We have always lived adventure to adventure. When we’re ready for something new, we up-stakes and start again. We’ve been teachers on the high plains of northern New Mexico, and teachers in Hawaii and Alaska. We’ve owned two businesses in Hawaii including an art supply/hobby shop/yarn shop. In Hawaii we also worked a five acre coffee and tropical fruit farm.
In our latest adventure we moved on the spur of the moment (within a week) from a tiny native village in southeast Alaska to the Willamette Valley of Oregon. We’ve been eyeing this move and looking at land for nine years and decided now was the time to go. Last Wednesday (October 23, 2019) our offer on a home on Lynx Hollow Road in the small town of Creswell, mid-way between Eugene and Cottage Grove was accepted by the owner.
We fell in love with the area on the drive to see the farm and that was reinforced when we walked in the front door of the house. The craftsman-style home was built in 1910 and sits on eight acres of gently sloping land put mainly to pasture with a large kitchen garden and bordered by a creek. There is barn, a shop and a large deck overlooking Lynx Hollow. We can see two neighboring farms to the north and Lynx Hollow Road to the south, but the other views are of farmland, trees and hills.
The home has three bedrooms and a bathroom up steep old stairs, a bedroom and bathroom downstairs with a snug living room, a kitchen, a pantry/laundry room and an entrance hall. Dutch doors lead out of the kitchen into the pantry. The entire structure is currently heated with wood and we plan to continue that while adding solar. The house needs work, but can be lived in while we remodel. Most of the work is within our skill level with a few projects in need of a contractor and expert carpentry skills.
Plans for the farm include raising chickens and ducks, goats and maybe alpacas for wool. We’ll plant a vegetable garden, of course, and plan to raise flowers for cutting. Some farm machinery is included in the sale.