Looking for 1.5–5 acres in Western WA/OR for a resilient permaculture homestead. Where would you loo

Hi everyone. New member here, and really glad I found this community.

My wife and I currently live in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area and are seriously considering leaving the desert and establishing a small homestead in the Pacific Northwest, most likely Western Washington or Western Oregon.

We’re not looking to disappear completely into the wilderness. Ideally, we’d like roughly 1.5-5 acres within reasonable driving distance of a decent-sized town and everyday amenities, healthcare, airport access, etc., while still having enough land to create something genuinely productive.

Our vision is less traditional farming and more of a long-term permaculture/regenerative homestead: large vegetable gardens, fruit and nut trees, berries, greenhouse, possibly some animals, rainwater management, composting, soil building, and gradually creating a diverse little ecosystem that becomes more productive and resilient over time.

Reliable water is extremely important to us. After living in Arizona, climate change, long-term water availability, wildfire risk and extreme heat are very much on our minds.

We’ve been looking at places including southwest Washington around Battle Ground, Lewis and Cowlitz Counties, the Olympia/Shelton area, and in Oregon around Corvallis and the Willamette Valley. But we’re absolutely not married to those locations and would love to hear about places we haven’t considered.

We’d also be perfectly happy buying land with an older house, manufactured home, barn, shop or other existing structures. In fact, having an existing well, septic, electricity and usable outbuildings could be a big advantage. We’re much more interested in good land than in having a fancy house.

For those of you who actually homestead in WA or OR:

If you were buying your property again today, where would you look?

And perhaps more importantly, what do you wish you had known before buying?

I’d especially love to hear about things that aren’t obvious from real-estate listings: soil and drainage, wells and groundwater, winter saturation, septic issues, county permitting, wildfire/smoke, microclimates, growing seasons, taxes, insurance, invasive plants, access to supplies and anything else that surprised you after living on the land.

We’re at the stage where local knowledge is much more valuable to us than another Zillow search.

Thanks in advance. I’m looking forward to learning from people who are actually doing this.

Hi Kristoffer - welcome to Permies, and it really is a great community here, glad you found it.  And best wishes for your success for a homestead here in PNW - big change from the PHX desert! Go for it  -  Getting out onto the land with all the joys and challenges of homesteading is inherently satisfying, and brings joy every day, even in the early hiccup-y stages.

Here's my 2 cents of guidance - which you may already know - heck maybe this is something that is obvious to everybody but me, but i will write it out anyway in case it helps you: Get very clear up front on the status of any development moratorium / uncompleted obligations on the property before you buy...
{warning, long post, jump to the end if the gory details are not necessary}

After a few years of classes in regen ag / permaculture / pastured livestock etc, I was ready to buy land... I bought a property with a good soil type / terrain / climate / community connections for the farming I wanted to do... but degraded by long term timber management. That was ok - regenerative agriculture regenerates, right? And that made the property affordable.  It had been clear cut 4 years earlier.  Kinda 'FernGully' to look at, but with a wonderful potential and future.

When timber is harvested in WA, because the state does not want people to harvest timber and then use the income to build a big house there, taking it out of tree production, a 6 year development moratorium is placed on the property after the harvest.  Additionally, the state dept natural resources (DNR) requires that it be replanted, with any of 3 specific timber species at a specific density (190 trees per acre), and notify the state when it has been planted.  A year after replanting, the state DNR is supposed to inspect and assure that the replanted trees are viable and at an appropriate density. Then the replanting obligation is considered complete.

When I bought the property, there were 2 years left on the development moratorium, and a waiver could be requested for up to 2 acres of land, allowing that portion to be developed while the moratorium was still in place. The 2 acre development waiver was granted about 3 months after the purchase so that I could begin. I filed additional paperwork with the county for agricultural buildings (hoop house and greenhouse). The county reviewed, and did a site visit. They contacted the state DNR (with no notification to me) about the very apparent lack of surviving timber trees. Two months later, the state contacted me. I was cited for noncompliance of replanting from the 4 year prior clearcut by another owner, with demand to remove nuisance plants (scotchbroom) and replant 190 trees per acre for the non-waivered portion within 3 months. The DNR people I talked to were all very polite, but the communication was really problematic.

