Looking Back....

I recently had a blog friend ask me for more pictures of our house.
So, I thought I would take a trip down memory lane....
with a little history of the farm.

The farm has been a part of our family for the past 10 years.
Originally bought with friends as a weekend retreat,
it served as a place to get away from the hustle and bustle of life
in the city and suburbs.

During these years, we started to acquire our goats, chickens, and horses.
We gardened, and started orchards and split our time between two homes...
(exhausting lifestyle!)

Several years later, our friends and partners bought a retreat
on the Chesapeake.
Three homes were more than they needed,
 so they sold their half of the farm to us.


Owning two homes was more than we bargained for.
Commuting an hour to take care of critters and gardens
made no sense, so.....
We sold our home in the suburbs, and headed to the farm full time.


The original farm house was actually a contemporary home,
not our taste in style, and wrought with problems.
Living in this home full time was out of the question.
The heating bills alone would have broken the bank...
not to mention the structural problems that had occurred over the years.


We tore down the contemporary home and had
it taken away for salvage.  By the time it was torn down,
there was nothing left but the block foundation,
which we removed and buried deep in one of our cornfields. 


In place of this contemporary structure,
we built the home of our dreams...
a log home.


It took from November till July to build our home.
During these months we spent a lot of time
in the guest house...
a one room A-frame with a sleeping loft...
very, very small cozy.

And we happily took residency in the summer of 2009.


Driving up the long driveway, you approach the house at this angle.


This is the upper back deck which runs along the entire back of the house.
It connects to a screen porch off the kitchen.


The front of the house has an upper deck and a lower
porch.


It took a while to get a nice yard.
This was the first year.


By the next summer, things were looking better.


The barn is quite a distance from the house,
and still matches the color scheme of the old house.
It has several stalls, a workshop, a greenhouse,
feed room, and a hay loft.
The vegetable garden resides within the tall fence in the forefront.
In the very front is one of our 4 upper pastures.


More landscaping projects last summer helped to finish
off the look of the front yard.


Several truck loads of mulch later, we were happy with the look.


One of my favorite touches is the beehive weathervane 
on top of the garage.
The landscaping remains a work in progress,
as do the gardens and orchards and berry patches.

I am thinking that I should do a walking tour of the house at some
point...video style....what do you think?

Comments

Your home is beautiful... love the dark green trim, the stone foundation and sitting area underneath the upper porch... the landscaping job is terrific too... Thank you for sharing! ... I'de love to see a video tour.
Connie said…
Love your house and yes, a tour of the inside would be wonderful! Must be a ton of work keeping it all up in the summer.
Thanks for the tour of your farm. I think a video would be awesome. I just looked at your Haiti mission photos. What a heart wrenching service to provide. I thank you for giving of your talents to help the less fortunate. I myself wonder what will become of the people who cannot pay for their medical care. Thanks for sharing.
Unknown said…
Thanks for the walk down memory lane....I was there through it all.
Isn't it amazing the changes....when you look back on it....just the little things you do each day add up!!
Congrats on that move...what a wonderful and wise choice! One I know you have never regreted!
Michle said…
Would love a video tour of the house. Your home is lovely. I know how proud you are of this home, it shows!!!!!

Michle
Anke said…
I like the home you built so much better than the contemporary that used to be there. Your home looks beautiful and inviting and the surrounding are is gorgeous!
Ginny said…
Your house is beautiful. Would love to see a walking tour of the interior.
Lisa said…
I think a video would be a lot of fun to watch. I love to look back on projects we have done. It is funny how we can forget what it was like in the beginning. The place looks wonderful. Have a good day. Lisa
I for one would love to see the inside! I long for the day when we are able to have the space and money to build our own place.
Anonymous said…
I think a video tour would be awesome would also like to see some footage of the land I grew up in the woods and miss it very much
Farm Girl said…
I think is is nice the way you did this one. I like that you explain it underneath the picture. You are really good with your videos too. It is so nice to see how far you have come. I was looking at the tables on the porch and I remembered the day you put those together and put the chicken generator together and a bunch more things. I was so impressed and felt like such a slacker. :)
Wow.. you really took on the challange but it appears that the dream was from the heart and is beautiful...Just beautiful.. I envy you a little..

Thanks for sharing!

Blessings
Tonya
This N That said…
Your life has gone through a lot of changes the past several years..The important thing is that you're happy!!
Ms. Bake-it said…
Your home is gorgeous! It shows that a lot of love went into the creation of it. It is awesome when your dreams become a reality.

Thank you for the tour of the making of Bee Haven Acres.

