The Ballad of Finn's Farm

03/09/2022

We have at least one large group of turkeys on the farm based on the footprints we saw in the snow at Christmas.

OUR OWN SET OF VELOCIRAPTORS!

I love seeing turkeys thrive in the wild again, but they are about the size of a real Velociraptor and likely behave similarly

03/08/2022

Important question.

Do I buy a bunch of pink flamingos and put them all along the road? Peeking out from trees and stuff?

01/17/2022

If you undergo any training in archeology you learn to evaluate surface sites by looking for shapes not found in nature. Surface sites are areas where no digging has happened or test holes and you're trying to determine if there are signs of human habitation.

It's not as easy as it sounds and sometimes it's like trying to get one of those 3D pictures to work. Even though you suspect something is there you may not be able to see it that easily.

We had it confirmed by our Forester that the farm used to be a sheep farm.

A sheep farm should expect to have certain types of buildings - from a barn to pens to shelters.

As we walked the property we have been looking for signs of what was there a hundred to a hundred and fifty years ago.

Wood artifacts actually disappear first. For them to survive they usually have to be in an anaerobic environment like the stuff that gets found in a bog, or at the bottom of an old well or trash pit.

We always knew where the farmhouse was because the foundations are marked on the survey. After walking by the foundations a couple of times I was fairly sure I had located the barn.

We have an odd artifact down by the stream. But we had not found nearly enough. Luckily, almost every time we go out we're able to suss out another little sign of how the land was used.

Chris and I were walking the property in November with a potential architect (kudos to Cushman for wanting to come and see the land with us) and I saw but look like a puddle. Then I saw the stone edging around the puddle.

We'd found a spring that a former occupant had turned into a small watering hole for the sheep. It is now a lovely tree surrounded moss covered spot that I hope to make a wonderful place to come and read a book, maybe do some yoga, or just relax and listen to the water.

It was a reminder to us about why we don't want to build right away because we get one chance to put our house in the right place.

On the left is the watering hole and on the right is actually the little tiny trickle of the natural spring feeding it.

01/13/2022

I'm going to need two versions of this dress for the farm.

One for during the day as I wander among the flowers.

And a vaguely luminescent version for wandering around in the woods at night...

01/11/2022

So real estate in Vermont has been insane.

And realistically the fact that we were buying at this time was kind of insane, too. But definitely on brand for me.

But we both fell in love with Bethel and the whole region. I've always loved the Vermont. I was so fortunate as a child and a teen and a young adult to spend so much time hiking and exploring it with my Dad, although we were usually more in the Bromley/Stratton region.

Which means I'll see you tell the story about Johnny Seesaw's but that will be later.

Bethel is this wonderful little town with a great bar called Babes, Cockadoodle Pizza, the most classic wonderful true Yankee hardware store (Yankees are known for inventive solutions to problems which means you may not find the thing that you're looking for but Brad the owner will show you how to get it done in a way you never imagined)(you all have dirty minds), the hardware store has the mandatory adorable dog, there are great local shops from pastries to sandwiches to a wine store... And we've only scratched the surface.

We know the property needs a lot of work. Because it hasn't been occupied since the 1960s unfortunately some people have used it as a convenient bulk trash storage. Teenagers have favorite spots on the property to drink illicit beers and probably do other things.

There's also invasive species and we want to try and restore the original 1820s farm. We know where the house was and I believe I found the barn and I found other signs of farm life... It was a sheep farm and we know chickens were kept in the property.

We apparently have two sugar bushes which could have something done with them.

I'm sure that the bog needs some sort of wetland restoration. We want to make smart choices to enhance the deer overwintering area.

We want to understand the land before we begin to build. Building is kind of permanent and it's a permanent change and it should be done thoughtfully and respectfully.

The problem is where to stay on the meantim The nearest hotels are in White River junction or Woodstock about 30 minutes away. And that's not so bad but to stay at any hotel - well, it adds up quickly.

My genius idea was let's get an RV and drive it on the property and we can stay in the RV. Chris and I had a lot of fun going and exploring all kinds of fifth wheels and how much they have become tech and modern and really neat.

