Over a year and half ago I started this blog with the intention of having a place to document all the major milestones in the project of a lifetime. Ha! What was I thinking? I must not have realized how much work and how busy we were about to be trying to get to the point where we could actually start building. Here’s a little catch-up on what we’ve been up to.
We spent quite a bit of time up on the property throughout the summer of 2020 getting little projects done in preparation to harvest trees and clear a place for our future home and a shop. On these visits we got to know the place pretty well, enjoyed finding beautiful botanical gifts, lounging in the shade picnicking and spending time with family. We made decisions about where we would cut trees with the help of good friends and a goal of improving the health of our forest in addition to the clearings we needed to make.
In the fall we had the beginning of a driveway installed and our timber harvest was completed which opened up the view to the mountains and valley. The site changed so much through this work but we are looking forward to enhancing the forest and landscaping around the house over the coming years.
Along the way we worked with our builder to design the house that we really wanted all along. After many refinements we arrived at what we feel is a great design that allows plenty of space for all of us to spread out and gives us the features we were looking for. Our builder and their designer were very patient with us throughout the process and our many revisions.
Early in 2021 we started in on the next heavy lift – getting our house ready to sell. When we purchased the house back in 2008 it was in need of some serious love. Major pet damage, water damage, and general neglect had left it in need of a “gut job.” We set about making repairs and updates to the house, pausing when we needed to due to burn out or lack of finances. In the end we still had a list of projects to complete when it came time to sell. We are unbelievably fortunate to have the most supportive and helpful family anyone could ever imagine. Weekends throughout the spring were almost entirely spent painting, sprucing, fixing, planting, and generally making things beautiful. The house sold pretty quickly and by August we were off on the next leg of the journey.
Did I mention that throughout this time we were also trying to figure out where we were going to live?! The debate was between finding an apartment or buying an RV and living on the property. Back and forth we went weighing the options over and over until we knew we just needed to make a decision. In the end the RV idea won. The search was on for a fifth wheel trailer that could fit all four of us and our two golden retrievers along with a big truck that could pull it. This project, during the pandemic, was not an easy one at all. Supplies of used vehicles were incredibly low and every truck we looked at got bought out from under us. We managed to find a truck and rushed to buy it just one week before we were scheduled to drive to southern Oregon to pick up the fifth wheel we had purchased. Picking up the trailer was an adventure alone as neither one of us had ever towed anything that large at all. (The trailer is 43′ long!) All went smoothly and it was soon parked in front of our house where we loaded everything we thought we would need straight from the house with just a day or two to spare before we needed to be out. A total whirlwind to say the least. Some of our closest friends thought we were crazy. And, maybe we are!
The trailer was moved up to the property in August with very limited resources at hand. A flat-ish dirt parking area and running water were our main assets. Two small generators and multiple trips off the mountain to dump the tanks kept us going until more facilities were installed. Our fantastic excavator went above and beyond to get us set up with septic and a flat gravel pad before the fall rains set in and the electrician put in all the rough electrical to prepare us for a connection to power. Never in my life did I think that gravel would be so important to me but after living with so much dirt it was beautiful. After two months listening to the generators running for several hours a couple times a day the power was connected. I almost hugged one of the linemen who showed up to make our connection and turn on our power.
The winter has been pretty quiet while we worked to get the complicated financing figured out amidst rising construction costs and pandemic uncertainty. But as of February 1, 2022, we are financed and it is off to the races now! The next part of the adventure is about to start.
Chehalem Mountain Homestead 