Plan the Perfect Homestead
(Page 4 of 9)
April/May 2006
Edited by John Stuart, Carol Mack and Megan Phelps
If you do want several acres in the country and cannot afford to buy land outright, consider renting. Many farmers rent at least part of the land they farm, and if you are fortunate enough to find an older farm that someone wants to see revived, you may be able to negotiate a longer lease at a lower rate.
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Home Building and Beyond
One of the biggest decisions for homesteaders is selecting the home itself. For those interested in green building, this can be a difficult decision: Is it better to build a new, energy-efficient home or to renovate an older house?
Both choices have their advantages, but as far as David Schafer is concerned, building a new, greener home was the only option. “If resources allow it, I would strongly recommend starting from scratch and avoiding the temptation of leaving bad designs in place,” he says. Schafer and Dobbs moved out of a drafty, century-old farmhouse and built a new house using the latest green-building techniques. “We built our own home based on what the farmhouse was not,” David says. “Our new home is tightly insulated and almost maintenance-free. It does not require lots of energy to heat and cool.”
The couple’s new house uses a combination of straw bales and exterior stone to create a well-insulated home. It also has many passive-solar design features, plus solar-electric panels, a rainwater harvesting system to collect cistern water and a bicycle-powered pump to pressurize water in the house.
Harvey Ussery in Hume, Va., made the opposite decision, falling in love with a 200-year-old farmhouse. Although most older homes are not as tightly built or well insulated as newer ones, Ussery says, the house is better than you might expect. “Our 10 inches of solid wood and chinking is actually pretty green — that’s a lot of insulating power,” he says.
For Ussery, part of the farmhouse’s appeal is the sense of history it gives him. “I came to love this house in March ’93,” he says. “A raging winter storm blew in. The electric power went down immediately.” As he sat next to the woodstove, Ussery says he felt a strong connection to all those who had braved winter storms in the house before him.
You can’t turn an older farmhouse into the home of your dreams without a sizeable investment of time, money and energy. Ussery says he and his wife have redone every single room over the past two decades and completed a major addition on the second level. He says he’s not a skilled handyman, but he’s been able to do quite a bit of the work himself. “In many cases I’ve hired out the more skilled work, and finished up with things like sanding and painting,” Ussery says.
Whether you choose to renovate an older home or start from scratch, Ussery says you’ll be happier if you stay involved in the process. “It is crucial that you be in charge of the planning and design, and that you oversee every step in the execution,” Ussery says. “No outsider will know your habits and living patterns like you do.”
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