But I had my husband check before we did this and it turns out yes you can keep your RV on the property but you can only live in at 90 days out of the year.

Given most of my law practice is now virtual I was kind of looking forward to spending large stretches of the spring and summer in Vermont. Probably more than the time limit. Would the town count our days and check? Probably not. But let me put it this way - living in a small town you are known by the things that you do. There may come a day when I need someone to bend a rule for me but I need to earn the right to ask first.

Which gets us to Denise's crazy decision which Chris supports. We had a certain budget in mind for the RV because we knew we might have five teenagers with us and finding RV that can hold seven people without murdering each other... it's a little pricey.

That and there aren't a whole lot of RVs available right now so low end or used isn't a great option. So we knew that our budget was going to be north of $100,000 and we were hoping that once we were done we'd be able to resell the RV. We were looking at pretty much recouping at least 50% of what we spent.

So I was wandering around Zillow as one does. Zillow is a real estate nerds fidget spinner.

And I found the most adorable little place IN BETHEL! It's on an acre it's got a creek and trees and it's not on a main road but it's on a town road! (Town roads mean that it's plowed).

We've got it under contract and we're going to go check it out next week physically.

It's a mobile home which I actually think are great. Unfortunately this model is older and it's been rented out for 15 years so we don't know what condition it's in. I do know that the roof needs to be replaced and as you can tell it needs some form of a deck.

But I called a couple of dealers in Vermont and they have all been wonderful and helpful with information and it's likely we can either restore or replace the unit fairly easily. Apparently the backlog of availability for mobile homes is not nearly what it is for other things. The universe is blessing our solution.

What this does is gives us an amazing place to stay in Bethel while we do our work.

We can spend time in the community. We can work on the farm. We can be at Killington in 15 minutes. I can show up at Stewart's house in another 15. Or if I want to have lunch in Montreal I can just leave at 10:00 in the morning... ;)

One of the things I love about Bethel is it's tiny and it's surrounded by the most beautiful mountains and hills with the incredible third branch of the White River running through it... And it's close to everything.

I haven't named the local place officially yet but I'm calling it Brook Camp for right now.

Here's a link to the listing.

In the short term when we're not living there I may offer it up on VRBO once it's fixed up. Yes, there will be a hot tub. There will be extensive decks. There will be, I guarantee you, some form of a treehouse. I made promises. (I'm thinking a platform style one where you could actually convert it into a tented platform and do sleepovers in it).

But once we've got our place built at Finn's Farm, I have committed myself to making sure that it's an affordable rental in the community. VEBO's are all well and good, but they can negatively impact the communities they are in as they remove affordable housing. Which pushes out the people who make Bethel unique and wonderful. I would love someday to see a family living here. That creek needs to have some kids falling into it ;)

My philosophy in coming to Bethel was to become a part of the community that is there. To be a steward of the land. Or another way to put it I don't want to upset the apple cart I just want to put more apples in it.

For sale This 784 square foot single family home has 2 bedrooms and 1.0 bathrooms. It is located at 489 Lilliesville Rd Bethel, Vermont.

12/27/2021

The Friday Visit

Also up for the party was my friend Emily, so we brought her along to see the property. The weather could not have been more perfect - cool air, sunny skies, and we were in a convertible Camero my husband somehow wrangled from Enterprise. Top down, we road up Route 12 to Bethel, through the town, and stopped where instructed. "Go up route 12 until the mill but go right - don't go over the bridge! Then follow the road and meet us at the realtor sign."

We found the sign, but it didn't look quite right. Waited a bit, then drove up there road about a mile more, past where it turns to dirt. Went as far as a turn around spot completely surrounded by trees. We were feeling a bit confused, so we rurned around, went back to the sign. Waited. Emily took pictures of flowers.

Then we got the call - we are at the wrong sign! And we didn't drive far enough! So we piled back in the car and drove. Drove past the turn around spot. Past an s-curve. Past a driveway on the right. Up a hill. Past a driveway on the left. Up another hill and there it was and they were! The realtor sign with the realtors - Gretchjen and Dean, the seller's agent.

Introductions, and Dean walked us down the driveway. He explains the sellers had the land perc tested, and engineered for septic - the plan being that the land would become a nine lot subdivision. (Untangling this issue will be part of the ongoing saga).

