Our first day as Land Barons

A one-minute video of our land from March 2013. Fascinating!

Land Barons, Day 1 from Kerstin Sjoquist on Vimeo.

The plan!

The Land

2.6 acres west of Petaluma, CA in Sonoma County
It is essentially a flat, featureless rectangle... a pasture, if you will.

It will eventually need a name (a la Upson Downs from Auntie Mame), but we're struggling a bit. John's sister has vetoed the Koester Kompound, as I think she thinks it sounds like a prison work camp. I've tried to argue that the Kennedy's have a compound, but I don't think it's going to fly. My dad suggested the Lone Oak Project as a working title, as the single Oak tree is the only distinguishable feature on the land and he's well aware of what a PROJECT we've created for ourselves and the next 5-10 years (hmmmm, methinks "work camp" is not so inaccurate). Maybe someday we'll live at "Pleasant Pastures" or "Merry Meadow," but for now, we're heading to the Project(s)!

The Plan

Phase one: Garage!
Phase two: Little (stick frames) House
Phase three: Bigger Strawbale House

The Schedule

We hope to have the grading permit before Christmas, which means that if we can find a grading and foundations contractor, perhaps we'll get started in January! If so, we're pretty sure we will single-handedly  disrupt the looming drought and are sure to create the wettest year on record.