Posts Tagged With: Environment

I know that cement is not exactly the most environmentally friendly material.  Still, I am planning on actually keeping this house standing for a good many years, so, I decided on an 11’10” by 8′ cement pad to build on.  I also put in an adjacent one of the same size in as so that I would have an exterior space to hang out on too, where my feet would not get dirty and I could wash my dishes.  There were multiple issues that came up during this.  Issues that I would prefer not to discuss because I am building in a small community – but I will say that this part of the job was annoying and cost me well over double what it should have.  The concrete was $835 delivered and my awesome cousin Kenny dug me the hole in order to bring the ground down to the bedrock.  This cement pad is NEVER moving!  Well drained and I really appreciated having Kenny’s expertise on the land there!  Kenny was also there when the cement truck came and used his bucket to bring the cement in through the woods.

Here is what it looked like in Early May 2011

I got a few estimates for a driveway.  They wanted lots of money… $14,000 to be exact.  So I spoke to my late dad’s best friend, John (or Woodchuck if you prefer) and he said to leave it with him.  Over the fall, he got together a few of his friends and they carved me out a path into my land.  I have to say, I am pretty lucky that my dad knew such a good guy!  I got a few loads of gravel.  Exactly $1930. worth and tada!  I still have to get the culvert installed and the permits… but even so I believe that I am very fortunate to be friends with Woodchuck!  We should all be so lucky to have such a good person in our lives!  Here we are in April 2011!  

Somehow my initial post was deleted so I am going back now to recall this in August of 2013.  It was three years ago.  I hope I recall all the details correctly.

I heard that this particular strip of land was going up for sale.  It is dear to me because it is actually a piece of land where Native ancestors lived and also a small parcel of the land where my Irish ancestors were given their original land grant in 1836.  This 10 acres is part of the 50 that my great great uncle Llewellyn lost during the Great Depression.  The land had been in his family a hundred years and he took a small loan for farm improvement but, like many farmers of this time, was unable to repay the debt.

Anyway, our neighbours, the Miller family had purchased this land and the particular section that I bought back and always referred to it as the Dixon Farm.  I called the agent and told him to let the Millers know who I was, how I was connected to the Dixon Farm, what I could pay and that I planned to build a little place back there it was as good as a sealed deal.

I paid far below market value for the land, $67,000 to which I had to take a $40,000 line of credit in order to secure.  Not perfect to have land debt, but none-the-less it was the only way for me to purchase it.

The tree that is photographed here is about 600 years old and is a tree that my grandma would have walked under on her way to school.  The road is named after my family, the neighbours are all interconnected to my family for generations.  It is home to me here in the Kingston Area and a place I am glad to get back to after having been away since my early 20’s.

At this point I was hoping still to build a 300 square foot straw bale house which was as ecological as possible; however, due to building codes I was restricted to stay under 108 square feet (footprint) and therefore had to go to a stick build.

The land now mine again echoes with my personal history.  It resonates with the footsteps of my people.