Closing on my property last year in the Methow took an enormous amount of time, energy, and perseverance. On top of that, I had to figure out how to live off-grid in an RV. By the time I finally moved to the RV park in December, I was more than ready for a break.
And honestly? This winter in the Airstream has been one of the most fun and relaxing I’ve ever had! It also gave me the valuable time to slow down and remember why I chose this path and the promises I made to myself when I did. As winter slowly shifts to spring, it’s time to start thinking ahead again. My little home-building project awaits.
The Weight of Building in the Methow.
As a former (and now returned) resident of the Valley, I know how precious this place is. Honestly, I still struggle with the idea of building a home here, even though it’s something I’ve been working toward for years. The last thing I want is to be just another person developing land in the Methow.
At the same time, the reason I bought the property I did was because I believe I can build something small, sustainable, and impactful. Not just for myself, but for a bigger purpose.
I know, I know. It sounds cheesy. But I truly believe we can build homes that serve both ourselves and the greater good. These days, I don’t think we have the luxury of ignoring our footprint, our resource usage, or our impact on the communities we love.
So when I set out to buy land and build a home, I made several promises to myself:
- Build small and keep my footprint minimal
- Use local, environmentally friendly materials
- Be energy independent
- Preserve open space, natural habitat, and wildlife
- Find a way to give back, whether through hosting art camps, a youth retreat, or fostering animals
- Keep it simple, affordable, and sustainable
The property I found fits the bill perfectly. It has big southern exposure for solar power, and half of it could be restored to native shrub-steppe. Not a small task, but a fun long-term dream. With all the renewed focus on preserving Washington’s native shrub-steppe, I’ve been reminded how critical it is to keep even smaller parcels like mine intact.
I also have an abundance of birds and deer on my land, and I want to invest time in removing old barbed wire fences, adding birdhouses, and supporting wildlife.
And when it comes to giving back? An artist friend recently reached out, saying she’d love to stay on my land and host a painting camp because “the lighting and the landscape are just so damn beautiful.”
Hearing that? It already felt like a step toward my goal.
I bought my property because I saw all the ways I could invest in it, make it better, and share the wealth with others.
Unconventional ideas and unsolicited advice.
For years, I’ve admired Smiling Woods Yurts, beautiful little round homes made right here in the Methow Valley. When I bought my land, I knew I wanted to build one of their unique homes.
I also made a big decision late last year: I’m going to build it on my own, out of my own pocket.
Why?
Because construction loans are a pain in the ass. Banks love to dictate exactly what you can and can’t build, and a small off-grid home is not in their vocabulary.
No thanks.
Of course, when you tell people you’re planning to build an off-grid 700-square-foot round house, be your own general contractor, and rely only on solar power, you get a lot of advice, both solicited and unsolicited.
Here’s a sampling of what I’ve heard in the last few months:
“Think about resale value. Hook into power and build something more conventional.”
“A round house? Why? Just build a normal house and get a construction loan.”
“Solar? That’s so stressful! Enjoy life, you only live once!”
“Hire a builder and go the traditional route—it’ll be faster and easier.”
“I’ve never seen anyone last off-grid. That’s just dumb.”
To be fair, not all of the reactions have been negative. I’ve also gotten plenty of “You go girl!” support. But at the end of the day, everyone loves to tell you what they’d do, which isn’t at all what I want to do. And I couldn’t care less about what the market wants me to build.
I have to remind myself that people also told me I was crazy to live in a 19’ Airstream full-time (especially in the winter). And yet? This past winter was the most fun I’ve ever had.
Investing in my home.
On my birthday in January, I made the first big investment into my future home: a $6,000 deposit to Smiling Woods Yurts to sign the contract on my beautiful little round home.
Now, $6,000 might not be much in the grand scheme of home building, but for me, it was a huge deal.
I’ve been saving like a madwoman, and every dollar has been blood, sweat, and tears. Cutting that check felt like one of the biggest decisions of my life.
Would I actually be able to do this? Build my own home? Develop my land? Keep the promises I made to myself? The day I sent the funds, I went on an extra-long ski outing to work out my nerves.
Investing in solar.
Yesterday marked another big milestone. After months of research, consideration, and (of course) more unsolicited advice, I made another investment: $8,000 into a solar generator system with 2,000 watts of solar panels, a 4,000Wh solar generator, and even a wind turbine power port.
Whew.
I settled on a Point Zero Titan system, recommended by a good friend who has the exact same setup. It’s currently the best expandable solar generator on the market.
Last fall I received an estimate from PUD and getting grid power to my property would likely require at least a $10-15k investment and that would only get me a meter base in my field. An investment in solar and grid independence seemed so much easier, self-sustaining and quite frankly, so much less invasive!
An added bonus? The IRS is also offering an energy incentive federal tax credit through January 1, 2022 for alternative energy installations.
Energy independence and a simple life.
If there’s been one fantastic upside to all of this RV living, it’s that I’ve learned a lot about my power needs and how refreshing it is to live simply. In fact, my power usage here at the RV park from December to February was just over 250kWh, which set an all time record low for winter power use here at the park. Did I feel like my lower power usage equated to missing out on life? Not a single bit. In fact, it gave me a lot of confidence that I can indeed live a simple, fulfilling life and make it work on limited power.
I’ve been detailing out all my power needs for my future home and right now, my 2kW solar system should keep my Airstream comfortably powered when I get back to off-grid living, and it’ll be a great base system to power my future little home too!
It’s always kind of funny to me that when you save for something, it becomes a lot harder to spend that money, so I guess I better get accustomed to writing some rather large checks. This year might be full of them. *gulp*
If all goes well, I should get my new solar system in June and you better believe I’ll be writing more about how everything goes. I’m usually pretty private when talking about money and investments but I’ve found other blogs written by people building their own homes are incredibly useful when they talk candidly about their costs. It’s a huge piece of the challenge, especially when doing it out of pocket. I’m really excited to take the plunge into energy independence.
Cheers to new challenges and simple sustainable living!