For Sale: Oehler Cabin on Wheaton Labs

An Ant Village cabin/plot for sale!
This could be a great cabin for somebody who wants to move into the village and not camp while they build a larger cabin on the same plot. I'd gladly spend a day or two showing you what I have learned about wofati's and roundwood building. The cabin is at the back of the acre plot and secluded from the road. The plot is mostly wooded.

Cost: I will consider any offer over $2,500. I dont really know what to price it at; hoping it is worth more.
NOTE: You would be only buying the improvements. You would either have to pay yearly rent of $1200, do worktrade every year for a few weeks, or pay for a deeproots. You have to work that out with Paul. I think there is a requirement for all long term residents to have listened to Paul's podcasts.

Whats included:
-A 16x12 ish earth bermed cabin. The cabin has a wood stove surrounded by an earthen floor and dry stack stone heat wall. The rest of the cabin is wood floor. There is a kitchen table made from rough sawn boards and two benches. The table is lit by an iron chandelier. The kitchen area has an 8ftx2ft counter top with shelves underneath and an overhead light. Bookshelves on one wall. A 3 person couch sits underneath the lofted twin bed. The couch pulls out into a queen bed. Lots of east facing windows. A small cellar under the wood floor. The cabin has grass growing on the roof with tamarack shingle trim. A large uphill patio wraps around the front to divert water away from the structure.
-10x10 Woodshed. Just a timber framed roof to keep rain and snow off firewood. I only used about half of the wood this past winter so it will be stocked with another winters worth of wood.
-A garden of hugelkulture beds. About 1/6(?) of the acrea is covered in garden beds.
-I will have done enough worktrade this year to include my fysh worth a significant amount of next years rent.










Optional extras:
-Solar panel installation: For the right offer, I would leave my solar panels behind with the buyer.
-Tools: I have some gardening tools and well drilling equip
-Hand pump well: I have dug several wells on the property with hand pumps. I have not tried on my plot, but there is a decent chance water could be found.


Two good build sites exist on the plot with south facing mountainous views. During workshops and events, people are always renting bunks around Wheaton Labs. It may be possible to rent the cabin during PDC, ATC, and innovators event and make the yearly rent or more. Your neighbors to the south would be Kai and Evan.

I've lived in Ant Village since 2015 on this plot I rent from Paul. I am checking out my options for my next adventure and am hoping I can pass on my improvements here. I hope to recover what I have spent on the project and move out around July.

Please PM or reply to this thread with any questions. Any serious inquiries can PM for my phone number and tour as my gapper.
My build is documented here: woodstead.org/build.html

Wow! Beautiful place Jim!

A person could buy this even if they weren't planning to live there year round.  There may be a market for renting it out to permaculture curious folks.  There might even be humans on site willing to help with the renting business.  I'd love to hear from someone living on the lab who thinks having paying guests in Jim's house (given that Jim is looking to move on) could work well for the Ant Village as a whole, as a source of currency.

I am lowering the price to $1500. The rent is good through the end of the year.  Even if you only came for a month, or for the rocket mass innovators event, this could be worth it!

What is the internet situation on the property as a whole? Is there fast internet in the main area?

I have an ATT wireless hotspot that costs about $20 a month. There is internet access down at basecamp too.

A Walton wrote:What is the internet situation on the property as a whole? Is there fast internet in the main area?

To add to Jim's reply:  wheaton labs is two pieces of property: base camp and the laboratory. Jim's cabin is located at the lab.

Base camp has decent internet, most easily accessed via wifi in the community library (fka the office) which is in the garage/office/library building next to the Fisher Price House (FPH). The wifi generally broadcasts about 10 MB down and 1-2 MB up. Cell phone reception (if you're interested in using cell phone data) is quite good at base camp.

The lab does not have internet provided by anyone at this time. Cell phone reception becomes spotty in areas on the lab - and can be blocked when inside an earthen-bermed structure. Glad to hear Jim's AT&T hotspot has worked. In the past Verizon devices have had the best reception around here though I think many providers and devices are improving.

I got only one bar on my Samsung Galaxy phone, at my place. I bought one of those car antennas that use a booster for $79 at Radio Shack. It is powered by a 12 volt battery. It was mounted in the upstairs of my cabin. Now I get either 4 or 5 bars, with five being the highest that my phone shows. I went from making crackly calls that were dropped, to being able to load photos to permies.

Julia Winter wrote:A person could buy this even if they weren't planning to live there year round.  There may be a market for renting it out to permaculture curious folks.  There might even be humans on site willing to help with the renting business.  I'd love to hear from someone living on the lab who thinks having paying guests in Jim's house (given that Jim is looking to move on) could work well for the Ant Village as a whole, as a source of currency.

I think that is a great idea.  I'll buy it myself if someone there wants to manage renting it and split the money somehow, with whatever cut Paul thinks is fair.

indeed.

send any questions to jim@woodstead.org

Final reduction

$900 by PayPal with the next 2 weeks. This is cheaper than a motel for 2 weeks.

And gapper fee to Paul. I will not give you a tour or answer anymore lengthy emails.

I will repurpose all the materials otherwise.

Jim,

I sent you an email. Posting here to make sure you see since I know internet access there is spoty.

Best,

Shannon

is this still available? does purhase require a work commitment to the cause? It's too long a story to get into here. Thank you!

Joseph Yarbrough wrote:is this still available? does purhase require a work commitment to the cause? It's too long a story to get into here. Thank you!

This cabin is no longer available. Though other ant village plots are available. See more about that in the ant village thread.

Hi, Jim.

What you've built there is the kind of thing that I wished I'd done when I was half my age. I am tied to work and land and children here in San Antonio. Divorced, visitation decree, distance restriction--things I wouldn't wish on anyone.  It doesn't matter that it's sold...

I just wonder, Jim.

It seems, I guess...idyllic. It's the kind of life I wished I'd had. Like, we always wanted things to be simpler. To live deliberately and suck the marrow out of the bones of life. I can't do that now. I'm coming to grips with that, and doing whatever good I can from this position.

But you, it seemed that you worked so hard to achieve this thing. I don't know you but, I'm really proud of you for doing all that. I can't say that. Is it not what Bill Mollison (or, say, Heny David Thoreau) were shooting for?

When you got there....something didn't fit...

I'm, I don't know I guess the word is, sad--to hear that. I know it's none of my business. But I still want to ask.
Why did it go that way? Where are you going?

Did you....get what you went there for?

How are the current occupants of the Oehler Cabin doing?