For the tour's final segment, we're heading to the "back forty" of our 1.25 acre lot. A previous owner really loved rocks and built major retaining walls with these huge boulders behind the house. I like them.
After scaling the walls, you arrive in the back yard, or "Andy's project zone." The grass in the front yard is nice and easy to access, so I'm happy to leave it alone for now. Natalie and Lola can run and play and Jenna can have her perfect lawn. Back here is where my hobby farm dreams can happen. I can see my summer weekends booked up for years in the future. Just the way I like it.
In the past this may have been a majestic wood deck with a working stone oven. Now it is a bit sad. The mortar is crumbling and the wood is splitting and rotten. It all needs to be torn down. Maybe someday we will rebuild this whole area. It's a good place for an outdoor hangout spot, and I know my family would get good use from a wood-fired pizza oven!
Last of all we have this building: not merely a shed, but much smaller than a barn. My dad suspects this may have even been the original home, before the larger structure was built down the slope. It is made with the same type of brick as the house. At some point I'll pull the property records and try to learn more about it.
Myseterious origins aside, it's currently in a state of disrepair. The middle of one wall has completely collapsed and the roof is partially caved in above it. The doors are off their hinges and the windows are empty. The floor is covered in garbage.
Everyone says we should tear it down, but I want to restore and use it. What a perfect place to keep my chickens and goats! All those plans will have to wait a while, though. We have a lot of work to do in and around the house before I can start on these "fun" projects... and first we still have do the closing and move in already! I thought these posts would help scratch the itch to move but they have only made me more impatient. Closing day can't come soon enough.