~ Tracy
Tracy said…
I love it!!! I love posts about the history of things or people's bios, or even animal bios! What a beautiful job you've done with the farm. A video tour is just what that gorgeous place needs!
Suzan said…
You are blessed to be able to live your dreams now instead of waiting for retirement. Did you draw up your own blueprints? Geothermal? Planning on solar? I don't see a chimney?? How do you heat?
Suzan
Teresa said…
I loved the tour! Quite beautiful.
What a beautiful piece of property and a gorgeous home.
Bee Haven Bev said…
Suzan,

We did draw our own blueprints. Hubbs had found a picture of a front similar to this house and I drew the house behind the front. It took a couple tries until it was structurally good...as I am no architect or engineer. But here we are, and it is just what we dreamed it would be. We heat with geothermal, but most of the time use our fireplace...it puts out a huge amount of BTU's and has a catalytic converter that even burns the smoke....very clean and very efficient. There is a chimney that is visible from the other side of the house. We are thinking that someday we will add solar...when it is a bit cheaper and also has better storage capacity.

Bev
Bev your home is absolutely beautiful! I LOVE log homes and when living in British Columbia it was my dream to build one. YES please do a video of your home ...I'm sure we all would LOVE to see it! I hope you have a wonderful Thursday.
Maura :)
Jody Watts said…
What a wonderful way to start my day! Enjoyed your tour immensely. I, too, would enjoy a video of your home inside. I grew up on a working farm in Minnesota years ago but never was a "farm girl". But seeing your blogs does bring back some memories for sure!
You’re living the dream Bev… So many of us plan to do that and end up not being able to for various reasons, none of them pleasant. I love my life but do envy yours a bit. a log home, a barn with beloved animals of all sorts, land….just wonderful. So…keep sharing your daily blessings and adventures to add to our own as we start our new days. A video would be grand for sure!
You’re living the dream Bev… So many of us plan to do that and end up not being able to for various reasons, none of them pleasant. I love my life but do envy yours a bit. a log home, a barn with beloved animals of all sorts, land….just wonderful. So…keep sharing your daily blessings and adventures to add to our own as we start our new days. A video would be grand for sure!
THE BEARDED ONE said…
WOW...THIS IS SO AMAZING...THE TWO OF YOU ARE SURE TOP NOTCH IN THE BRAINS DEPARTMENT...I SURE WISH WE COULD AFFORD TO DRIVE TO YOUR PALACE AND TAKE A GUIDED TOUR...SO YOU NEED TO DRAW PLANS FOR OTHER FOLKS AND MAKE SOME BIG EXTRA CASH...I LOVE YOUR POST...YOU ARE SUCHA N AMAZING LADY AND HUBBS SURE IS A GREATWOOD WORKER...SUCH GREAT TALENT THE TWO OF YOU HAVE....TRULY AMAZING....THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT TOUR AND THE EVERY WEEK DAY POST THAT WARMS MY OLD HEART...KEEP SMILNG !!!! WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE BEARDED ONE said…
WOW...YOU TWO ARE SUCH AN AMAZING COUPLE...AWESOME...SURE LOVED THE TOUR...THE TWO OF YOU ARE SO VERY TALENTED AND HARD WORKERS...BEAUTIFUL...I SURE WISH MY WIFE AND I COULD DRIVE UP AND TAKE A GUIDED TOUR...YOU TWO ARE ULTRA TALENTED PEOPLE...I SURE LOVE THESE POST....THEY BRIGHTEN MY DAY...KEEP SMILNG AND HAVE SUPER FINE DAY...KEEP SMILNG !!!
EDGAR C. BEARD said…
WOW....THIS IS SURE AMAZING...SUCH GREAT TALENT...YOU NEED TO START A BUSINESS DRAWING PLANS FOR OTHER FOLKS...GREAT MIND AND IMAGINATION...I SURE LOVED THIS WALK DOWN MEMORY LAND...AMAZING...I SURE WISH MY WIFE AND I COULD DRIVE UP AND TAKE AN ON-THE-SPOT GUIDED TOUR...AMAZING...THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT UPLIFTING PICS AND POST...WOW...HAVE A GREAT DAY...KEEP SMILING !!!!!
EDGAR C. BEARD said…
I AM SORRY THAT THE PAGE DID NOT SHOW AND I TYPED ANOTHER MESSAGE...I GUESS I MUST HAVE MESSED SOMETHING UP...HAVE A SUPER DUPER GREAT DAY !!!!!
jaz@octoberfarm said…
what fun seeing all of this! i started cleaning up my gardens today. i think i am about to give up on getting any winter this year. it's in the 70's today and i am sitting on the porch with the ceiling fans turned on. sheese!