We recently bought a cabin on 215 acres of woodland. It's in the country on an unmaintained road so right now there is only three season access. The cabin is off-grid and has some small solar panels to run the lights. It also has a gravity fed well which is a dug well but the water runs into the home via gravity. I've got lots of projects in mind for redecorating and also for setting up a comfortable off-grid retreat. I'll use this blog to document my adventures. We don't get possession until near the end of November so hopefully we can get in there a couple of times before the snow makes the road inaccessible. Since the roads aren't maintained that means there is no snow ploughing. The unmaintained part of the road leading to the property is about 3 km so it's too far to have someone plough. The pictures here are as the cabin sits now in the fall. We haven't taken possession yet. These pictures were taken when we had the home inspection done.
As you can imagine I have lots of projects in mind. I'm not sure how much I can get started over the winter as I'm not sure I'll be back to take measurements and such. We don't want to intrude on the current owners. The owner apparently really loves the place but is getting a bit older and his health isn't as good as it used to be and his family have been after him to sell. He wanted it to go to owners who wold take care of it. My husband and I are very excited at this new prospect. I will admit working without electricity and relying on solar power and generators do intimidate me but I do find it intriguing. There is also a very nice garage that I intend to use as a workshop. The ideas for things I can make with reclaimed wood and wood for the forest of 215 acres that we will soon own are flowing in my head. I'll keep you posted and try to take lots of pictures along the way.
The first thing I really have to think about is the solar energy and how that works. I want to be sure I have ample lighting at night. There is no one around for miles except all the critters. I've been told that it isn't uncommon to have deer and wild turkey in the yard. I also believe there has even been a bear spotted. Now that I can do without :)
I'm excited for our adventure to begin. I'm also having a little bit of second guessing. I hope we chose the right property. Since we can't access it in the winter I'm a bit concerned about that. I guess we wouldn't likely go in the winter anyway but I would like to be able to do so if we wanted.
Since we won't be there year-round we have to take the water out in the winter and the only source of heat at the moment is a wood stove. Luckily there is lots of wood already cut and dried.
The picture above is of a dried up pond. I'm told there is a dug well just behind it. Perhaps there is some way we can make it into a year-round functioning pond. I'm not sure how that would work but perhaps if we dig it out and do something with the well (if I can find it) then that will work.
I love this tree. I'm not sure what it is but I'll have to take a closer look the next time I go out there. It really does add a bright touch of colour for the fall.
In this picture (to the side) you can see one of the many piles of drying wood that the current owner has cut. He's leaving this wood for us. We likely won't have to cut wood for quite some time but it might be an interesting project.
Anyway, as I mentioned earlier. The ideas are flowing. Lets see what I actually am able to put into practice. I'll post some pictures of the inside of the cabin shortly and let you know my plans for redecorating.
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