If you think God can, or that he can't, you're correct.

I mentioned in yesterday's post that this was our third attempt because the first two deals hit roadblocks. In retrospect we're thankful for that because this is clearly the best of the three. We looked at it twice before making an offer and have been back once since, and each time we like it more.

If you want to look it up on Google the address is:
90252 Baker Rd., Elmira OR 97437

(click on any of these pics to enlarge)

The 2.8 acres runs east to west with a creek running down the center. The west side of the creek was harvested of its timber years ago with the trees dragged out by teams of horses because the lady who owned the land didn't want bulldozers tearing up the ground. So the gently rising slope is now covered with second growth trees and some old growth that probably weren't big enough to harvest back then.

The creek is about 30 yards wide and, when we saw it in Jan. and March, about 6" deep, so more like a marsh. It flows north to south and crosses under that E/W private road on the south side of the property through a large culvert. I'm doing some research, but the tentative plan is to dredge out a channel to make it narrower and deeper in order to free up land on each side for gardening and maybe some fruit trees. The creek isn't named and doesn't appear on any county maps so I'm cautiously optimistic. We're eager to see the creek in the summer to learn what flow is like during the dry season.

The Baker Rd. (east) third of the property is where the structures are. We've come up with names for each to make conversation easier. We found ourselves struggling to talk about the _____ because we didn't know what to call it. The single wide (two words is too cumbersome) isn't a house, isn't yet our home, and sans wheels isn't a trailer. We're calling it MoHo, short for mobile home. It's technically a manufactured home, but ManHo seemed inappropriate.

It dates to 1979 and inside bears all the signatures of that zenith of decorating style - orange countertops, sculptured shag, and dark paneling everywhere. But the lady took very good care of it so it's clean and very livable. We'll build our tiny house on this spot, but until we can do that this will serve us just fine. I'll replace the flooring, paint some walls, and upgrade some light fixtures and we're good.

Next to MoHo is a structure bigger than a single car garage but smaller than a barn, hence Barnette. Dirt floor, barn doors, a utility door on the side, and open framing inside. Will it house a '59 Chevy truck, become a workshop, or "other"? Yet to be determined, but it's a solid structure that will be useful and, if possible, remain in place when we build the tiny house.

But the star of this show is Fred, who transcends any descriptive word we could come up with. Not big enough to be called a cabin, or even a cottage, but with too much personality to be called a shack, we went looking for a Swedish word that fit. I used an online translator, typed in English words that fit - retreat, hermitage, calm - and got Swedish words too hard to pronounce. But when I typed in the word peace....
So, meet Fred.

It's been there as long as the middle age son of the lady can remember, and at some point someone clearly lived in this 11' x 13' structure. It looks like that was last week! He (?) went for walks in the woods and brought back treasures that captured his interest, including lots of horseshoes (logging was all done by horses way back when), old lanterns and gas cans, now-hardened pieces of leather (chaps?) and things now unidentifiable, and put them on the shelf on the porch or nailed them to the front of his abode. Check out the old lawn mower to the right of the porch.

Inside it's just as fascinating. The washer and dryer to the left have just been stored here; there was power at some point but no water. The walls bear his unique sense of style ("this is cool") and he was a man of letters...sort of. In the front left corner are shelves stacked with Readers Digest condensed books (remember those) and some Norman Mailer in German (the family immigrated from Germany). I'll replace the worn linoleum on the floor and toss some of the decor items, like broken bottles, but I haven't decided how thorough to make any interior renovation. Fred should not be scrubbed of his personality.

But wait! There's more!
In the front right corner are branches nailed to the wall as ladder rungs giving access to the loft. You can't tell from this pic but the paneling behind those rungs is set back to what would be the outside wall so that you have about 2" of foot hold. Climb up the ladder and you'll find a cozy sleeping area.

That's a twin mattress turned sideways but we'll replace it with a queen lengthwise. It will be the inflatable mattress we already own, because there's no way to get a regular mattress up there.

How's this for guest quarters?! Fred will also serve as my writing studio, but more on that in a future post. A hide-a-bed downstairs, a queen bed in the loft, and a coffee pot ready for you in the morning.

The lady (widow) who lived here until she moved into a rest home two years ago was big into gardening, so there's an area fenced off and ready for vegetables as well as a large homemade greenhouse that we'll take out (it's pretty deteriorated) and replace with a chicken coop.

Take all of this and set it in the midst of old growth firs and natural forest floor vegetation and you have, in our opinion, the epitome of the phrase often used to describe the Pacific Northwest: "God's country." For that reason there will be no landscaping. The Father has already done it perfectly. Just add chickens, a vegetable garden, some berry vines and maybe fruit trees, and call it...home!