Beat place to build on your land?

Finally getting ready to build my own cabin retreat on my land. I have hills, valleys and woods as well as a pond and creek. The creek is down in the lowest part of the woods and the pond is by the highest part of the land. Where is the best place to put my retreat? ??? Please give pros and cons for all. ..Thanks

Hate them beat places, but sometimes they are the best places.

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Upwind of any dumps and sewage treatment plants.

Outside of that, it depends on access, topo, utilities, etc. Too many things to factor, location of creek and pond would be pretty low on my list of decision making criteria to be honest. Unless either are prone to flood or in a flood plain.

Additionally, sun exposure, harsh winter protection-winds etc., ease of access, cost are all variables that are important to consider. Ambince of a nice creek (without fear of flood) can be great. Cool you're at this point. Enjoy.

DanDan, are you planning to be off-grid?


Peter

One thing I did before we even purchased our property was to use Google earth to "walk" the property. Even though it doesn't show trees it might give you a few ideas of what you want your views to be like off of your front porch.

For me... this is the most difficult decision. Where bouts are you located? Sounds like my land is similar to yours but all my water is at the bottom of the hill for now. Most of my top choices for location are about halfway up my hill. Part of this is due to existing trails and some fairly flat spots but also the views. A couple of my favorite spots are halfway up the hill and near running water (when it's wet).... I figure I might be able to keep it wet close to year round with properly placed ponds.

The first time we walked our land I picked a spot by the creek where the most waterfalls were in the shortest distance. There were some 100 mile views from the ridge tops and lots of shorter views and knolls and valleys. 13 years later when we started excavating we were within 2 feet of that original string I put up all though replaced with newer string. I could never talk myself away from the creek though I did have dreams of building a small art studio on the ridge with the long views.

Can you hear the running water from your bedroom? My wife has recently started using a noisemaker that sounds like running water in our room for the new baby. I no longer take a 3am pee break. Now I wake up scared a pipe broke. I've heard if you can see or hear a body of water from your house you'll live longer.... And apparently sleep less.

Absolutely, although in the ICF basement you can't hear it at all even with two big openings. We put two dormers in the upstairs just to be able to hear the music of the creek from up there. The ions produced by falling water are the feel good ones. It is said that is the reason you get that feeling of peace and relaxation you get from standing by a waterfall or sitting on the beach. A sister in law from Ukraine when I said it feels and sounds like a concert hall in the cabin,with all the openings and overhangs She says but how to turn of concert.

I would build a place so the setting sun would warm the western wall. My front door would be facing south, I would have a walk out basement and out of any flooding zone... I would want to see the pond or stream. If you are in a cold area, I would not build on the highest point, but near.

So, the sun, wind and facing south to take advantage of solar are to me the most important factors. A walk out basement with an icf will be a great advantage...

What is an "icf"? Seems to be associated with basements.

Insulated Concrete forms. Really just huge Lego's layered to form the frame for the concrete that is poured into the empty middle. Ours is 10" of concrete with 2 1/2" of foam insulation on each side.

Is there a good place to get estimates on the ICFs? The Big Orange Store can get them, but they seem pretty spendy. Understanding the Foundation and the Roof will be some of the biggest expenses, we would like to control the cost as best we can.

Thanks, Be Safe,

They do seem pricey but were well worth it to us. There are several brands that probably all work well. We went with Nudura brand for several reasons. We like some of the features that are different than others and we had a local dealer that was very helpful without charging extra for is advice and services. Also the price was as good or better than the others and simplicity and DIY friendly process sold us.

Thank you. We are hoping to build with a basement.

Wherever you build, think about first impressions. I like the main entrance door to be the obvious part of the house when a stranger first arrives. The new UPS man/woman should not have to make a lap around the place looking for a doorbell.

The house I lived in when I was 6-7 years old had a beautiful big front porch right at the livingroom door and the steps led to the back fence about a foot away. The long driveway led to a path that went straight to the mudroom/bathroom and through the fruit room to the back of the kitchen.

Looking back, I suppose it mighta been built by a immigrant from West Virginia. We had a lot of them move here after the War.

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