where Rick and Lois live
Lost In Our Back Yard Farm is located on the remains of a 100+ year old
farm in Westfield, Massachusetts. The house was built around 1880. When
we moved in, in 1992, it was still being heated with wood. The roof was ready to
collapse. The basement flooded every time it rained. Handyman's special
is an understatement!
While the house basically sucked, the house was situated on a fairly large
tract of land. That was what appealed to us. We signed the offer to buy in
about 15 minutes, and it was the first house we had even looked at.
While it is still heated with wood, it now has a modern gas furnace as well.
The roof has been replaced (my aching back!) right down to new rafters.
Four hundred feet of PVC pipe
take the water away from the yard before it enters the basement. Of course,
the list of things that need to be fixed is still endless. The hard part
was accepting that it would NEVER be completely restored. Once that realization
was made, life became much easier.
Adjacent to the house are two small barns. The barns needed new roofs also.
Once that was done, the barns where ready for use.
About 3/4 of a mile of fencing has been erected since we got here. See my
developing story about fencing if you wonder how you can put up that much
fence by yourself.
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last updated: january 23, 1999