We did a thing and bought property in Lawrenceburg, KY, with the goal of being close to 3 out of 4 grandparents, so that Fiona, our daughter, could grow to know them better while they still remember who she is. ;-) This is the beginning of our off-grid build and sustainable lifestyle journey.
Lawrenceburg Chose Us
The idea was living somewhere that was a central distance between Taylor's mom in Corydon, Indiana, and my parents in Richmond, Kentucky. We saw a land listing near the community of Alton that was almost exactly one hour away from Taylor's mom, and one hour away from my folks. Listing photos of the property showed a large chunk of it wooded, creek along half of it, and conveniently located to all amenities (including the bourbon trail. 🥃 Cheers!), captured my imagination, and I was instantly hooked.
It was a great fit for our need to find somewhere to live that would allow us to have Funny, our rooster, living outside (we were living in Colorado, after moving from the Big Island with a rooster, three dogs, three cats, and three humans — all of us living inside a 795 sqft house.... our furry and feathered kids got along surprisingly well!). So, property that would allow us to have our sweet rooster living outside with his future ladies was the driving force in following our homesteading dreams into reality.
Yet, as quickly as this property crossed my heart and our imaginations, the property almost instantly went into contract, and we were bummed that it was out of our hands. However, we realized then that we needed to move a little closer to the grandparents, and the focus led to many pieces falling into place for a move to Kentucky. Almost as soon as we had made the decision to move, that property came back on the market! We jumped on it, put in a offer, sight unseen. Yup, we became one of those people, taking a risk on making a sight-unseen offer. But we seized this opportunity, and haven't looked back since.
Cheers To Owning Land
Still with our pending purchase, once we arrived to Kentucky, we took a trip to see the property. We brought my parents, Fiona, and the pups: Homer, George, and Dasher, to meet the property. The first thing we see are several deer leaping into the property, this was in early September, and it filled our hearts that the deer were leaping into a slice of woods, that we were soon to call ours, too. We took a few photos of the property from the road, and after some real estate happenings, on October 29, 2021, we closed on our 8.67 acres island of life and toasted that day on the property!🥂 So, what now? We build a green, cozy home sitting within a young woodland wilderness, the spirited Bourbon Trail and several wineries just minutes away! 🌲🌳🥃🍷
A Serendipitous Home Site Block
So we did walk through the property before closing on it and had noticed a boggy area where it appeared that others might have gotten stuck (we eventually did as well). However, it did not cross our minds then to look more into it. It wasn't until after we had already closed on the property that our light bulbs lit up. At one point walking across the boggy area, I saw a large dead crayfish in the mud/water. It occurred to me to suggest that we reach out to the Army Corps of Engineers to determine if we have a wetland on our property. It turns out, we do! The wooded area is home to deer, tons and tons of robins who apparently go there in the winter, raccoons, bunnies, snakes, and who knows what else.... and now we have a whole other watery ecosystem thriving on our property. We purchased a woodland and wetland wonderland. How cool is that?!
The challenge is where the wetland is on our property. We want to build within the wooded area, nestled amongst the trees for privacy. But, in order to get to the build site, we have to go across the wetland area. No super biggie, except that we would have to construct (and get a permit beforehand from the Army Corps of Engineers to ensure we do not impact more than 1/10 of an acre, or we would have to do some mitigation.) a fairly long overpass or driveway that would have as little negative impact on the wetland as possible. The water flows south towards a creek, and our driveway would run perpendicular to the water flow. That part of our driveway is going to be a costly one, for just a driveway for our vehicles, but more so for a driveway to support large and heavy traffic to/from the build site. So..... we are looking at alternative options to schlep our construction equipment and materials to the build site, and quite possibly building as if we are out in the middle of nowhere remote with no access for large and heavy equipment and traffic. It oddly is forcing us to think more sustainably in our build that we have ever imagined, so it is a good thing, in our hearts, despite the challenge.
Off To The Off Grid Life We Go
We are in love with our property, and hope that you find our off-grid build, and journey something to come back to, read about, and fall in love with this place along with us. We are new to all of this, despite decades of day-dreaming and off-and-on and off-again researching about this kind of life. So thanks to Funny, and the wetland, we are forced to face that dream and make it happen for us all, including the current residents and migrating ones as well. We are aware that this is just the beginning of a long list of challenges, and a whole lot of learning.... so any recommendations, help, advice, etc. will be much appreciated as we go forth on this exciting adventure.
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