June 2022. On to renovating The Kingdom House. Converting a 3 season camp into year round living space.
April 2022. tC1.0 - the prototype. SOLD.
If only it was the 200+ million 😂. Given several factors - a shitty/corrupt HOA, an ex girlfriend who I had to have no trespassing order hand delivered by the Wilmington, VT police, and that several people from Philadelphia moved to the area (if it were only Andrew Simonet & his family - life woulda been great!) but If I wanted to be in Philly I would have stayed there. Vail - the worst ski company ever - bought the local Mount Snow - and that was the death nail - then there’s the fact that southern Vermont got over run by people from Away- bought up everything - and made many of us strangers in our own town.
worked with Meg Streeter and put my beloved tin can house on the market. Within 15 minutes of listing going live, I had a full price cash offer. Went on to have 16 offers in 4 days - one as high as $300k. Sold the house, made a large profit over my expenses to build. And made the HOA and it’s self appointed manager go fuck themselves.
My heart aches that the tin can is no longer mine. But it in fact had been ruined the second the ex girlfriend tresspassed on the property. When will she face her own #metoo accounting?
so now, on to new adventures on 10.4 acres in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.
worked with Meg Streeter and put my beloved tin can house on the market. Within 15 minutes of listing going live, I had a full price cash offer. Went on to have 16 offers in 4 days - one as high as $300k. Sold the house, made a large profit over my expenses to build. And made the HOA and it’s self appointed manager go fuck themselves.
My heart aches that the tin can is no longer mine. But it in fact had been ruined the second the ex girlfriend tresspassed on the property. When will she face her own #metoo accounting?
so now, on to new adventures on 10.4 acres in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.
Landing in the Northeast Kingdom
After backing out of buying a piece of land in Whitingham- due to issues between the seller, town administrators, and the people who owned the right of way the driveway would have been on. I backed out.
with southern Vermont now being part of Connecticutt, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and it’s 🤢🤮🤢🤮. i have landed on 10.5 acres in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. The town has no stores. One radical right wing diner with meh food, and a swampy town government it turns out that doesn’t seem to know how to follow its own rules. (Or how to actually listen to understand.)
but whatever.
i’ve been coming to the northeast kingdom for almost 30 years. Bread & Puppet. Willoughby. Got my masters degree nearby at Goddard College.
it’s quiet here in the woods. I have a couple nice helpful not right on top of me neighbors. My dearest friend since nursery school’s parents live 30 minutes away. Its a Slightly odd section of New England: t’s fox faux conservatives and QAnon nut bags. I spend A lot of time gardening. There’s also a fair amount of native wildflowers. I have about 3 acre open meadow to work in and 7acrea of thick woods. Which I need to explore more . Views of the presidential range in the distance to the east. Gardening is my savior. Always.
the cabin is 22 years old. Completely off-grid. There is however a septic system - but I have to put in a well. Solar power too. As green mtn power quoted $750k to run lines to cabin.
have demoed the old kitchen and bath. New floors, got the pellet stove installed. Well being dug (not drilled) next week. Plumbing in the cabin on 8 November! And getting the underside of the house insulation with spray foam
with southern Vermont now being part of Connecticutt, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and it’s 🤢🤮🤢🤮. i have landed on 10.5 acres in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. The town has no stores. One radical right wing diner with meh food, and a swampy town government it turns out that doesn’t seem to know how to follow its own rules. (Or how to actually listen to understand.)
but whatever.
i’ve been coming to the northeast kingdom for almost 30 years. Bread & Puppet. Willoughby. Got my masters degree nearby at Goddard College.
it’s quiet here in the woods. I have a couple nice helpful not right on top of me neighbors. My dearest friend since nursery school’s parents live 30 minutes away. Its a Slightly odd section of New England: t’s fox faux conservatives and QAnon nut bags. I spend A lot of time gardening. There’s also a fair amount of native wildflowers. I have about 3 acre open meadow to work in and 7acrea of thick woods. Which I need to explore more . Views of the presidential range in the distance to the east. Gardening is my savior. Always.
the cabin is 22 years old. Completely off-grid. There is however a septic system - but I have to put in a well. Solar power too. As green mtn power quoted $750k to run lines to cabin.
have demoed the old kitchen and bath. New floors, got the pellet stove installed. Well being dug (not drilled) next week. Plumbing in the cabin on 8 November! And getting the underside of the house insulation with spray foam
“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness” - Frank Gehry.
