Finishing up Knotwyrk Farm

[DocHeb]

The exterior of Knotwyrk Farm is almost finished. The brickers finished this week, taking twice as long as expected because of the heat. The escavators are digging the leach field for the "mother of all septic systems", and using the dirt for fill around the house. The boss noticed that the garage doors were lockable - "Guess now you could get one of those tractors you keep looking at on the Internet" - /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif I didn't expect that comment!

 

[wasabi]

good looking place, Chris!!

<font color=blue> "Guess now you could get one of those tractors you keep looking at on the Internet" </font color=blue>

...ah, the subtle art of persuasion at work again....you sly fox, you.....good work, sounds like you're bringing her around..../w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[DocHeb]

There are two excavators working on the leach field. It is an excavated field, requiring a 40' by 60' excavation down 25' through clay to the required three foot thick sand layer (previously found by borings). I then get 2200 yards of sand delivered and dumped "in the hole", and leach field goes on that. This septic was approved 9 years ago - nowadays the county would not allow a field this deep - meaning the lot would be unbuildable.

 

[RobS]

Great looking place Chris, somewhat reminiscent of nearby Dominos Farms.

Yeah, now you've gotta have that tractor... especially with that hint your wife gave you /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[DocHeb]

The idea was to try for a bit of a ranch/prairie look, with the low-pitch roof, wider overhangs and continuous lines around the house. There are some really great window muntins that will go in the upper part of the double hung windows. We designed the inside to be pretty open and easily accessible. Heaven forbid - we don't need it now - but it's pretty much wheelchair accessible. My job has shown me how often and quickly futures can change.

Domino's Farms did serve as an inspiration. That complex was designed in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright, and we liked the way that building flows with the natural shape of the surrounding landscape.

I hope to start planting trees this fall. If I can keep the deer away, lots of fruit trees and a grove of 400 black walnut trees.

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>"Guess now you could get one of those tractors you keep looking at on the Internet"</font color=blue>

Your answer should've been - "Yup, and I'll go pick it out tomorrow!" Gotta strike while the irons hot! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Great looking house! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Am I seeing right? On the right side it looks like you've got a pretty good drop off. Do you have an exposed basement in the back? If so, what are planning on doing back there?

 

[DocHeb]

The back side is a walkout basement that will be unfinished. We were trying to cut items for the budget and I had dropped the taller walls for the basement. My Brother-in Law, who has all the same hobbies as I, cocked an eyebrow when he heard that I was planning to drop the deeper basement. I was rightly shamed to admit that was the wrong decision, and called the builder to keep the 9'8" basement walls - great for my workshop!

We had looked for property for 4 years. For my job it needs to be <1 hour from work. What we really wanted was 40 acres with an old farmhouse (something to use right away, fix up later as needed). This size property is getting harder to find in southeast MI. With the economy booming from 1997 - 2001, we always seemed a day late on making offers, or the price was exorbitant. I saw this 19 acres (one of six lots on a 40 acre pond/lake) on the day after it was listed, and we made our offer the next day. Pretty exciting for us.

What we'd like to do is plant things - lots of things. We envision sort of our own botanical gardens. It may end up being a deer smorgasbord, however /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif.

 

[RoyJackson]

Well, looks like you've got about a 20°-25° slope in your back yard. Looks like a lot of up and down the hill mowing...or, put some juniper ground cover and not even mow!!
With 20 acres, you'll have plenty to mow elsewhere.

So, what kind of tractor are ya looking at? I'd guess 25 to 30 HP ought to do the job...maybe a little more.

That is a beautiful house...how many square feet is it?

 

[RobS]

Wow Chris, that back view is spectacular! I'm not a huge fan of prairie style but I do respect it and you've done a great job of capturing it. My mom, on the other hand, would be drooling over your house as she must be Frank Lloyd Wright's biggest fan /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[DocHeb]

<font color=blue>So, what kind of tractor are ya looking at? I'd guess 25 to 30 HP ought to do the job...maybe a little more.</font color=blue>

I like the New Hollands, something like a TC40D. I'm on the taller side, and from what I've read here they're a little more ergonomic for the non-compact operators. My wife likes the NH too - pretty blue color /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

Actually, I need to learn to drive a tractor before I go to the dealer! It would be hard to awe and amaze the dealer with my amazing accumulation of tractor knowledge (courtesy of ~100,000 posts of TBN (yes, I've read a majority of them)), yet walk over to the tractor and ask him "how do you drive it?" /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif.

Sure, I can take book knowledge and sound like I know what I'm doing, but without seat experience I'm still a city-slicker tractor-owner wannabee.

The house is 2200 sq feet, with a two car attached garage, the minimum required per deed restrictions for the six lot development. I did put 9' garage doors in to allow a New Holland ROPS to fit.