Bought some land in Massachusetts

[zmzmzm]

We're flying out next week to close on some land we're buying in Western Mass. We're pretty stoked about it. It's about 30 miles west of Springfield, and about 10 miles north of the Mass Pike. It's 45 acres of forest, with a 10 foot wide stream running through it. We should have a great time there with all our plans.

The MA Miata club is planning a drive to enjoy the fall foliage and some good roads, and I had to smile when I read where they're going. That's right - our very road - Skyline Trail. I guess we'll be living on a pretty sweet road.

I've attached a few pictures of the land... I don't know if I have any of the road itself.

Chris

 

[SciFiMan]

That's awesome, good for you! Always buy land- they ain't making any more.

 

[the_saint]

Daddy always said; "You ain't no man if you aint got no land"

 

[SP33D]

if u dont mind me asking.. how much did u pay?

 

[GrandBelialKey]

Wow !!!!! you own that ? You could reenact feudal japanese samurai battles with land like that... that rock wall looks cool too !!!!! Looks Great! Congratulations!!!!
(omg)

 

[mp3moose]

Looks amazing. Build a track through it and hold free events for mazda folk.

 

[Spooled]

Wow! Great find! Beautiful scenery. Take some shots of the road you are talking about. Please tell me it looks like this:

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

LOL yeah...w/ loops & everything (rlaugh)

Wow! Great find! Beautiful scenery. Take some shots of the road you are talking about. Please tell me it looks like this:

 

[II-Savy]

WOW! SWEET!

I'll come visit. 30 miles SHOULD be far enough away from Springfield.

 

[jred321]

sweet, you should buy a jeep and clear some trails

 

[mazdaspeedpower]

wow...you lucky...lucky person. How much did you pay for that beautiful land? Plans?

 

[zmzmzm]

wow...you lucky...lucky person. How much did you pay for that beautiful land? Plans?

We paid a fair amount. After closing costs and the such, we'll end up just below $100k.

As for plans? We're very interested in alternative energy, so we expect to utilize the stream for a small hydroelectric power supply. The house itself we're going to build ourselves, hopefully with no mortgage. The materials and design specifics haven't been totally worked out, but we plan on building a timber-frame structure and using straw bales and a lime/clay mixture as the stucco-like exterior (check the photos for something like we have in mind).

For those of you unfamiliar with strawbale as a building material, it's an excellent insulator, for both sound and temperatures. A typical stick frame house with 2x4 walls will have an insulating factor of R11, maybe R13. A strawbale wall will have an insulating factor of R40 or higher, depending on the size and construction of the bales. The walls are pretty thick and very solid, so you end up with a quiet, very energy efficient home. And please, before I hear any "3 little pigs" jokes, do some reading on it.

The track would be fun, but for now, we plan on enjoying most of the land as it is. We'll clear some of it for a garden, a playing field, a workshop, and that sort of thing, but mostly we'll just love it the way it is.

Here are a few pictures of a straw bale home in Charlemont, MA. They have a very cozy, comfortable feel to them. Beyond the good construction and good design principles on paper, they just plain make you feel good about your home.

Chris

 

[the_saint]

The middle pic (the one with the stream) from you initial post is now my desk top background.

Thank you

 

[Spooled]

I like the alt-energy idea. I've always wanted to build a home to use multiple forms of alt-energy (hydro, solar, wind). Maybe some day when my job doesn't require me to live in the city.

 

[Blake]

congrats dude that is amazing, land is the greatest investment u can make

 

[yashooa]

We paid a fair amount. After closing costs and the such, we'll end up just below $100k.

As for plans? We're very interested in alternative energy, so we expect to utilize the stream for a small hydroelectric power supply. The house itself we're going to build ourselves, hopefully with no mortgage. The materials and design specifics haven't been totally worked out, but we plan on building a timber-frame structure and using straw bales and a lime/clay mixture as the stucco-like exterior (check the photos for something like we have in mind).

