this is a continuation of land shopping part 1
this particular spot wasn’t what one thinks of when one thinks of a farm. the only real place to put a small home and a garden was on a flat, narrow “ridge” situated between two “vallies” each containing a pond. it didn’t fit the image we’d had of a flat grassy plain, but it was beautiful. and standing on the ridge that fall afternoon, looking at the trees just starting to turn, i was swept off my feet. within a few weeks we had a contract on the place.
and then, almost as soon as we’d signed on the dotted line, a very uneasy feeling began to settle in. something felt wrong. we couldn’t articulate or figure out what it might be. there was a deed restriction on the land. i had never seen one before and in my opinion, the wording was very harsh. while we made our intention of a hobby farm clear and put in writing, i still feared that our ducks, goats and chickens, and our “temporary” home (even though it wasn’t a mobile) might get us into trouble. we kept asking questions hoping to stumble across whatever it might be that was causing our apprehension. when all of our questions were answered satisfactorily we chocked it all up to “prenuptial jitters” of sorts and moved to closing.
then, within just days of sealing the deal we were given the final survey of the land.
it soon became clear that our apprehension was there for a reason. the survey showed a significant number easements on the place. the easements could not be lifted, and the majority of them centered around and on the one and only spot to build: the ridge. as far as building a farmette, the land was pretty much worthless. the deal bottomed out the day before we were to close.
as soon as we were released from the contract we both knew where we wanted to be. we wanted to go back to to our original plan. if we had gleaned anything from our previous experience it was this: go with your gut. learning that the ten acres with a pond was still on the market, we took another sunday afternoon drive, and this time we managed to drive right to it. when we got out of the car and stood in the middle of a grassy field we both knew without even saying to each other that this. was. IT.
within six weeks it was ours.
my feathered nest 