Straw Bale and Stucco Yurt Type Home

So this was the first house we looked at in PEI. It was situated in the "middle of nowhere", which is a phrase people use loosely but in this case it really applied. You would never have known it was there from the road except for the "For Sale" sign and the slightest of indications that there had been a car or two driven over the long grass once or twice in the last twenty years. But once we got in off the road a ways it suddenly appeared, like a little hobbit house in the woods.


It had a storybook appeal and I liked that. Surrounding the little house were 25 acres of woods, orchard, springs and a couple of outbuildings. One building was meant to be a guest house and the other a garden shed. A tiny part of the forest had been cleared, the rest was impassable. The fact that power was provided by solar and wind power (totally off the grid) was also appealing (read economical:).


I have pictures of the inside but unfortunately I am at the trailer with a weak wireless link and it took 3 tries just to get the above picture loaded. So, another time. Let's just say that it was cozy inside and I mean that in a nice way, not a real estate ad way. Perfect for one person but two people might find it a little tight especially in such an isolated location. I could see myself committing Redrum after a winter or two spent literally on top of my partner.


You know, its always good to go and have a look. What seems quaint, even romantic on the internet doesn't always translate to real life. The "guest house" was full of years of accumulated stuff and no guest had stayed there for a very long time, if ever. The toilet was a composting toilet which seems really eco-friendly from a distance of 1600km but up close and personal I'd just as soon flush thank you very much.


And the idea of having an orchard and a spring and living off the land is really great when you're sitting in your nice spacious living room at home, but when you're actually there and you can't see the apple trees because for years and years the undergrowth has been left to grow wild and anyway you're too busy smacking your forehead because of the whining sound of horse-sized mosquitoes it kinda loses its earth-friendly appeal.


So, needless to say I scratched #1 off my short list of 5 homes to view in PEI. Onwards and upwards!