Going back rural.... Can't wait, where to look?

[Sigarms]

Beautiful picture that captures the ideal of rural...

Can you retire in place?

End of day, we don't want to stay here as the place is too big for us. We bought the place with enough room for kids along with the idea that my father might live with us on his own floor (basement).

Now, 18 years later with my father living with us and two high school boys getting ready to graduate, we would prefer to downsize as the house is just too big for us (would NEVER have thought that when we bought the place LOL).

When I was younger, I really wanted to live in the Bitterroot mountain range. That said, what I have now, I'm more than happy with what I have.

As someone else here mentioned, "want what you have".

Truer words have never been spoken IMO. Or in the immortal words of Bruce Springsteen

"Poor man want to be rich
Rich man want to be king
And a king ain't satisfied
'Til he rules everything
I want to go out tonight
I want to find out what I got"

Decades a later after listening to that song, I take it as to mean being happy with what you have. IMO we live in an earthly world where money and what you own equates to happiness. I also learned a long time before that song that home is where the heart is, and you can't love until you learn to love and be happy with yourself as a person.

 

[grsthegreat]

If you love it….just stay. My place is a lot to take care of, but as I get older the thought of moving gets placed further back in my mind. When we travel, we always say “I like our place better”. That’s a good sign.

 

[Frankenkubota]

What's a mountain and what's not is entirely relative to the surrounding area. In California, there's a "coastal mountain range" which rises about 3000' from the coast (0' elevation obviously) to the peaks about 15-20 miles inland. These "mountains" are green typically, and while they're typically steep in spots, they're decidedly "hills" in other parts of the world, but they're still rugged and very tough to live on (because steep, hard to access, and... lots of slides).

I grew up in Mount Shasta CA, where we were at 3250' and literally 10 miles away the mountain peak is at 14162'. Now that's a mountain!

My guess is that in the 16-1700's the Appalachian mountains earned that moniker because you couldn't farm it like the valleys. Not flat? Mountain.

mt Shasta might be the best of them all!

i will ask again, why is it in the east we TEND to say.....

Roan Mountain.....Black mountain, Grandfather mountain

while...

out west they TEND to say, mt Shasta, mt hood etc etc

western way is more euro speak.

 

[MoKelly]

If you love it….just stay. My place is a lot to take care of, but as I get older the thought of moving gets placed further back in my mind. When we travel, we always say “I like our place better”. That’s a good sign.

I agree 1000%. I do not want to move anymore.

My thought is as the land takes too much work I’ll convert to hay and let someone else harvest. Not what I’d prefer but it’ll be fine.

The rest of the work is relatively simple and can be done over time just fine.

Now - if my wife or I end up not being able to drive - that will be an issue!

MoKelly

 

[Sigarms]

I agree 1000%. I do not want to move anymore.

My thought is as the land takes too much work I’ll convert to hay and let someone else harvest. Not what I’d prefer but it’ll be fine.

All comes down to ones needs I believe and what you want to do when you retire.

Before moving to NC in my mid 30's, I moved pretty extensively for work, added growing up a military brat and enlisting myself, moving seemed to be a way of life that I enjoyed as I looked at it as an adventure, experiencing new places.

My wife moved to NC in her 30's as well from Vermont.

Other than my father living with us and my wife's mother now living an hour south of us, added her sister is 90 minutes south of us, we really aren't tied to extensive family now. Actually, when my wife went to Vermont the other month to take some of her fathers ashes up there for a memorial service for family, she commented it reinforced that no way in heck would she want to move back up there. When our parents pass, that's when we'll look to retire and move.

Our house has served it's purpose well and we got what we wanted when we bought it, but as we get older, end of the day 3,500 square feet with 3 stories is just going to be too big for two people.

We bought the additional 32 acres with the house because it was offered to us, and we did it for two reasons. No one can build behind us and for an investment. For what we paid for the place 16 or 17 years ago, I believe we'll recoup our money no problem, and no one has built anything LOL

Personally, looking forward to a single story house.

 

[Big Barn]

Personally, looking forward to a single story house.

I built mine in 1994.

2600 square foot level entry rancher with lots of glass and I’ve never regretted a single day.

 

[Sigarms]

I built mine in 1994.

2600 square foot level entry rancher with lots of glass and I’ve never regretted a single day.

Honestly, would love to see a pic to get ideas

I forgot to add, would prefer a breezeway from the garage to the house. Our neighbor up the road has a breezeway, and when I stop by just to shoot the ***** catching up on whats going on per our local road, sitting in that breezeway is REALLY nice (the irony is they are both in their 70's now, and they complain about having two stories).

That said, Mossroad mentioned something I'll remember. If a two story house, walk out basement with enough room for a elevator from the basement to first floor that will accommodate a wheel chair.

My dad lives in the walk out basement, but the stairs are getting harder and harder for him, and he can't walk up to the driveway from the basement with the hill when he goes outside from the basement.

 

[grsthegreat]

I built mine in 1996, about 3900 sf. But we went with a basement. Sometimes I regret having stairs, but it allows for wifes huge craft room to be kept out of the main house.

a large single story does sound nice though.

 

[Sigarms]

I built mine in 1996, about 3900 sf. But we went with a basement. Sometimes I regret having stairs, but it allows for wifes huge craft room to be kept out of the main house.

a large single story does sound nice though.

Curious, is it just you and your wife now in the house? I'm assuming 2 stories?

I ask being I'm trying to plan on the next phase of our lives (with my wife).

My dad only had a 1,400 square foot house, 3 levels, but the attic was for guest only to sleep. Thing is, even when he got into his 80's before he hurt his back, the basement was getting harder and harder for him by himself (where the washer and dryer were).

 

[Big Barn]

Honestly, would love to see a pic to get ideas

I forgot to add, would prefer a breezeway from the garage to the house. Our neighbor up the road has a breezeway, and when I stop by just to shoot the ***** catching up on whats going on per our local road, sitting in that breezeway is REALLY nice (the irony is they are both in their 70's now, and they complain about having two stories).

That said, Mossroad mentioned something I'll remember. If a two story house, walk out basement with enough room for a elevator from the basement to first floor that will accommodate a wheel chair.

My dad lives in the walk out basement, but the stairs are getting harder and harder for him, and he can't walk up to the driveway from the basement with the hill when he goes outside from the basement.

No breezeway but a 600 sq ft porte cochère which is nice for unloading groceries.