Could Green Acres Bee The Life For Me?

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz

I’ve put this off long enough as I’m pretty forthcoming with things around here.

*looks around at no other human in the vicinity*

About a year ago, the Coach decided he wanted to have some property in GA near our mountain home. We love the house and the ‘hood, but like all POA’s/HOA’s, you are required to follow rules.

My husband? Not a fan of all the silly POA rules.

He’s been pining away for some land where he can ride four wheelers, safely shoot target practice and pee outside. (men and women are an entirely different species. Am I right or amiright?)

When he first started discussing this, there was much eyerolling from my end. Yeah, whatever, you’re not going to do that. I mean, he has too much going on already; he/we can’t fit in another project, another piece of land to tend to, etc…

Well, he’s like a dog with a bone. He got my Aunt Trisha (our realtor) involved and we went from just looking at property to looking at property where we could possibly build little VRBO rentals and let the Kid’s homestead the property in various ways, while the Coach had room to ‘play’. We’d looked at several places, all around 15-20 acres and nothing really spoke to him.

Post Thanksgiving where my family watched YouTube videos about building VRBO’s, building a lake, growing mushrooms and raising hairy cows. *sigh* My Lillie on Coach’s lap.

Finally, a piece of land, not only spoke to him, it practically shouted his name. Crazily, the mouthy property was not for sale. It was a lovely sprawling pasture across the road from a place we’d just looked at. It caught his eye and he couldn’t let it go.

About three days later…

Insert yourself in the car with my Aunt, Uncle and Coach one afternoon looking at potential properties.

Coach: Well, I emailed and called Nancy SuchandSuch, she currently owns the property at 123 perfect place road. She’s an educator at a university in Michigan. This was her Daddy and StepMom’s house; her Dad built in in 1984 so he could get away from City Folk. Her Dad passed away in 2015; she comes here one or two times a year. Yada Yada….

I looked at him sideways…what a SLEUTH!

Nancy flat out told him it wasn’t for sale.

My husband LOVES a challenge as much as I love old trees.

Fast forward six months later, he wore her down with a generous offer and we closed on the property in October. Ya’ll, it’s eighty eight acres. 88!

But wait, there’s more!

A neighbor caught wind of the sale and offered the Coach another 25 acres attached and of course my husband took him up on that.

We’re the proud owners of 113 acres in beautiful NW Georgia.

There are rolling hills, old trees, amazing views, a beautiful creek and the property backs up to State conservation land.

Let’s talk about the 1980’s house that has not seen one update. This is the side/front view.

Lolo was a fan of the shag carpet and the outdated kitchen. (can you see the Gems we found in the kitchen, but the owner would not include in the sale?)

Me: I think if we paint the brick white and paint all the trim a dark gray/black, the outside has potential.

Lolo: Don’t you dare go and Joanna Gaines’ this house!

By golly, I’ll Joanna Gaines whatever I want!

We’ve named the property Double L Ranch after our girls; signage is in the works.

I think the Coach might have had hopes of moving to this property, but that won’t work for me. I’d be too isolated and that’s not what I want in my future. We’ve lived on a large piece of property for 25 years (our Florida place) and I’m happy to now have neighbors at our GA place.

The lovely thing is that this piece of property is 12 minutes from our current POA home. The kids have all picked out areas where they will want to build a place one day and then, maybe then if they are there with their brood, I could be convinced to move to the Family Commune.

Right now part of the land is leased to a gentleman who has about 30 cows, but his lease is up this spring.

The Coach has already started plans on his Barn…which I don’t think you can even call it a Barn as it is something out of Architectural Digest. And he has dreams of raising some of these one day. (as pets, not for food)

He’s also slated to start building a large lake as well to attract even more wildlife. Right now there are a plethora of deer, bear and birds.

A few months ago, Lolo and Nathan were ready to leave Law Enforcement, move to the old 80’s house and start a new endeavor, but Lolo has just been promoted and has some new exciting things happening in her career that she’s always wanted to do, so they will wait.

