Solid Rock Homestead
From Neighborhood to Ninety-Seven Acres
Discovering the Joys of Living Off the Land
How We Got Here
We’ve saved for our retirement for most of our adult lives without an inspiring vision for what we wanted retirement to look like. As we began to talk and pray about what we might seek for our future, it struck us both that a retirement of leisure and self-indulgence didn’t capture our imagination. We have learned over the years that what gets us excited is living with purpose and intention. Additionally, we desired a slower pace and a simpler lifestyle.
Bob has always been drawn to the mountains and forests. Christi has has had a secret longing to live in the country. Given where our hearts were vaguely tugging at us, and observing the social, cultural and economic changes happening in our world, we desired to live more self-sufficiently – being more dependent on God, and less on the supply chain.
Through others sharing their experiences on Youtube, we discovered homesteading, a modern twist to what was commonplace for millenia, but largely forgotten. Watching these homesteading families share their stories and knowledge inspired us, and created several questions for us. What would it look like to grow our own food? What would it take to raise our own meat? Would it be possible for us to live a completely different lifestyle that was not reliant on third parties? And so, the adventure began.
Why This Land?
Once we decided to pursue a homesteading lifestyle, we began to discuss the need for a larger property. Our home on the cul-de-sac was awesome, but there was not sufficient sun to grow a viable vegetable garden. We had a few chickens, but were limited by city ordinances. We wanted enough land to be able to hunt and raise some pasture animals. We looked within three hours of our current home, since the plan was to move within 3-5 years, working on the infrastructure while living in our cozy neighborhood home.
We found this lovely property with a pleasing combination of mountains (foothills really), forests and pastureland – albeit with signs of neglect by the elderly couple who owned it. The 97 acre plot has approximately 20 acres of pasture in a narrow valley along with woodlands up to the ridge on both sides of valley. The little house was very rustic, but liveable.
Christi’s brother, Paul, who had been living in the Akron Ohio area, eagerly moved onto the property in exchange for help getting the land in shape. He was quite helpful for a while, but the isolated lifestyle was difficult for him, so he has moved on.
With the house available and the housing market for sellers booming, we decided to take the leap much earlier than planned, and arrived in early September. This was not without struggle. We enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle and were moving away from grandkids and many good friends. With much prayer (and emotion), we stepped out in faith and are trusting God for our future. He is a good, good God. He has unified our hearts and we are both filled with joyful anticipation to see what He accomplishes through us on this new adventure.