Location
– Latitude – 38.717795724642166 Longitude -81.04468345642091

Primary Abode

• 3650 sq.ft., two-story wooden great house – originally a 1920s Montgomery Ward package house; very significant interior and exterior additions and make-overs between 1976 and 2004;
• living room, kitchen, pantry, full bathroom with composting toilets, and utility room plus 12 other rooms for use as bedrooms, guest rooms, offices, workshops, playrooms or whatever;
• 11′ X 22′ attached greenhouse with gravity-fed waterfalls and 8′ X 18′ pond (half under living room), 2′-4′ deep, heatable with free gas;
• 12′ X 14′ cut stone basement – opportunities for year-round mushroom culture;
  porches and balcony – sturdy rails for winter bird feeding with 58 linear feet of large growing boxes;
• naturally air-conditioned;

Land

• 78.59 recently (2006) surveyed surface acres at the mouth of a 200+ acre watershed mineral rights separated in 1920s;
• about 70 acres of forested hillside – mixed mesophilic forest – largely cut twice since Europeans arrival – much oak, poplar, some black walnut, cherry, beech, hickory – sustainable harvest plan initiated and significant harvest possible within 10 years;
• about 8 acres of bottom cut for hay but ideal for industrial hemp;
• nearly 2-acre bench with home, garden, barn and outbuildings;
• gravel road right-of-way and creek running from head of holler;
• 3 uphill water catchment ponds including blue gills, largemouth bass, catfish;
  incipient permaculture site several design pieces initiated and in place;
  100 yd. stone and gravel driveway leading to well-maintained gravel county road – 11/4 mile to the hard road;
• several additional building sites. _

Outbuildings

• 2-story barn, 27′ X 32′, with 168 sq.ft. 2nd floor finished art/writing studio – electrified;
  11/2-story tool shed – 10′ X 13′, insulated and electrified;
• composting outhouse and maturation bin;
• 2 3-wall sheds – each 12′ X 32′, adjacent to driveway;
• garden gazebo – 8′ X 8′.

Gardens and Growing Areas

• well-fed garden soils, growing beds, and facilities managed almost entirely organically for 30+ years;
• 70′ X 130′ primary garden – copious organic materials added over the decades;
• many stone-walled house-and-garden growing beds;
• 58 linear feet of porch and balcony growing boxes;
• several used-tire-and-mortar raised beds;
• kitchen herb spiral, based on permaculture design;
• several small fish and amphibian ponds near house;
• 6′ X 10′ in-ground bed in greenhouse;
• hanging 2′ X 12′ greenhouse shelf for starts;
• cookout firepit.

Water management

• new (2008) drilled well with new pump, holding tank and whole-house filter;
• modest but reliable, 80-year-old, hand-dug well providing fine-tasting water with no taste of sulfur or iron – currently not attached to house system;
• ceramic and charcoal final filter;
• gravity-fed waterfalls and 8′ X 18′ pond (half in greenhouse and half under living room), 2′-4′ deep, heatable with free gas;
• full house guttering with rain barrels, outdoor shower and ponds;
• 6′ diameter, rain-fed, wood-heated cistern/hot tub;
• 2 up-hill catchment ponds, one connected by pipe to garden area (additional pipe available for connecting second);
• a third large pond just above garden for watering and swimming;
• 2 smaller garden ponds, one octagonal constructed of used tires and mortar;
  reasonably reliable rainfall supplied naturally,… so far.

Energy aspects

• free natural gas for “domestic use” – due to 2 wells on the property – the second drilled in 1983 – far more than adequate for space & water heating, refrigeration & clothes drying [possibilities for electricity generation and/or compressed gas vehicles];
• reliable inexpensive grid electricity generated from coal – current bill about $20/month;
• good orientation for solar energy installations and a structure that can support additional roof weight;
• ridge lines susceptible to local winds;
• some micro hydro-electric potential through higher bench ponds’ connections to above-garden pond;
• local coal seams too thin and/or deep to exploit and Marcellus shale lies far to the west.

Several used-tire installations

• earth-turtle growing bed and moat in garden;
• 12′ X 220′ driveway mat to above-garden pond;
• three used-tire and mortar raised beds – worm volcanoes;
• octagonal used-tire and mortar garden pond;
• parking lot curb-stops.

Communication aspects

• reliable phone with slow dial-up internet but STILL no DSL;
• a satellite connection would seem to be the only reasonable option.

Tax considerations

• very low local property taxes (about $300/year) [with public schools to match];
• modest home business property and equipment taxes;
• moderate state income taxes;
• 3% sales tax on food – decreasing yearly to 0.