The Beginning

This project began in the summer of 2004, during a visit to Andy and Mindy's home in Crittenden, KY. Chris had recently graduated college, and wanted to find somewhere to live happily ever after, then find a job nearby. And definitely in that order. The four of us; Andy, Mindy, Chris, and Karen, all liked that approach, and chose to settle together with the idea of sharing time, talents, and finances to quickly secure and pay off a homestead. We looked casually at several areas of the country, and eventually settled on a few serious prospects: New England, the Pacific Northwest, and the Ozark Mountain region in Missouri.

We eventually ruled out the West coast, mostly due to the proximity of family, as I recall. The Ozarks appealed on many levels, but was also ruled out, probably due to the proximity to large cultural centers, job markets, and again, family.

The final nail in those coffins was that, on some level, New England just feels like home. So here we are, in the beautiful Berkshires of Western Mass.

We scoured the internet for available land, and after a few trips from our homes in UT and KY, visits with Dolores, our fantastic realtor, and some walks through properties here, we closed on a 45 acre plot of land on Skyline Trail in Chester, MA in September of 2005.

We sold our homes in our respective states, moved in with our inlaws for awhile, and finally made the trek for good in May of 2006. With no jobs, no home, and a whole lot of work to do, we moved onto our land that spring, with the idea of clearing the land, building a home, and moving in by winter of 2006. Uhmmm... yes, we realize now how out of line our expectations were.

That six weeks of camping on our future house site was wonderful, though. Even with the bugs, the dirt, the rain, the mud, and Delilah, our friendly bear with a penchant for peanut butter.

With jobs, local apartments, and the usual mundane effects of life, we worked on the land when we could, clearing the driveway, the house site, the garden site, the garage area, etc., quickly amassing huge quantities of split and stacked firewood that we hope will keep us warm for years to come.

To bring us up to the current date: we came across FirstDay Cottage awhile ago, met with them in the fall of 2006, and very quickly decided that their Canadian model would be ideal for us. We're building throughout the winter of 2007/2008, and will keep this site updated with our progress.