A house is not a machine to live in. It is the shell of man, his extension, his release, his spiritual emanation. - Eileen Gray
The physical reinvention of the world is endless, relentless, fascinating, exhaustive; nothing that seems solid is. If you could stand at just a little distance in time, how fluid and shape-shifting physical reality would be, everything hurrying into some other form, even concrete, even stone. - Mark Doty
Before: May/June 2022
This is what I bought. A 22 year old camp - hand built by family from Lowell, VT. There were 6 bids. I was in the position for once to out bid the others.
I’ll renovate the cabin. Then start working on tC.2.0 - a new shipping container house somewhere on the 10.4 acres I now own. Rent/mortgage free.
I’ll renovate the cabin. Then start working on tC.2.0 - a new shipping container house somewhere on the 10.4 acres I now own. Rent/mortgage free.
Delayed from the start - it’s gory
Within about a week of starting to “camp” at the new place- I landed in the hospital for a week. The lesson is - don’t scratch bug bites. Cause it can get really bad. 7 days of high test antibiotics, 2 surgeries. And bad hospital coffee. But the drs and nurses were/are amazing. MRSA is no joke. Put a major dent in my swimming this summer. 😒
Demo starts. Thx mom & dad(and introducing Bunny)
“Your home should be the story of who you are and be a collection of what you love” - unknown
Introducing OLee & Bunny
Losing Sushi after 16 years, during year 2 of the pandemic sucked. Plain & Simple. She’s now growing up to be a baby spruce tree. Wish she was here in the kingdom.
bunny & Olafur (OLee) who are brother & sister - came to live with me later that summer of ‘21 - they’ve been camping with me since June at the kingdom house. Thank God my fellow goddardite Torry is near by and did cat care duty during my hospital stay
bunny & Olafur (OLee) who are brother & sister - came to live with me later that summer of ‘21 - they’ve been camping with me since June at the kingdom house. Thank God my fellow goddardite Torry is near by and did cat care duty during my hospital stay
Having cats is like living with art that sometimes throws up on the carpet - unknown
Gardening.
When you plant something, you invest in a beautiful future amidst a stressful, chaotic and, at times, downright appalling world.
- Monty Don
It’s Electric
Solar power system installed. Hurrah! Thanks to Ellsworth Electric & Smart Energy of New England. 20,000 worth of storage. Generator back up if needed.
New floors
If ya like it than ya shoulda put a skirt on it.
The cabin had been leveled on its base with new concrete footings and cribs in 2020. I’ve been skirting the house now with sections of metal roofing - preparing for the underside of the house to get 4” of spray foam insulation next mont. oh. And new front steps.
Once a lighting designer
Driving back down my road after early breakfast
Gardening At Night. gardening at night.
With lighting up more and more at night since Solar installed brings a different feeling in the meadow
I have stretched ropes from steeple to steeple; garlands from window to window; golden chains from star to star, and I dance.
-Arthur Rimbaud
We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it.
- Tennessee Williams
Driveway & trenching
Been great working With the folks from J. fenoff site works
Getting a Tin Can in the kingdom
Bought a 20 footer from Meadow Leasing - to be a shed and sauna. Perhaps will be part of tC2.0
Blue Bird Day
Cistern install
A drilled well was quoted at $17k. An old school dug well was the next option. But can’t get spring tiles anywhere. So Installed a 1500 gallon concrete tank- which will collect rainwater from the roof. Given square footage of roof. And annual average rain/snow -
should give me 13,000 gallons of water a year. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
should give me 13,000 gallons of water a year. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
Moving the 20footer
J Fenoff Site Works - moved the 20’ container off of the driveway while also doing the cistern install.
It’s an off-grid Christmas yo.
6:45am coffee
10 degrees out. Chilly bedroom.
Pretty convinced mice have done a job on the r13 fiberglass insulation over the past 22 years. It was cold this AM in my bedroom. So. Added Mylar bubble wrap, rock wool, and then pine clapboard on the north side. I’m not a great carpenter. But it came out ok.
Sky Fits Heaven
The sky seems to come alive out of the darkness of the meadow as I sit with coffee. Looking.
Top Cat.
There seems to be an on going discussion about who’s the top cat. (Hint - it’s neither Bunny nor OLee)
Outdoor ceiling
Inherited the porch being open to the rafters. Finally took advantage of warm weather and had a lot of shiplap delivered. I suck as a carpenter- but slowly getting slightly better. Next is on to framing out a wood fired sauna in 1/2 of the 20’ container.