Part I- Finding the property to rehab
There will be many acronyms in this series, most of which will be WTF or WTH. Let’s imagine for a moment that you are having a mid-life crisis. The world is still sorting through a 2 year pandemic, your work world is still upended, you have 2 children one of whom is taking 5 AP classes and there is a strong possibility of nuclear war. Let’s add in inflation, a shadow puppet presidency and a supply chain crisis. It would seem the most logical thing to do is to buy a small farm with a house that has been neglected for several years. This is the only sane choice for a couple with more energy and ambition than is appropriate for their age.
How we found the farm and a house in need of many, many repairs
As people who act impulsively, we have used the Goldilocks approach to finding the right fit for our mid-life crisis house. As documented here, in the beginning of the pandemic we bought a piece of land, cleared a portion and installed a shed-cabin. The lack of water and the terrifying drive up the old logging road coupled with the fact that my kids hated it, made this a less than ideal situation. We then bought an actual real cabin in a beautiful spot but it was a 5 hour drive from our “real” house and getting there took too much of our limited time.
Some people would spot a pattern and perhaps give up the idea of having a mountain get away when you have jobs and kids. We are not “some” people, we are “those people.” The people who believe they can do anything they set their mind to. The people who are always “Learning New Tricks!”
In keeping with the Goldilocks approach, we had already learned a few things. The shed cabin was too rustic (hey kids, there is a line to use the bathroom bucket!) The other house was simply too far away. We made a list of what would make it “just right!” We decided that 3 hours was the maximum distance we wanted to travel to a mountain house. Ease of access was important, no single lane logging roads. A place we could actually live when we were retied without feeling like bush people. Quiet but not remote. We settled on looking around one of our favorite areas in Virginia, the Staunton/Lexington area.
Mountain house/retirement house must-haves
- Structure-While I love the idea of raw land and I am always looking at this as an investment, for this time in our life and with the shortages of labor and materials, we were looking for an actual house, complete with indoor plumbing and electricity.
- Elevation-The higher you are the cooler it will be in the summer. I was trying to find a place around 2000 ft elevation but most of the cabins/houses in this elevation tended to be pretty remote or too far for us to drive.
- Cleared, open land– while I know that most people hire others to do work, as obsessive DIYers I know the time, expense and incredible mess clearing land takes. With one kid a year and half away from college, I wanted to minimize my time frame for usability. Fewer bugs is another plus or having open and cleared land!
- View- I wanted a vista. A view that moves you. I wanted to be able to see a sunrise or a sunset. For our entire marriage we have lived in a lovely but wooded settings. I wanted that wide-open space with a view!
- Location– Real estate 101. Having tried the beautiful area within an hour of nowhere, I wanted to have a destination where finding stuff to do was easy. Outdoor recreation and proximity to National and State parks as well as rivers for kayaking was a must.
- Privacy- I have issues. I don’t like to see neighbors.
- Town- I like the idea of being close to but not necessarily in, a living and breathing town.
Why we chose this house
Reason 1:
We love the Lexington, VA area! Having spent a lot of time in this area, we know that there is a ton of outdoor recreation, mild weather and access to stores. There are two colleges in town which adds to the eccletic climate of this beautiful mountain town.
Reason 2:
The view! Meeting both my need for privacy, open land and a view!
Reason 3:
There is an acutal house! And so. many. sheds. We could turn them all into cabins, each with their own toilet bucket!
We bought the farm
Literally and hopefully not metaphorically. I will try my best to document the progress. We will likely do a major renovation 5 ish years out, for now, I am trying to make is livable and keep the house from deteriorating.
Next up, Carpet: What Lies Beneath
