1.33 Acres of Wooded Happiness -Property Purchase to Camper to Cabin

Started by Reeko, December 25, 2015, 01:19:30 PM

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Reeko

This is my second post here but have been lurking for a while getting ideas for what I want to do in the future.  I grew up in the mountains of West Virginia but moved to Kentucky for college and later for work and a family.  I have always missed having land even though I am in the woods  multiple times a year between my Jeep, ATV and RZRs.  About a year ago I began to look for a small tract of property that I could put some type of shelter on and be able to be in the woods with one of  my motorized toys.   I looked for several months in Kentucky as well as Tennessee.  I found several properties that I liked in Tennessee but most had a 5-10 acre minimum purchase which  would eat up most of my future building funds. 

In July my buddy and I just so happened to find 2 joining properties in the woods just outside of Natural Bride (Slade, Ky).  The larger lot was 3 acres and and the smaller lot was 1.33 acres.  The smaller lot which I decided to take wasn't really any better value than the larger one financially but the land was a bit more enticing for putting a shelter on it as well as activities for my daughter.  My father and I decided to purchase the 1.33 acres but sadly 2 days after closing he was  diagnosed with Acute Leukemia and started his losing battle and never got to return back  to the property.

So here begins the transformation.  The property is pretty close to a rectangle with natural winter run off creeks as the boundries on 3 sides.  It is loaded with mature trees, has an electric pole with breaker box already set, gravel  drive but no water close (which isn't a problem).  Also, comes complete with a bunch of really old oil well goodies such as a run down motor house as well as guide poles for pump jacks (which  are not on my property).

Here are some pictures.








Reeko

A couple of months back I picked up a salvage title 29' Puma camper with a 13' super slide to put out on the property for a year or two until I could make up my mind what I wanted to do for future builds.

I ended up picking  this guy up for next to nothing.  Required some work and a bunch of caulk/lap sealant but it is good  enough for the woods.  Besides if a tree were to fall on it, I wouldn't be out much.



Added a cheap Amazon LED strip.

Then came the addition of a fire ring.  Major score as it is was only $39 from the local farm store.

Then came addressing the water issue  with a 200 gallon tank purchased from the farm store with a 10% off coupon.


Reeko

Next came breaking the news to the girls that we had a weekend hideaway.  I wanted to show them some of the local  sites.




Plenty of deer and turkey to be spotted.






Time to get down to some chores.


Put in a new gate to keep the riff-raff out.



Reeko

First night out at the property with the girls.  About 35 degrees the weekend we went out there.



Breaking in the new fire pit.


They seem to really enjoy it.





Found a really cool outdoor bar at one of the sites at the bluff.




Future plans are to put the camper under roof as welll as a porch for the 2016 season.  If everything goes well I will start building this basic design below.

http://www.classicmanor.com/products/cabins/new-day/

I don't have any way to get a large truck into the property for these folks to build this shell so I am going to approach them to see if they will sell me the plans for this design.  I think this design in a 16x24' foot print will work well on our property.

Has anyone see a design similar to this on the interwebs  for sale?

jakecj7

Looks like you have a good start on a nice place to get away from it all.


Don_P

Nice looking area, it seems like I've always just been passing through in a hurry around there, looks like it's well worth exploring.

I didn't see anything there that would keep the big construction toys out but that doesn't look like a hard plan to sketch, either way would work.

Tickhill

Looks like a great place to unwind, looking forward to seeing your progress!
Tickhill
"You will find the key to success under the alarm Glock"  Ben Franklin
Forget it Ben, just remember, the check comes at the first of the month and it's not your fault, your a victim.

Pray while there is still time

Reeko

It isn't hard to get into with a truck or car but it was a bit of a nightmare to get the camper in. It is about 1 mile off of the blacktop  with some pretty steep gravel grades and narrow ridges with no turn around. Tried it with my 2wd diesel and I couldn't get enough rear wheel traction to drag it in. Had to get my buddy and use his 4WD to get it in. Had to back it down the road about 2/10 of a mile to get it in.

Was going to head out there today to work but the rain will make getting in a bit hard.