One day as sort of a "well we have time so what the heck" we ended up looking at some land just outside Hillsdale NY. Not the sort of land we imagined buying - pine woodland with deciduous trees mix over rolling terrain on a small hill - but there was a small creek on the property, many tumbledown stone fences leftover from the 1800's farm it once was, and many of the pines were over 75 feet, allowing for a nice shaded breeze on even warm days. So it grew on us. 6 months later (easements, easements, easements) we've finally bought the land - 32 acres of firewood, turkeys, grouse, fox, bobcat and deer.













Now the headaches begin in earnest. I am sure there are plenty of others here who can tell stories. Please feel invited to do so. I am all ears. We meet with our architects (LevenBetts) Tuesday for the preliminary conversations. I figure we'll be happy if the foundation is in by winter. No designs yet - first had to get land, but we really like this house by a Canuckian architect. We'll see.

Most importantly, the riding rocks in that area. Right over the mountain from Great Barrington, 25 minutes to Hudson, lots of ups, gravel, history, etc. What a relief from the stinky city! Hooray.