Originally Posted by
ravensgrove
I see these big big big home plans...we're going polar opposite. We want smaller, not bigger....under 1200 sq ft, 2 bedroom, 2 bath, great room/kitchen and a giant 12 x 12 pantry. The older I get...the less I want to clean a big house...and the older I get the harder it is to keep up with farming and a big house...which Lady you really need to think about unless you are going to have a maid...and retain that maid post shtf. Dabbling in gardening is one thing...living off your land is an entirely different thing I am not sure you understand the work involved...and here I have 1700 sq ft and it about kills me to keep up with it and 7 acres...you're talking about what was it 150 acres and a giant house...good luck with that...just being a voice of reason...don't shoot me.
I promise not to shoot you! We have over 3100 sq/ft right now (5bed 3 bath with 2 master suites) and I did think that this house was too big for just the 2 of us and wanted to downsize. Keeping it clean isn't a problem since we don't use all the rooms on a regular basis and have no children. The problem with this house is that it is laid out totally wrong and yes, would I build another 12x13 bathroom? No, we really don't need one that big. I will downsize there but would put that sq/ft into LTS for food or paper goods. Do I need 5 bedrooms with just us? Ok, no but then we need 2 for us and my mom...a guest suite, a craft room and then a reloading room so that still brings me up to "5" rooms even if I don't call them bedrooms. Yes we will need 3 bathrooms. Or at leas 2 1/2. I think I should get rid of carpets in all rooms except maybe the bedrooms. All other rooms should be hardwood or tile which makes it easier to clean as well. Luckily my DH is very good at helping with housework so I don't have to do it all myself either. Are we rich? Not really. Do we worry about money? Not really. We are blessed to be comfortable to pretty much do what we want within reason. We pay cash as much as possible and stay out of debt. We hope to build without borrowing for this.
Our acreage is 240+ acres so we have room for the animals to roam...they will be free range. The ones we are going to have are fairly low maintenance - no goats or pigs or rabbits so I don't think what we will be doing is as much as you (thank God).
A summer kitchen is a must and a root cellar as well. Now, where have you placed your summer kitchen? Near the house or garden? Where have you placed your root cellar? How big is your cellar? Is it dirt or concrete? Very interested in those designs.
We will be using hydropower and solar for our power and our heat will be radient in the floors
The only thing I will have as a luxury is a summer kitchen and a root cellar....both outside the house. We're doing solar/wind turbine at our new place...I don't totally understand how it all works but if your DH hit Big J up..he has it all sqaured away already.
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I am up with a goat, a first freshener who thinks she wants to go into labor a month early...they get braxton hicks like humans...anyhow..I reread this and I want to make my point clear.
I am not trying to be a snit...but my understanding from reading your posts was this was a permanent BOL come lifestyle change for you and your DH where you were going to start producing all your own food etc. I do that right now...minus grains, on 7 acres and have here for the past 4 years and previously on 5 acres for 6 years...and guess what...IT IS ALOT OF WORK. You have to Plant/Preserve/Provision all of that...guess what making even a loaf of bread from scratch takes time...if you are doing that for all of your food...thats alot of work....was my primary point. Couple that with 3 stories of cleaning and maintenance...for two people and an elderly woman...thats alot of work...unrealistic in my personal opinion....unless a couple of things 1) you are filthy rich and have a live in staff in which case LIVE IT UP, who cares disregard me...2) You intend on this being a BOL for multiple families in which case...then my question is: what is your governing strategy post and preshtf? And how do you plan on getting everyone there in even tof shtf? Those are two very interesting questions I'd love to hear more about for my own benefit as well.
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