PLEASE READ THIS PAGE THOROUGHLY  berore contacting me about this real estate.  It explains the condition of the house and much of what needs to be done to finish, improve, or remodel it.

The house can be lived in as is if you do not mind an outhouse and wood fired sauna until one of the bathrooms is completed.  The kitchen, living room, and one bedroom are already finished enough to live in quite comfortably, although there is still trim work needed. This is natural mountain land with a self-sufficient hand built rustic home secluded in the forest but close to town. It has lots of wild animals in their natural environment, and friendly neighbors who keep to themselves, but ready to lend a hand in times of need.
 

This home is designed for self-sufficiency.  It is off-grid, powered by solar electric with a backup generator, water comes from a spring fed pond, phone and internet are from cellular service (broadband internet), TV comes from an antenna, and you maintain your own driveway. The house is easily accessible year round but feels like a secluded mountain retreat.  Access is only 1/2 mile up a private drive from a main county paved road.  You share keeping the snow plowed during the winter with 3 neighbors and share a private drive with only one beyond the house.

 

Basic things that need finish or alteration:

    * 1.    There is one bedroom. For multiple bedrooms, you would need to convert one of several larger studio spaces.

    * Bathrooms are unfinished.  There are 2 bathrooms started but not done. It has an outhouse, a wood fired sauna/bath house, underground water & drain piping, and a septic system already in place. 

The following shows what kind of work needs to be done and what to expect.  My asking price takes the work needed into consideration, as I am asking essentially the value of the bare land because I know there are very few people who can realistically appreciate what I have built here and even fewer with the skills and attitude needed to enjoy completing the project.
 

Below - West corner of house showing unfinished windows to grotto, access to tool room and post light which needs to be hooked up (wiring is in to tool room, but not connected)

 
 

These four photos show the lower western corner of the house and several tasks typical of the type of work needed to be completed.  The left phots is the entrance to the downstairs "tool room" that has been used alternatively as a library, tool room, and office.  It can be a bed room.  The photo to the right is the interior of the room and the two photos below are the "grotto" accessed by the doorway to the right of the upper photos. As you can see in the photos, the upper portion of the wall leading to the grotto (beside the triangular window) needs finished siding, which is begun using half-logs for a log cabin effect.  The one stone wall on the porch below that window is "dry stacked" and needs to be set with masonry like the rest of the stone has been.  The dry stacked area is against a 2x6 framed wall, fully insulated and faced with finished stone on the inside, so this work does not inhibit immediate use of the place. The inside of the tool room if converted to a bed room would need more insulation, the ceiling done and finished to a finer state to use as a bedroom.  For use as a tool room, storage, shop, or many other uses, it is OK as is. You can see from the photo on the upper right that there are open areas in the stone walls that need custom windows.  This is the wall to the "grotto", which was never intended to be finished living space.  That is where the battery bank and solar controls are as well as the wood fired hot tub, also not complete.  This area is the most complicated to finish of the entire house, but none of it is the main living area, so you have plenty of time to finish it while comfortabley living in the upper floors. The photos below show the "grotto area".  This is a totally organic sculpture project and should be ajoy to finish, not dreaded work.  If that is not your attitude, please do not consider buying this house.

 

This is the solar electric system.  High up the "tower" is the solar array consisting of 4 120 watt panels.  They are currently fixed mounted and between summer and winter I have adjusted their angle for best sunlight.  The array needs to be remounted to make changing angles much easier.  Alternatively, one or two more arrays can be added fixed to the roofs above and below the existing array.  I have lived with this set up for 10 years running my wood shop and stained glass studio, but with a backup generator during winter and when using heavy power tools.  When I left the place in November 2011, the system worked OK, but it has sat unattended and will probably require maintenance and upgrade.  All the equipmens if over 10 years old and the batteries are about 5 years old.  Expect to put in some time and money to get it like you want.  You will also want a new generator as the ones there are old and I can no longer guarantee their condition.  There is a Honda powerd 5,500 watt generator that was working fine when I left and a Champion 3,500 watt one that died just before I left.

 

The three photos above show typical work needed throughout the house.  The left photo is an arch over the access to the lower patio from the circular drive.  It is made from snow bent cedar hand milled with an "Alaskan Mill".  As the photo shows, the walls behind the arch are unfinished.  Completing this project will require some creative carpentry to fit to the unusual curves and log framework.  None of this leads to the main living area, so will not hamper living in the house.  The center photo is the lower covered patio.  It is open on all sides providing a cool, shady place to relax during summer and dry firewood storage during winter.  There is a very unusual sculpture next to one of the lot supports that needs to be finished by using construction adhesive and tile mastic to finish application of glass chip and slate covering over an old mannnequin that provides the framework for the sculpture.  You can not see well in this photo, but it is a female figure with outstreached arms intended to hole a light for the area.   The photo to the right is the second floor which was my stained glass studio.  The equipment shown in the photo has been removed except for the work tables, glass racks, and very large light box.  If you are an artist or craftsman, this area will be wonderful as it is, but it has several areas where it should be better closed in for winter use.  Heat for the studio room is provided by a 100 year old wood stove.  It is not air tight and the room is not sealed up, so it does not keep it "toasty warm" during the coldest part of the winter until the room is sealed off.  The biggest problem in keeping it warm is that a door is needed at the bottom of the back stariway leading to the shop.

The lower right two photos are examples of tile mosaic found throughout the house.  The center is below the stove area in the kitchen.  There is a working 100 year old "Detroit Jewel" gas cook stove currently sitting on this tile area.  The right photo is part of the floor in the kitchen and the stairs leading from the kitchen to the upstairs living room.

The photos below are examples of crative details typical of the entire house.  Many places like this need trim and some degree of finish.  None would prohibit use fo the house as is.

 
 
 

Below - Main stairway from ground level to second floor, then beginning of stair to 3rd floor.

 

Below - Second floor Studio (my Stained Glass Studio).  left- door from main stair;   center main studio area with door to upstairs of tool room and sliding door at right rear leading to kitchen;  right windows between Studio and second floor balcony.

 

Below - Unfinished upstairs bathroom.  Access is from the Studio, next to the windows overlooking 2nd floor balcony.

 

Below - Stairway leading from Studio to upstairs bedroom

Below - Upstairs bedroom, door leading to living room and second door (hand made, but not installed) leading to stairway to second floor studio.  That room needs a door mounted, and some details such as finishing a small spot of sheetrock on the ceiling and trim around the windows and doors.

Below - tile mosaic floors in upstairs bedroom

 
 

Below, Living room 20x20 with 6'x16 foot windows overlooking Pend Orielle River.  Windows are double glazed, but seal broken, so they get foggy.  Stove is air tight and heats entire 3rd floor.  There are 3 accesses to the living room; one from the main stairway, second from the upstairs bedroom, and the 3rd leading to the kitchen.

Below - door leading from main stairway to living room.