Designing a Dream

Dreaming, Designing, Planning, &

Building a Homestead

Finding the right land, designing your dream home, creating the perfect permaculture plan, watching the frame of your house rise, and finally setting foot in the door with an armful of belongings, yet ready to call this place your home. Designing, Creating, and Moving are hugely emotional parts of building a homestead. 

 It’s also fun.

While I would never recommend making a housing decision that would leave you house-poor, I know for many the decision to build their home as part of homesteading is a big part of the allure. I also know this means this is probably the last house you’ll ever buy, build, or live in. That’s why there are a handful of things that are super important to bear in mind while building a homestead, and so you’ll see them mentioned a lot in blog posts on these subjects.

Keep these in mind when building a homestead:  

  1. Who cares about resale value? Banks. If you intend for this to be the last house you live in design for what you love, not what someone else would love if they bought your house. 
  1. Think about where you like to spend your time and focus on making those areas luxurious. You’re not going to hang around in your hallways, but you will spend evenings in your family room. 
  1. Be willing to work in stages. Take out a smaller loan to get your house’s framework done, then buy second-hand appliances and wait until you can pay cash. Get a base coat of paint on your walls, then save up to pay cash for that amazing wallpaper you want. You don’t have to be house poor to get the house you want. 

As we plan our house, and as Big Jim and Grammie get theirs up on the property this coming year, we’ll keep you up to date on the whole process. We’ll help you plan out what you need to do to prepare your land, what to look for when you’re picking homestead land and much more. Building a homestead shouldn’t be stressful; it’s the crown jewel on your estate!