Dadnatron
Veteran Member
After having grown up on a ranch in Southwest Colorado, I left to go to school, always with the intention of returning to the mountains and buying a farm. Skip 30years later, and... after school, career, 2 kids and a different state, I've gone and purchased 84ac of Prime Kentucky Bluegrass. The property is in the 'Beverly Hills' of horse country, although it would more aptly represent the rundown corner lot of a 90210 address, given its shape compared to the neighbors.
The land was part of an original land grant following the Revolutionary war. 1000ac was given to this, and several other families in the area with the push to go West and settle. Its funny, how at that time, KY was still a part of Virginia or only recently made a territory of its own, and was considered 'the Western Frontier'. This 1000ac was passed down within the family (split up into smaller parcels) but remained within that family until we made the first purchase. Yes... this land had never been 'sold or purchased before'. So, we are the interlopers, but, the folks and family around the area have welcomed us openly. Which is very nice for us.
Our goal is to turn this 84ac of soybeans, corn, and tobacco into a manageable thoroughbred horse farm. We have a few horses and realized that the cost of boarding them was equal to the cost of purchasing a place and putting them on our own land. So, after 2 years of searching for 'just the right place', we found it and made the jump. We took roughly half of the original offered property, in an 'L' shape with road frontage on two different lanes. The only structure on the property is an 80-90 year old 12bent tobacco barn. (More on that later)
My goal is to document the progress here on TBN. I'm going to try to do as much myself as is possible, however, I hope to insure that the farm and the building of it, is done well. So there will definitely be hired professionals involved. I live about 3 hours away, for my career, so I will only be on the property on weekends and vacations, but, I believe that will still be better for me than the suburban life I have had for the last 15yrs.
I will post pics, thoughts, etc here. I've read a few other threads who have documented their progress in building a house, barns, etc. I hope I can do as well as they and enjoy it every bit as much.
So for my first pic... a Sat view of the property. I'll refer to it often, I suspect.
The land was part of an original land grant following the Revolutionary war. 1000ac was given to this, and several other families in the area with the push to go West and settle. Its funny, how at that time, KY was still a part of Virginia or only recently made a territory of its own, and was considered 'the Western Frontier'. This 1000ac was passed down within the family (split up into smaller parcels) but remained within that family until we made the first purchase. Yes... this land had never been 'sold or purchased before'. So, we are the interlopers, but, the folks and family around the area have welcomed us openly. Which is very nice for us.
Our goal is to turn this 84ac of soybeans, corn, and tobacco into a manageable thoroughbred horse farm. We have a few horses and realized that the cost of boarding them was equal to the cost of purchasing a place and putting them on our own land. So, after 2 years of searching for 'just the right place', we found it and made the jump. We took roughly half of the original offered property, in an 'L' shape with road frontage on two different lanes. The only structure on the property is an 80-90 year old 12bent tobacco barn. (More on that later)
My goal is to document the progress here on TBN. I'm going to try to do as much myself as is possible, however, I hope to insure that the farm and the building of it, is done well. So there will definitely be hired professionals involved. I live about 3 hours away, for my career, so I will only be on the property on weekends and vacations, but, I believe that will still be better for me than the suburban life I have had for the last 15yrs.
I will post pics, thoughts, etc here. I've read a few other threads who have documented their progress in building a house, barns, etc. I hope I can do as well as they and enjoy it every bit as much.
So for my first pic... a Sat view of the property. I'll refer to it often, I suspect.
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