Looking for help in upstate NY - zip 13110

Hello Permies!
Long time reader and viewer, first time poster.

My wife and I have 6 children and the oldest is 6! We are currently living in what used to be a summer cottage. I've replaced all the single pane windows and put insulation in the walls. We're warm now but the space is 30x20ish with difficult access to a terrible attic and no basement on an 1/8th acre of land (yes, we do drive our neighbors nuts!). I built a detached timber frame garage as practice for building a large home on more land. This took many years since I cut down all the timber, milled it and hand chiseled the joints. I also took a couple years off to finish my master's degree (and have more children!)

We have since purchased ~30 acres of land with a lot of wonderful prospects. I purchased a bulldozer, loader and f350 with a dump box. We've been cutting down trees and building a driveway back to where we'd like to build (1/2 mile back), clearing land and starting to dig a pond for trout. We'd like to start a farm but we don't have good direction on what would work. We know there is a lot of incentives for hops in NY right now and we have a lot of woods for ginseng.

After a lot of reading we decided on a round-wood, timber frame, 24 in cord-wood house. I've been putting the hardwoods to 1 side (for firewood and beams) and the softwood in a different pile. My wife has been cutting and debarking many logs with the kids. We'll use the clay from the pond and my father-in-law's straw (he is a dairy farmer) for adobe.

I work a full time job and my wife is constantly busy with the kids. We still find time to work the land most days. We've gotten a lot accomplished this year!

The issue is that the kids are getting bigger and our house seems to be getting smaller. We don't have the money to hire someone to complete the new house for us. We know there are grants and incentives to building green and to starting farms. We've called our local Cornell extension for help and they have given us some good advice (hops and ginseng) but we still haven't started applying since these have just been phone chats.

Can someone help us with our timeline? Where do we get help with labor, architects, drafters, etc.? We'd like to get something to live in within a couple years instead of the 5+ we're looking at now.

Thank you very much!!
Kirk
Thirteen corners farm .. ?

Kirk Stevenson : A late Welcome then to Permies.com and our sister site, Richsoil.com, You have many fellow New Yorkers, don't be shy

about reaching out to them, I will ask a Administrator to help you by connecting your Thread to the Introductions and Eastern Region Forum Threads.

This will improve the number of Fellow Members (who are New Yorkers ) who will see your posts !

Here are a couple of links to help speed your navigation through Permies' Threads !


https://permies.com/t/34193/tnk/permies-works-links-threads

https://permies.com/t/43625/introductions/Universal

Good luck and keep us informed on how things are working for you ! For the Good of the Crafts ! Big AL

I've added this topic to the sub-forums that Al suggested. Hope that helps you gain a wider audience for your needs.

I'll also extend a welcome to Permies. Where the flow of information is like drinking from fire hose!!

Check out the Universal Welcome to Permies thread that Al suggested and share your project!

Kirk : Don't know how much help this will be

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2015/08/18/no-room-for-the-baby-try-this-solution-from-the-1930s/

For the Good of the Crafts ! Big AL

Ha! Perfect! Thanks Al

Hello Kirk,

I don't know anybody in your area, or in my area either. My cousin did just purchase a house/land in northern PA and it turned out the mayor the small town was also a licensed architect. She got the plans, and residential approval from just two people. Perhaps you can ask around your town hall for a similar situation?

Hi Kirk

Try contacting Norman at Paradise Milling 315-696-8388. He has a mill and is a great source of rough cut lumber for out buildings. I have purchased hemlock from him in the past. He may be able to point you in the right direction.

For hops try https://www.facebook.com/TheRhizomeRepublic/photos_stream

Good Luck
JD

Thanks JD!
Norm and I have been friends for many years

Hi Kirk,

I'm in zipcode 13803 and building my own timber-frame cabin currently (I had hoped to have it done last summer but that just didn't happen). I'm hoping to finish my cabin up this summer and may be building a more complete home for my fiance and I (and hopefully a slew of kids) in the years to come. Anyway, this is my first timber-framing project so I'm not very experienced but maybe we can help each other out in the future. If nothing else, it's always nice to have some extra hands on raising day. I'm going to be very busy over the next couple of months but will have more flexibility this Spring/Summer.

Anyway, keep me in mind and if you need some help building at some point let me know and I'd be happy to help if I'm free. Sounds like an exciting project!

Here's a link to the post on my current project: webpage

Jesse

Hi Jesse,
That's excellent! I'm excited that someone from here is so close to me!
The same goes for you, if you need some help, send me an email.
Kirk