Meanwhile, if you want to find me, I’ll be in my cozy POA ‘hood and my husband will be at the Ranch peeing outside.

What say you: would you prefer to live on a vast piece of land with no other humans, or in a ‘hood?

XOXO

37 thoughts on “Could Green Acres Bee The Life For Me?”

  1. First of all… wow. I was almost drooling riding up that driveway with you. That is one seriously beautiful piece of land. Congrats on the Double L!
    The house, yikes. It definitely needs a major going over but once you put your Suz stamp on it you’ll have a rural slice of heaven. With cows? You’re living my dream! To heck with people, I’ll take that life in one hot minute.
    😉

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    1. I indeed love my people, and I’ll be the matriarch of that commune when the day comes.
      We have a grocery store, Ace hardware, a few boutique shops, and three restaurants within fifteen minutes.

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  4. Holy COW! This is big news. You’all never cease to amaze me. The house has potential and I agree with Rivergirl . . . all it needs is Suz’ stamp.

    I admit that over the years I have shouted LET’S MOVE FAR AWAY FROM PEOPLE. My feelings impacted by crap neighbors and the Irish dancing world (no joke- I wanted to move somewhere where there WAS no Irish dancing offered as I imagined it would be our only escape). I do like to be near the mall and the grocery, but if my gang all decided to live on the same large parcel where they could keep their frogs and dogs in their own space, well I’d be tempted.

    Congrats to the promotion for Lolo. And congrats on being able to hunker down with your people in a wide open space.

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  6. I’m laughing and laughing–the interior of that house looks SO MUCH like our lakehouse did when we first bought it, right down to the mushroom canisters! All that sinister dark panelling and that HUGE. BRICK. WALL. What was everyone thinking?

    It’s a lovely piece of property. I am thrilled about COWS! Won’t you just love keeping them brushed?

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    1. I believe, like your lake house, this was built/designed as utilitarian for that time. I know there is much potential, and anything we do will be an improvement.
      Did you know that the Mushroom Canisters (and all the other mushroom stuff) are coveted now? WHO KNEW THAT WOULD HAPPEN?

      Cows are so sweet!! Not sure how often I will personally be brushing any, but one never knows.

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  9. I grew up in a cornfield and when we were looking to buy a house, I literally told my husband that if there wasn’t a sidewalk in front of the house, I wouldn’t consider it. The sidewalk thing I have ruled out rural areas and most of suburbia. I appreciate rural living, but I also like being able to get to the grocery store in five minutes, walk to the library, and see my neighbors. I can visit a rural area for short periods of time, but I get antsy.

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  13. Bijoux

    That is some crazy acreage! Wow! I thought people only owned property that size out West. Like a Montana ranch. Or a movie star in Wyoming who wants privacy. Or Oprah’s homestead on Maui.

    Me? I’m a city girl through and through. I like sidewalks for walking and being able to walk to Starbucks or a grocery store if I want to. Plus, I like people too much 😂 But go Coach! Live your truth!

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    1. There’s ‘big land’ in Florida and Georgia too. I’ve never lived anywhere where I could walk to get a coffee or groceries; that would be fun as long as my neighbors were good.

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  14. Wow, Suz, when you guys take on a project, YOU TAKE ON A PROJECT. This is huge! Literally! I can see you turning that house into an oasis, you Joanna Gaines it all you want! I am excited for your new adventure.

    Something that I haven’t talked about yet on my blog – and I’m not sure when – is that we will be moving this year to an acreage, eight hours from where we are now. On one hand, it seems very fun. On the other, I am used to walking to everything in my neighbourhood, I know all the neighbours, etc. So while it’s not the same – I don’t have 113 acres and cows – it’s going to be a huge upheaval. I’m not ready to write about it – but I guess I’m ready to tell you personally about it!

    The big family commune is an idea!