For those of you unfamiliar with strawbale as a building material, it's an excellent insulator, for both sound and temperatures. A typical stick frame house with 2x4 walls will have an insulating factor of R11, maybe R13. A strawbale wall will have an insulating factor of R40 or higher, depending on the size and construction of the bales. The walls are pretty thick and very solid, so you end up with a quiet, very energy efficient home. And please, before I hear any "3 little pigs" jokes, do some reading on it.

The track would be fun, but for now, we plan on enjoying most of the land as it is. We'll clear some of it for a garden, a playing field, a workshop, and that sort of thing, but mostly we'll just love it the way it is.

Here are a few pictures of a straw bale home in Charlemont, MA. They have a very cozy, comfortable feel to them. Beyond the good construction and good design principles on paper, they just plain make you feel good about your home.

Chris

EDIT I did not read your entire post got exicted at frist mention of straw and replied

Hay blocks are kickass! I wanted to build one for my first house but the builder (the only one in my area) got tied up and did not have time to build it for me. The wall would have had a r-rating of 40! Bear in mind that a typical 2x4 wall has only an r factor of 13 and you can see one of the benefits. It would have been 40% cheaper to.
I was really into them for a while had about 6 plans and they were badass. High ceilings, unique designs, lime stone exteriors just badass. Austin supposedly has a nieghborhood of straw homes. The US throws enough material away every year to build 5,000,000 straw houses! I wanted to do it so bad but it is hard to find a builder that knows what to do. Most of them freak out. My house would have had all steel "I" beams for all of the outside corner walls, ceiling beams, etc. Like a steel shell with a rebar skeleton checkerboard than the straw blocks would slide down onto. The cabinets would be hung by these devices called Gringo hooks that could hold 700lbs per sq inch.
The windows were framed in as you would any window with a wooden frame and then insert the window. The outside was cement stucco and then limestone blocks were applied. It looked like any upper scale house only more beefy because of the 18-24'' thick walls. The interior was cement stucco painted any color you wish and it has a nice, warm, inviting look to it. Very thick, chunky and homey. Everyone who saw it was instantly convinced that it was a very nice house. You'd would be suprised how many people think it is a hay shack but it is far from it.

 

[CasopoliS]

$100k seems good for all that land. for 1 acre in the suburbs here you are looking at half of that!

 

[zmzmzm]

I like the alt-energy idea. I've always wanted to build a home to use multiple forms of alt-energy (hydro, solar, wind). Maybe some day when my job doesn't require me to live in the city.

I used to think the same thing. I live in Utah now, but grew up in Western Mass and upstate NY. A small shift (ha!) in mentality got me thinking of where I want to live and what I want to do with my life... well, we ended up choosing to live in Massachusetts countryside with plenty of space around us.

I'll find a job nearby, but that's not nearly as important as where I want to live.

And no, this isn't a mid-life crisis. I'm still in my 20's.

Chris

PS - thanks for all the congratulations, guys.

 

[yashooa]

I used to think the same thing. I live in Utah now, but grew up in Western Mass and upstate NY. A small shift (ha!) in mentality got me thinking of where I want to live and what I want to do with my life... well, we ended up choosing to live in Massachusetts countryside with plenty of space around us.

I'll find a job nearby, but that's not nearly as important as where I want to live.

And no, this isn't a mid-life crisis. I'm still in my 20's.

Chris

PS - thanks for all the congratulations, guys.

Damn why would it have to be mid-life crisis? Land is awesome and your's looks great. Mid-life crisis's involve fast cars and young hookers

 

[zmzmzm]

Hay blocks are kickass! Very thick, chunky and homey. You'd would be suprised how many people think it is a hay shack but it is far from it.

Thanks for the excited support, yashooa...

Just a quick clarification, though - Hay is fed to animals, and has nutritional value in the grain. Straw is just the stalk, without the grain, and is normally burned as waste material. It has no nutritional value, and therefore no attraction to bugs or rodents.

Chris