Wait, what??? I bought the land to farm - I filed a farm plan in the SEPA with the county. Are you talking to the right person??? I didn't pull that cutting permit or harvest the timber.    Yup. The obligation to replant stays with the land, not with the person who cut the timber.
Could I plant other types of orchard trees? Fruit / nut / fodder? Nope. MUST be these timber species at 190 per acre.
And if I plant them, what happens?  After a year, we come to inspect and if you have growing happy trees, we say the obligation is met, file the paperwork, and then you can pull them out and do the farming you have planned.
Well it has been 4 years since the clear cut - what were you doing for the last 4 years not noticing this, and why was the prior owner not cited long before the property went up for sale and I bought it?? The state has a lot of property and limited resources, so we only inspect when there is a status change, like your county waiver request. We are addressing it now.

You must see that this is not aligned with the documented purpose for which I purchased the property - to farm!  What if I stubbornly say 'I refuse to do this because it is pointless and ridiculous and costs me money to meet an obligation that I did not engender, and delays more than a full year of farming preparation, and does nothing for the timber stock that the requirement was set up to protect?' Refusal is not advised. The penalty is a fine of up to $10,000, which can be levied each day that the replanting obligation remains unmet.

So that was a bummer, and something that I did not see coming, and did not know to ask about when considering the property.  

I took two actions which both turned out to be positive.

1) I contacted the seller with a written request to repair the obligation. The seller was required by the state to provide a form saying the land was under a replanting obligation, but had omitted that during the sale.  In response to my request letter, the seller provided documentation that showed replanting HAD been done, and took full responsibility for not ensuring survival of the trees, and not providing notification of the obligation in the property descriptions.  They offered to promptly pay for all costs to bring the property into compliance per the state's requirements.

Hooray? It was wonderful that the seller was such an honest and stand up guy, and very willing to make this right. And replanting was STILL not aligned with pastured livestock, and nothing I wanted to do. And it felt pointless to take a year to grow baby timber trees and then move on with the farm pasturing plan.

2) I appealed the citation. The state DNR peeps who met with me and issued the citation were polite and even apologetic, but had no answers when I asked about appeal. There was a tiny line at the bottom of the citation form in extremely small font, saying an appeal could be made within 2 weeks of the issuance of the citation, in triplicate, mailed to various offices. While I was taking classes to get ready for farming, one of them was on farm law where I had learned about 'right to farm' statutes  ( https://nationalaglawcenter.org/state-compilations/righttofarmoverview/ ).  I used ChatGPT to write an appeal letter based on WA right to farm, and the multi year delay in the DNR's oversight, with creation of a disproportional burden on me as a farmer.

The DNR acknowledged receipt of the appeal... by now it was early autumn, 8 months after I had purchased the property, and there were many forest fires in WA - so everyone who could hold a shovel or help in any way was out on a fire line somewhere.   The appeal was on hold until December when the long dark and rainy WA winter ended the fire season.  By then I was seriously considering selling the property. It was frustrating to have everything on hold, to not know how it was going to turn out. It was really discouraging to expect to spend a year with baby timber trees all over the property, delaying managed grazing. The value of the land had increased by about 25% in those 10 months, and I thought maybe selling was the best way to deal with it. My family and friends thought that selling was a HORRIBLE idea and were blunt in telling me to get a grip and focus on the dream. They insisted that we see this through.

By the end of December, still without any scheduling of an appeal hearing, I got a letter from the state. The appeal had been accepted. The replanting notice-to-comply citation had been cancelled. The land had been changed to agricultural status - which restarted the 6 year development moratorium on the non-waived portion of the property that will now run through December 2031.

If I had known that all this was going to happen, I would have planned differently. I might have bought a different property. I certainly would have requested a different area of the property for the 2 acre waived portion.  But we are where we are, and it is settled, and in the long run, it will all be ok.

I would bet that MANY of the permies here could tell their own unique story of what was not known popping up for their property, and how it impacted them - never the same twice.  We can't see beyond the horizon. But maybe asking a few better questions up front can help get you to that horizon more smoothly than what has been described here

And in the mean time I live here in a needful-of-regen-ag off grid little slice of earth that feels to me like heaven.
Good luck with finding your slice too!

