BoylermanCT
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2013
- Messages
- 1,507
- Location
- Barkhamsted, CT
- Tractor
- Montana R2844, New Holland TC29D, Hustler X-One
My wife and I had been married for 5 years, renting an apartment when we decided to look for land in CT. My wife grew up on a horse farm, and we wanted something similar with 10-15 acres. Home prices were sky high, so we were mainly looking at raw land with the plan to build a small home with the plan to expand as time and funds allowed. Over the course of a year we visited over 50 parcels for sale. Over time I realized any land we could afford was not build-able - wetlands, cliffs, steep grades etc. Good build-able land was expensive as developers with deep pockets would buy them up and sub-divide.
Over the year, I had seen 1 listing that had a modern looking home on 14 acres. I always passed over it, as we were not into modern homes. One day I called my realtor and said we wanted to go visit it. It was winter, with 12" of snow on the ground. Turns out the "modern" home was a log cabin with a front porch of sliding glass doors. The pictures on the MLS website did it a huge dis-service! It had a log home, large barn, large shed, 2.5 car garage, but the land was what we fell in love with. 2 acre pond, 3 acre lawn, 2 acre field and 7 acres woods. The farm had been on the market for over a year, so we went in low and after a few back and forth negotiations had a deal.
We have been here 9 years, and every year we take my annual bonus and we invest time and money to improve things - stripping and staining the log house, new windows, new boiler, replacing boards and painting barn, building workshop in garage, converting shed into chicken coop, trails in woods, landscaping, gardens, planting orchards etc. We have many more projects on the list! This will be our forever home at least until I retire. Then I hope to cash in on all the sweat equity and retire to a log home someplace out West with breath-taking views of the mountains!
Over the year, I had seen 1 listing that had a modern looking home on 14 acres. I always passed over it, as we were not into modern homes. One day I called my realtor and said we wanted to go visit it. It was winter, with 12" of snow on the ground. Turns out the "modern" home was a log cabin with a front porch of sliding glass doors. The pictures on the MLS website did it a huge dis-service! It had a log home, large barn, large shed, 2.5 car garage, but the land was what we fell in love with. 2 acre pond, 3 acre lawn, 2 acre field and 7 acres woods. The farm had been on the market for over a year, so we went in low and after a few back and forth negotiations had a deal.
We have been here 9 years, and every year we take my annual bonus and we invest time and money to improve things - stripping and staining the log house, new windows, new boiler, replacing boards and painting barn, building workshop in garage, converting shed into chicken coop, trails in woods, landscaping, gardens, planting orchards etc. We have many more projects on the list! This will be our forever home at least until I retire. Then I hope to cash in on all the sweat equity and retire to a log home someplace out West with breath-taking views of the mountains!