We made it to an open clearing filled with ferns and grasses, and I turned to Chris and ...

Wait, to explain what I did to Chris we'll have hit the button on the way back machine to when my mom and dad, Kathryn and Dennis, were looking for a family beach house in San Diego in the 90s.

They saw dozens of places but nothing seemed the right fit. Then their realtor called them and said that a property had just been taken off the market and it was more than their budget, but she'd like to show it to them anyhow. They agreed.

The beach house in question was on Mission Bay, just down the beach from the legendary, historic, tiki-inspired Catamaran Hotel. First of the floor was a rental unit and the second floor, third floor, and roof deck was the main unit. The entire building was being sold as one unit.

Moms walked up the stairs, took one look at the view out the window, and told the realtor they'd take it. Dad protested, saying it was above their budget. Moms looked him straight in the eye, and said, "you're the finance guy, figure it out!"

So here we are standing, survey maps in hand, looking at the surrounding trees, not having even seen a tenth of the property yet, and I told Chris we're buying it. He wisely didn't argue (and he was well familiar with the above story).

I was not going to let some other buyer snooker me out of this place a second time.

So I told Gretchjen, ask why the buyers breached the sale, and as long as it wasn't because we are standing on a superfund site, offer all cash, sixty day close.

(We did know we were inheriting a LOT of garbage - right in the center of the ferns was a couch, a washer, and a dryer, which can actually be seen in the satellite photos).

Dean made us walk the property more (I was not sad about this but also wasn't dressed for it as we had a birthday lunch date at Simon Pearce). He got us permission to explore the property that weekend, and agreed to convey our offer.

Remember that driveway we passed on the right? Turns out that was also our future driveway. This is where the stream was! Across the stream, the land rises steeply and is covered in hemlocks and aspens and birch trees. We wandered, found deer and moose tracks, bobcat and bear tracks. Emily authoritatively announced we had porcupines - based on the evidence of the only non-edible part of the animal lying in a mound. (Did you know porcupines climb high in trees to have s*x? And that they do it missionary style UP IN THE TREES?)

Pictures: the driveway, the trees, the ferns, where I said yes to the address, the stream, Chris for scale on an incline, proof of porcupine...)

(Oh? That pond looking picture? Funny you should ask... NEXT TIME: WAIT, THERE'S MORE?)

12/27/2021

Every story has to start somewhere. This one starts with a dream and a lot of luck...

This past summer while visiting our wonderful friends in Woodstock, Vermont, my husband, Chris Regan, fell as much in love with the area as I always had.

So we engaged a realtor to look at local properties, scoured Zillow, and dreamed.

The Vermont housing bubble was crazy, with properties being sold for as much as three times their value if they had just a tiny shack on it.

So we shifted our search away from land with a house to just land. And decided we wanted a minimum of thirty acres so we could have our own mountain bike trails and ensure the land was enrolled in current use (more about that later!)

We thought it would take a year or two to find the right place. But in early September, Zillow showed a large parcel for sale just up the road from Stewart and Upper Farm! 52.1 acres (more or less)(that's property lawyer humor right there) at a price that made us wonder what was wrong with it...

So we emailed the amazing Gretchjen, our realtor, and asked for more information. Planned to go see it in October when we returned to Upper Farm for the birthday party to end all birthday parties.

A week later, the listing flipped to "red" for "sold." Hoping against hope, I emailed Gretchjen and asked how "serious" the sale was. She told me that buyers from Texas were offering all cash, sight unseen, and was a "watertight" deal. I was crushed.

I kept looking. Two days before we left for Vermont, the Bethel lot WAS BACK! The deal had fallen through? I emailed Gretchjen, she confirmed it was back on the market, and we made an appointment to be out there Friday morning...

Below pictures are a snippet of my original email to Gretchjen, and screenshots from the Zillow listing that kept haunting me. The property apparently not only had a stream, the stream had a WATERFALL!

NEXT POST: THE FRIDAY VISIT OR, WHEN DENISE PULLED A KATHRYN ON CHRIS AND DEMANDED HE DO A DENNIS.