We still use the rustic solar powered cabin winter and summer, I've owned it for a few decades. It will be around for another 150 years. It's been a fruit farm for over 100 years... apples, pears, cherries, plums, acres of grapes, etc... and still has apples, grapes, and acres of blackberries. asparagus and flowers grow wild all over. It's near Bayfield WI on the tallest piece of land (600') for 100 miles around, great view of Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands.
(Click to enlarge any pic)
It was first purchased by Mr Rice directly from the US Government in 1856. The abstract reads like a novel... including some serious financial fraud. Originally the land sold for $1.35 per acre (now worth about $15,000 per acre?).
View of foyer, kitchen, living room, dining room, family room, and bedroom.
The upstairs is currently only used for storage (boat, garden tractor, bicycles, tools, etc).
The entire field changes colors as various flowers bloom.
Shoveling Garage roof - 4-1/2 feet of snow.
More of Bayfield = http://bertthemensachicken.multiply.com/journal/item/30/Snow_storm_at_75_degrees.
Oh, my.
ReplyDeleteBert, you can't possibly replicate this kind of history. Truly magnificent place you have there.
(How is the Little Schmoo?)
Astra - It's not often that abstracts are interesting. Most of the previous owners are big names in the area (townships, roads, landmarks, etc, named after them) and nationwide figures too. It was interesting to track the fraud going on, grossly inflated value to make company assets look good, etc, then eventually prices back to normal.
ReplyDeleteThe entire area is History 101... The nearest Island is named after Madeleine Cadotte, daughter of Chief White Crane and wife of fur trader Michael Cadotte, American Fur Company. It has been inhabited by Native Americans, fur traders, and missionaries. Madeline Island has flown the flags of three nations and has been the site of some european civilization for about 400 years.
....The Ojibway (Chippewa) and other native peoples made their home here for hundreds of years before European contact. Groseilliers and Radisson had interests here. It was a center for lumber, Sandstone quarries (NY buildings), and commercial fishing (still is) but now mostly tourists (and artists).
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Shmoo Chicken is a treasure....her most favorite place is sitting on my arm. I take her everywhere with me and she loves it... and the attention she gets. Very slow to integrate with the others, they pick on her but she'll be fine soon. I hope so cause my wife won't let me keep her in the house much longer.
An absolutely beautiful rustic setting ... I'd last there and be very happy for a weekend. :-D
ReplyDeletequite beautiful!
ReplyDeletefransormation - It's very isolated and very very quiet and peaceful. We do not miss elec, indoor plumbing, phones, TV, etc. Water is gravity feed, gas refrigerator...it's very comfotable.
ReplyDeleteaslow - I wish I lived there... may retire and live there for a few years? It's a great way to get away from it all.
Wonderful in every regard! Historically, personally, it is a treasure!
ReplyDeletePleased that it is maintained well! The house appears to be a bank barn structure.
Looks like a beautiful place to kick back and relax.
ReplyDelete<---------wouldn't mind having wild asparagas growing around here. My mister is totally uninterested in starting a patch in the garden.......he hates the stuff as much as I love it.
Maybe you should check into buying some of those new chicken nappies for Shmoo. Might calm some of your missus objections to her living inside.
Duchamp - It's been really good for us... the perfect (almost) retreat... like another world in another time. Maintained? well... kinda. With 1.5' thick walls (thermal mass, warm in winter, cool in summer) it doesn't require much maintenance... however the land requires a lot of maintenance... the open fields are becoming a forest.. a constant battle to keep it open.. the view is slowly closing. Soon we're going to spend a month there just clearing trees to restore the panoramic (almost) view.
ReplyDeletevarainy - A good place to rejuvenate... no distractions whatsoever. We rarely get there when the asparagus is ready so we tell the neighbors to help themselves, and they do.
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Shmoo is nearly "housebroken" but sooner or later... mistakes. But she always stays very near the cage in the family room (tile floor), outside she roams about a lot. Tonight watching TV Shmoo was on my knee and my cat Tuna was sleeping on my other knee...Shmoo's beak on Tuna's forehead... wish I could have gotten a picture... cute. As soon as she's totally accepted by the hens... she'll be living outside permanently (with frequent visits).
Ohhhh the Shmoo and Tuna thing would have made an adorable picture............Talk about a very high "warm fuzzy" factor that would have had!
ReplyDeleteVery cool. In New Zealand we would call this a bach or down south, a crib but it's very different in style to older domestic buildings here I think. Love it.
ReplyDeletevarainy - I am amazed at Tuna... what a perfect cat.
ReplyDeleteiriani - There aren't many buildings like this left...most have returned to nature. But it suits me just fine... I like it. Very cozy in severe winter blizzards, can't even hear the strong winds (and cool in summer, 95F outside, 70F inside.
Our walls are about 12 inches thick. I love being indoor when the wind and rain are pounding away outside; it feels so cozy.
ReplyDeleteYou have an awesome cabin and location! Nothing like an outhouse to enhance a wilderness experience :)
Chickie - We like to go up to Bayfield in Feb, the worst part of winter, just because it's so cozy. THe Cement walls take a full day+ to warm up (the air is warm though).. then the walls radiate heat.
ReplyDeleteOur MN cabin (Harris) is just ordinary 4" walls but it's so small it feels cozy warm too, watching the wind and snow blow by in a bilzzard. I actually "like" Minnesota weather.