offer to help her move out, because that place is a mess, full full full of trash that she thinks is treasure. Then I would get to be there and soak up the good vibes of the place. It's very high frequency. She has not allowed hunting, or done any land management, over the years. Truly wild. Dreamy.
Everything in life is about being in synch with nature, you got a good vibe from the place, maybe it is for you.
I got my farm over 100k less than it was worth, because the people knew I would do the right thing, maybe, just maybe that will be the case for you.
I have never fenced it off though, I let the deer come and go as they please, they do at times dig up my strawberry plants and such like, but I just think they need it more than me, and I can plant more.
Harmony is bliss, live and let live, pays dividends you see, or you may do, I hope you get the place, and have a little tranquillity.
From what I have read about New York, it is not looking good, full on WEF supporters and all.
I hope that too, but 100 grand will be the difference for whether she can make the move to Kentucky, or not. Land prices in red states are extremely high now, much higher than here. I've been looking in PA, just 11 miles from here, where it costs $200k for a cabin on a few acres.
Yes. New York is quite zombified. But as you go more upstate, it gets better. I chose this county because it has the lowest jab rate in the state, and I might more easily make friends. I moved from the burbs just north of New York, where my former friends turned on me nearly one and all, first because I didn't hate Trump supporters, and then because I think covid is 100% BS that we MUST ignore.
We all could use meeting by a woodland stream and letting the love of nature wash us clean.
The crazy part of that is Trump is a lifelong Democrat who only ran as a Republican because they are more desperate for logic to be part of the conversation. None of the sane Democrats left in that party would ever get the presidential nod necessary from the DNC.
My dad was a Democrat too, and didn't vote for a single Democrat for decades before he passed. He would say the party left him. I could never identify as a Democrat (not Republican either although my views are often mistaken as such) because I'm the end of the blame game, a (now older) white male. It really sucks struggling as I have in life yet still be responsible for all the evils ever perpetuated in the world, as well as future evils. Where common decency is called privilege, and the answer isn't to discuss how we can include everyone but instead on how we can take it from those (white folks) who sometimes enjoy it. Screw the hand up for all, get down there with the rest of them, lol.
I've said for many years now Kennedy would have been driven from the party that made him a saint if he were here today, as he is further to the right than many Republicans are now. Of course back then it wasn't called being to the right, it was called having common sense, something that was abundant in both parties which was why there could still be somewhat of a civil discourse even where agreements weren't in the forecast.
Good for you sticking to your guns. Nothing worse than someone who is a party zombie and excuses any and all behavior from the party or cult of their choice.
I have been registered Democrat for decades, my whole voting life. I voted for Clinton. When Trump, whom I regarded as a buffoon, was elected, I knew something was very wrong, and set out trying to find out what. It wasn't long before I was saying things like
I spent the next few years finding and trying to expose the lies of the media. NPR and NYTimes are the worst!!! All the more so because libtards hold them in such high regard. Now I will leave the zombies to themselves, and simply make my contribution to a new, improved world, so that it exists when SHTF.
Oh I am in a bad mood today. I need to go out for a walk.
Focus on this and don't allow them to manipulate you into bad moods. There is much manipulation going on, and you are correct on one thing. Something was very off when Trump was the most rational choice for so many. On my blog before Blurt I wrote about them using a variation of the Hitler script to sweep him into power. He made so many logical statements pointing to the schemes that has led our nation down the shithole, statements none of the other politicians and media refuse to discuss other than to ridicule as tinfoil or terrorist talk depending on how many are listening.
I would have actually voted this time Democrat if Tulsi Gabbard had gotten the nomination, despite disagreeing with her on some stances. The constitution doesn't allow for a president to change the disagreements I have with her, although lately the constitution isn't being respected anymore by the politicians and media who aren't hiding the notion they believe they own us.
There will be no more room for that in the new improved world.
Enjoy your walk, and soak up the energy, especially from the trees. They have a marvelous energy that is healing once you open yourself up to their projections.
I was very excited about Tulsi until she endorsed Biden. She was one of only two Dem candidates who did not openly support mandatory vaccination. She's doing some good stuff now as well. But I can't shake this feeling she is controlled opposition, probably because she did endorse Biden. I don't think I can trust her again after that.
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At the beginning of this post I had thought that was where you were headed in your house hunting, lol.
Absolutely gorgeous property. I'm hopeful that the upcoming year will see such a jump in crypto that I can afford something (much much smaller) to get away from the cities and enjoy nature.
Best of luck in your search for something more suitable to your retirement getaway.
I have been looking in PA, which is just an 11 mile drive from here, and part of the reason I moved this far. But in doing comparison with NYS price searches, this one jumped out. Had to see it!!! So glad I did.
Looks just about great - as it it !
(but I'm a Huckleberry Finn )
I didn't show pix of the messy stuff. It's pretty bad. She is pretty much living like a tramp out there. I can't do that. But it has a lot more potential than other, more habitable, properties have. I'm still interested, hoping no one pays that price and my super low offer won't be a terrible shock to her.