...aka WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! Myyyy goodness, I'm so glad I can write those words! It took a full 14 months from our first visit to Vermont to scope out locations to our closing day (which was delayed nearly 5 months, but that's a whooole other story for a whole other post), and it felt much longer, but at long last, and, somehow, for REAL, we are moved in and living in our own home.
It's a lil beaut, originally built as an ice house around 1800 (!) with additions added later that century and in the early to mid 20th century. At just under 1000 square feet, it's teeny by US housing standards but feels fairly sprawling to me, and I have so many exciting plans for all that space!
Unsurprisingly, given not only the age of the house and the state of the real estate market, but also my own affection for the ~potential~ of things, especially under-loved things, this house lands solidly in the fixer upper category. Frankly, a fixer upper was kind of the dream: an opportunity to simultaneously restore and reimagine a structure? It seemed a little too good to be true in a tight, sparsely supplied and overpriced market, where carelessly flipped houses and poorly maintained modular homes made up the bulk of the options anywhere close to our price point.
But then this lil cutie popped up on the market, rife with charm, potential, and, as we'd find out, a fair share of issues to sort out before anyone could move in. And I'm bursting with joy to say we finally have! Soon I'll post a home tour, and share some ideas I'd like to try to make happen here. The house's bones and exterior are very New England-y/Cape-y, and I want to bring that historic aesthetic more to the inside, which has seen decades of redecoration and passing fads in interior design.
BUT, most important of all, quite possibly even more exciting than the house, is the fact that our property spans fourteen acres! There's so much space for gardens, for the tiny house*, for soaking up sun, yet the vast majority of it is wooded (and will stay that way!) and the foraging and food forest opportunities are enough to make me giddy. The way I see it, this land we "own" is our responsibility to respect and protect, and the weight of that privilege both humbles me and makes it hard not to bounce off the walls with delight. There are so many facets of home life and slow living that I want to explore for myself and try to make accessible to other people, and just as Borealis Kitchen was an outlet to share yummo vegan food with folks, I want Borealis Homestead to be a conduit for me to share as I learn along this path to genuine sustainability and a dwelling more in tune with nature.
So, welcome! I'm beyond excited to share our plans and progress as we turn this little house and this large property into a homestead that self-sustains as much as possible and brings good things to our new community. I'll be back soon with more photos and what we started working on first!
LP
*The Tiny House is absolutely not going anywhere just because we've bought The Big House, that lil dream on wheels is here to stay <3
Watching sunset-colored clouds in the front yard
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