Kara Ann,

Thank you for your reply! What a saga! And, one that is entirely instructive—much appreciated. I am so glad you saw it through, and that you’re clearly invested in a better way of living. The pictures are great too!

Kris

Thanks, Kris!  There are lots of other threads here on Permies that might help you

Composting toilets - in WA there is a statute that establishes standards for legal composting toilets - but not all counties allow it (like Mason county where I live prohibits composting toilets flat out / not negotiable) so the specific county where you settle makes a big difference.  Read more here:  https://permies.com/t/55070/Public-Domain-Composting-Toilets-Legal

Differences by county regulation -   https://permies.com/t/69195/place-move-MT-WA-open

Some big questions tied up in that inquiry! Without knowing a lot more personal particulars, I'd be curious what sort of local community and broader ecological landscape you would want to be a part of? And where do you see yourself on a general learning curve of the skills/experience needed to reach your goals? If those things aren't real clear, you may want to consider allowing yourself the opportunity of a lower commitment 'test run' or self-directed apprenticeship in a space/setting that provides informal support, while familiarizing with a wider region that you can eventually home in on optimal long term living situation with lots more confidence, and more time to scan for uniquely suited properties.

Another route might be working with a capable consultant who can convey lots more personalized insight and advice to avoid unwelcome surprises and course corrections. *raises hand* ...which is something I can probably offer if interested, reach out to discuss!

I grew up on the Oregon coast (Newport), went to school at OSU (Corvallis) and have lived in Clark County, WA since 1989. So I am pretty familiar with the areas you mentioned.  All are very suitable for permaculture endeavors. Although Battle Ground is having some strange politics lately, so maybe keep that in mind.

This organic farm in Philomath is for sale. But jumping directly into full-time farming is quite a leap. https://www.gatheringtogetherfarm.com/about-gtf

You didn't say if you plan to have a "day job in the city", "work remotely" or try to make a living from the land?  i.e. what sort of commute do you anticipate, if any?  If you plan to have a day job, how big does the town/city need to be in order for you to find employment there?

And perhaps more importantly, what do you wish you had known before buying?

I’d especially love to hear about things that aren’t obvious from real-estate listings: soil and drainage, wells and groundwater, winter saturation, septic issues, county permitting, wildfire/smoke, microclimates, growing seasons, taxes, insurance, invasive plants, access to supplies and anything else that surprised you after living on the land.

We are on a relatively large lot in town (0.7 acre). I do permaculture mostly for fun and to be able to harvest year-round.  I share my excess with a local organic farmer who visits occasionally to harvest my excess.  And of course I share with family, friends and neighbors.  We are on city water, although I use very little of it, mainly for my native plant "nursery" and vegetable hugel bed.

Re: before buying, I wish I would have more closely examined the soil across the whole lot. Until our house construction started, I didn't realize that over half the lot is covered in clay from when they built the street.  In your case, I would also drive around the neighborhood to see what the neighbors are like, and imagine if you could get along with them.  e.g. if the next door or upslope neighbor bathes their property in chemicals, you may have some conflicts.

Re: wildfire/smoke, those are everywhere most summers.  Worse the farther you are from civilization.

Re: invasive plants, I highly recommend that you learn to identify them when they are small. Much easier to deal with at that point vs. when they are bigger.  We have some nasty ones e.g. himalayan blackberry, canada thistle, etc.  Spend some time here: https://www.nwcb.wa.gov/printable-noxious-weed-list  But, those of us who have lived here a while have learned how to tackle them, to the point that they are now just a minor annoyance.  I do however get frustrated with new invasive insects, which I have to learn and battle.  e.g. apple maggot, Spotted wing drosophila (SWD), marmorated stink bugs, etc.  I use "fruit sox" on my most important fruit, which works well but is labor intensive.  I have tried to incorporate a lot of native plants & wildlife habitat into my food forest, which attracts a LOT of birds and parasitic wasps, who eat a lot of the insect pests.  But not all of them.

I'm happy to answer any specific questions.