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    1. Wow. Nicole, this is HUGE for you and your family! It’s very exciting, and I’m sure scary as well. I can’t wait to go on this journey with you and your family. Eight Hours….I’m hoping it’s going to be a bit warmer for you and not on the colder sie.

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  15. This is awesome (and makes me feel bad for questioning why Tara needs ONE measly acre). But whatever you do, please, PLEASE don’t paint that lovely brick white!

    I mean, do what you want. But natural brick is awesome. I’d kill for a brick house!

    I suddenly have a weird urge to listen to The Commodores…

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  16. WOW! That is beautiful land and congratulations! I can’t blame you for not wanting to move there but it sure is a great place to spend some quality time with nature! And the house has so much potential! I’ll admit I’m a little jealous! Enjoy!!

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  17. Once upon a time we had a house that hadn’t been updated for decades. It was build in the 70s, but had a brick fireplace just like the one you show in a photo. We didn’t have the time or money to re-do it so we lived with it in all its avocado/jade green wonderfulness. BUT now given the opportunity to fix up something like it, or an 80s house, I’d jump at the chance. This is my wordy way of saying Cool Beans!

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  18. Pam

    Gah girl! You really have been holding out on us. LOL I think I would be living out there in a heartbeat. We are so worn down by living in town. It’s very crazy where we live. So many cars. I would love having cute cows as my only neighbors! Minus peeing outside.

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    1. And here you guys thought I shared every.darn.thing.
      I suppose I should not complain about being isolated as I guess it’s much better than having people IN YOUR BUSINESS all the time.

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  19. I am thrilled for you all! Between remodeling and purchasing homes, you two deserve an award for almost single-handedly boosting the economy! I actually think you are trying to get closer to me and Betsy & George Adams.
    I agree with your daughter about not going all Joanna Gaines. Everything these days is white with black trim and add some wood accents. My style is more Ben & Erin on Hometown and Dave & Jenny on Fixer to Fabulous – – even though they use a lot of white inside, too. However they do paint exteriors with some colors that blend into the environment.
    I do not like Erin’s current trend of painting the entire room – – – including trim and sometimes the ceiling – – – all one color. However what both of them do is reuse some existing stuff – – – usually wood – – – and repurpose it into furniture or even picture frames. Have you seen where they use stained glass to make cabinet doors? Those are usually on display or china cabinets.
    Whatever you do will be gorgeous. We only hope that Peanut can keep up with all the activity and design terms.

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    1. Thank you, Lynda. We sure do our part to keep people working! Hey, you never know if we might head up your way. 🙂
      I do watch both Erin and Jenny. (and their counterparts) I love how Jenny does stuff, but sometimes Ern’s style is too; how do I put it? Old fashioned? Maybe too cutesy for me.
      We might do a hardy plank on the house to match the GIANT barn that is coming; it may be more cohesive that way.

      Peanut had her first romp at the ranch a few days ago and she has a taste for cow poop, so that’s a problem because the cow patties are plentiful!

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  20. Betsy

    Hi There, I had to get your Blog address from Lynda… I don’t blog much anymore and don’t hear from my old friends… I just HAD to catch up on your life… Love the new rolling hills and the 1980’s house (which is what we have NOW—ha ha)…. I love it!!!!!! It is really in pretty good shape –just not what you are used to!!!!! Can’t wait to hear/read about what you all do with all of that land… You NEED to head up that way permanently sometime… It’s different living in the mountains –and so peaceful and relaxing. I would never go back to a city again and even hate it when we have to drive to Knoxville… ha…. Hopefully your girls/families will head up there sometime, and that ‘may’ get you there…. Lynda and I will just have to visit you sometime!!!!! That will keep you in FL, won’t it???? ha ha
    Love,
    Betsy

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    1. Howdy Betsy!!

      I can see myself living in the mountains full-time, but I would miss my girls too much. That will all change if they decide to make a move north…we will see!

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