Moving to suit your age and values

 I received an email from a reader a day or so ago and I thought the answer might be of interest to others as well.  In part, the email asked:

"I have a few questions, my husband and I are in our 40's and have only one son left at home. We would like to change our home as it is a very small block although the house is a good size.We try and grow vegies and everything we can in-between the garden flowers and pots.We have an opportunity to buy a 5 acre property, but I am nervous I think it may be too big as we are getting older not younger and worry we won't manage our land when older? What motivated you to move to your plot and how large is it.? You and Hanno seem to manage very easily. I thought I'd ask you as your reasoning is always sound and very helpful in making our choice. I think a blog 1400 would suit me better as my hubby doesn't have too much free time with work."

We moved to our current home when Shane left school and Kerry was in his final year of school. We chose that time because we wanted to be closer to a university, potential employment, shopping and entertainment. This was a few years before we realised how toxic our lifestyle had become and then changed to a more gentle and slow life. Luckily for us, we bought our one acre piece of land a couple of years before the property boom and since then it has more than tripled in price. We were looking for a small simple brick house with a bit of land. What we got was that, plus a permanent creek wandering through remnant rainforest at the end of a one lane dead-end street. Bliss! Even though what we have is very simple, and the absolute opposite to what most people were buying then, when I walked on to this block of land, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. The garden was in its original state, the house was dated and needed work, but I knew at the very second I saw the backyard, that this was where I wanted to live. I was 49 then, Hanno was 58.

This is our house as seen from the garden (click to enlarge). As you can see, we have a solar hot water system (right), skylights, whirlybirds (to extract hot air from the roof), as well as a TV satellite dish that was disconnected many years ago. 

Five acres would have been too much for us then and would be a worry for us now. We used to have the boys to help mow the lawns (it took just over three hours) but now Hanno breaks the job up into a number of sections. It's slower but it's easier that way. An acre gives us room for our house, chooks, a double work shed for Hanno, a garden shed, bush-house, water tanks, vegetable garden, fruit trees and a large wild garden at the front that hides us from the road. I agree with you, a smaller block would give you the best of both worlds - you'd have enough land to do what you want to do, spread out and have out-houses but you'd still be able to manage the work of a 1400 block for many years to come. If you bought the larger block would you be able to subdivide it and sell off what you don't want?

In the house, look for work areas that will support productivity and family areas that encourage closeness.

Make sure the house has enough of the right kind of spaces. Look for a large pantry and stockpile cupboard close together, a work room for your sewing and mending, a well laid out kitchen that will allow you to preserve/can your excess garden produce and a place to sit and shell peas or read. If you have money left over after the purchase, buy some things that will help you be sustainable. Water tanks to harvest rainwater from your roof will help you every day you garden, skylights will help you bring light to rooms without electricity, solar hot water or panels for the entire house would be ideal.

Our back verandah is set up most of the time for the work we do there - there is a spare washing machine that is hooked up to the rain water tank, we dry clothes there when it rains, the animals are fed there, the wheelbarrow waits, the hose is ready to be used.  But we have had the best parties there too.  I had my 50 birthday party on this verandah, surround by family, friends, flowers and a hundred flickering candles.

It sounds like you're already gardeners and plan on continuing with that so look for a warmish climate with good rainfall.  Check your local authorities for flood history and look up the weather statistics for the past few years.  Overall, you want to live in an area that will support the work you wish to do in your home - like keeping chickens and growing food.

Even though you're still in your 40s, now is the time to look 30 years ahead.  You want a house and land that will allow you to work it easily while your husband is still working outside the home, you want a house that will be easy for you to live in for many years to come (our house has no stairs) and you want to know you're safe and sound and live well with your neighbours - go and meet the neighbours whenever you look at a new house.  You are paying for the location as much as for the building and land so know what you're buying into.  Ask every neighbour, and the people you're buying from, what the neighbours are like.  A bad neighbour is as concerning as a bad flood report - they will impact on your life in a negative way.  Steer clear.  You need to be fit and healthy to live as we do but as you age you also need access to medical facilities - make sure they aren't too far away.  You'll also need to be fairly close to a supermarket, butcher, and other primary producers if possible.

As we could afford additions, we put them in.  Here Hanno is adding a lattice on which we now grow passionfruit. The main reason we added the lattice was to shade our bedroom wall and windows from the afternoon sun.

Look for efficiency, comfort, warmth and productivity in a house, rather than luxury.  A coat of paint does wonders for most places.  See if you can save a few dollars by buying a smaller home on a large block, and spend the rest of your budget modifying the house to suit you both.  Hanno and I did that.  We knew many things weren't to our liking when we bought here, but when we moved in we took the time to change what we didn't like.  As money became available during the first few years of us being here, we kept adding those elements we wanted - like the skylights, tanks, gardens and fences.  Fences are important and if you're gardening and keeping chooks, a house cow or goats, you'll need good fences.  And not only to keep critters in, but to keep them out as well.  Make sure, when you do your changes, you use recycled materials if you can, they cut the cost considerably, and help to make your home more sustainable and earth-friendly.

Never underestimate the importance of fences. Here you can see the garden looking towards the back of the property and the chook house, below you can see the opposite view of the chook house view of the garden. Fencing will allow you to garden in peace and keep the chooks safe at the same time.

I highly recommend The New Complete Book of Self Sufficiency by John Seymour to you. He writes about and illustrates the ins and outs of a one acre small holding as well as a five acre one. You'll be surprised and pleased at his thoughts on the one acre plot - there is an abundance of crops, animals and fields of food for people and animals. It's really worth a read. I hope I've answered your question in a way that will help you look at things in a different way and will help you plan for your future. Please keep in touch and let me know what you decide on and how it goes when you eventually move.

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