Ben Brownell

I would offer that one helpful way to approach a big reset / relocation like that is to leave yourself some options to reorient again to an even better situation in a few years' time after you've given yourself a practice run and chance to test the waters somewhere new. Basically, don't get hung up on needing to find the perfect happy-ever-after home right away, and pick someplace that will allow you the flexibility to a) try a bunch of new things out on a small scale while you learn and build your confidence, and b) give you the option to resell easily at a modest return for your efforts if you choose to in a few years.

Rural real estate is not as reliable financially as more conventional city properties that have a much bigger buyer market behind them. But that also means you can find some great deals out there if you know what to look for and what kinds of improvements you can manage on your own. There are a few more pitfalls to avoid as well, when it comes to assessing what's there and potential liabilities, so it's good to have a trustworthy professional on your side before finalizing anything. Feel free to ask more questions here as you search, and good luck setting yourself and a little patch of earth up for satisfying growth ahead!

How goes the excavations, Josh?

I've gotten sucked in down the hand-dug rabbit hole myself, slowly but surely, for similar reasons (or, arguably, lack thereof)! Mainly due to combination of good workable geology that's near a sweet spot of carveable X stable, desire for bulk fill material supply, and the appeal of year round passive climate control.

So far about 15' into an exploratory tunnel just to see how goes, and what's possible, but starting to dream bigger as the potential utility + feasibility expands. Not really thinking in terms of living space so much, but I suppose having a manageable 'bolt hole' in case of emergency (like fire) could be a real life saver. Originally thinking more for root cellar and general cool (non-freezing) storage. Currently most excited about the prospect of large volume underground water storage, since I can fairly easily channel a good amount of winter surface flow down in there, and the substrate is pretty near impervious to drainage as is. It's pretty slow going so I'm sure I'll be able to experiment and adjust over a few seasons to home in on good long term plan for it. Fun side project anyhow, especially during hot weather! Amazing to just climb in to 20-30F cooler temps like that.

Photo of current "R&D" status here:

Lots of different ways to think about and weigh the tradeoffs, for a variety of contexts and conceptions of what the future holds (or could). Transportation systems really are a huge determinant of lifestyle/quality/sustainability, and the western US is pretty deep in the hole of car-oriented living and widely spaced more-than-human-scale landscapes.

New Urbanism is a worthy response for city dwellers; some of which can translate to more rural or exurban settings. Personally I'm most excited about the prospect for "e-bike-able" eco-district development patterns, where several low density neighborhoods/hamlets and some busier town centers or hubs are linked with bike/cart-friendly or dedicated alt transit networks. The best example of this I know of is in the mid Hudson Valley of New York, where a few intersecting rail trail routes link several small towns and farmland surrounding the city of Kingston.

There's a lot of potential for innovation and proliferation of versatile compact efficient electric vehicles in between bike format and enclosed cab vehicles that I expect will take off here in coming decades, with corresponding push toward dedicated travel routes. Even as is, I can get around pretty well within 10-20 mile radius on all manner of surfaces via fairly comfy fat tire bike that I charge free from the sun. Eventually I want to build out or buy into a semi-wild co-homesteading arrangement with a couple shared larger utility vehicles as needed, but most local and on site traffic via light electric conveyance. So many upsides, it's hard not to see an exponential trend going that way! But choosing the right location - and neighbors/community who support the needed broader infrastructure - will be key.

Not a notably bad year here for numbers, I rarely see them around (versus some years they are hopping everywhere) but they have demolished several chestnut seedlings so far. Not much at all that's green this time of year so any lush leaves are a beacon. I've tried visually screening some plants (also helps with shading from intense sun) and that may make them less of a target. Re: sunflowers, I have a small patch of sun chokes that got a few nibbles but mostly left alone so far. 2nd year pomegranate and black walnut are completely untouched.

I've thought about (not yet tested or implemented) some sort of rapid-deploy house shield to quickly protect at least small structures in the event of a fire emergency. A curtain system with heavier nonflammable material, or even hanging metal panels potentially - the foil wrap seems iffy due to challenge of installing well to resist wind etc, and not easily reusable. But maybe fixing it to a light frame or other custom mounting system? I'm also recalling that tight, trimmed straw bales do not readily ignite, and could possibly make a quick barrier wall at least on most exposed side of structure/space.

I went for something similar, but more 'rustic' I suppose with small-D roundwood frame pieces, offcut slabs, and salvaged roof tin - and realized I could scale up in size a bit and have a nice elevated outdoor summer bed/lounge when not in use for wood storage!

I would add that it's helpful to be clear and distinct about your fire prevention/suppression goals, since they will mean different strategies for different features and 'zones' in and around your landscape. One step beyond that, it can be important to think through a few different scenarios about how fire might arrive - is it a fast low wind driven grass fire? is it a big intense forest canopy fire? is it a chaotic "WUI" (wildland-urban interface, where much of what's burning is neighboring structures and landscape features) fire?

If the goal is to protect nearby public (?) forest woodland, that is obviously a larger and more involved project with a range of possible long term management protocols. If concerned about your own property features, there's a lot you can do such as already suggested/linked above. If you are primarily concerned with preserving your home dwelling, there's a bunch more technical research and adaptations to make, with one of the big ones being just making sure there are NO gaps where wind blown embers can find there way inside the building envelope (passive roof ventilation is often a big liability here) or for example into a nest of leaves or say wood decking, lattice etc that can ignite close to the main structure. Finally, having a clear plan of action to secure what you can and quickly evacuate is a big plus!

Yep: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/15221-Vantine-Rd-SE-Tenino-WA-98589/304979179_zpid/

also, https://chooselatitude.com/heartwood-homestead

Tangential late bump to this surely lovely now past event, but I just saw that GCH is hiring for a "retreat center steward" and figured someone in the crowd here might do well to apply, and enjoy or expand on the good work of Uncle Mud & friends:

https://mendocino.craigslist.org/dmg/d/talmage-retreat-center-steward-airbnb/7941787544.html

What kind of life span are you building for, realistically? How might the structure want to evolve or retrofit along the way? Is it in THE right spot for that trajectory?