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The original portion of the house was rebuilt from 2 houses (described by one of the original inhabitants as shacks) in around 1912. We have added about 700 sq ft to the house and dormers to the old hay mow, insulated, added modern insulated windows, etc over about 30 years time and we are 85% finished, not counting what will have to be renovated/replaced for a second time, at some point. There were almost no closets because no one than had anything and yet, they had 6 kids. The studio/shop was converted 30 years ago from a 23-stantion barn. The original family farmed 34 tillable acres w/horses. Today, 20 of those acres are gone back to woods, as you cannot get a tractor up the 60-degree slope.

20 years ago we got the hot tub and put it inside because it made no sense to get warm and then have to brave 30-below winds to get back inside. 5 years later, we got a deal on an old C-Band dish system that lasted until around 1999, when no one carried parts any longer around here. We were TV-free for the 16 years prior. These luxuries earned us the appellation:"Yuppie Hollow". They make life livable (although now we have DirecTV). We have a large above ground pool (which unfortunately eats propane in a cool summer in this climate)which is our major recreation in the summer along w/my husband's P21 trailerable sailboat. Having one experience with the leeches that share our river, the pool is, in my mind, a necessity in the hot, humid Upper Midwest summers.

I really rejoice in the contrasts. I like to think we taught self-suffiency to the one *kid* (now almost 40) and everyone who comes here in the winter goes immediately to the wood stove to warm themselves and they reminisce about growing up with wood heat. This house did not get plumbing or a submersible pump and pressure tank until 1967. This was average for out here and all these aspects of the hill country lifestyle formed strong people with decent values who knew better than to whine.It wasted time and didn't change anything.

There are still alot of these folks around and they are a blessing and an inspiration. We struggle with the city people and their 6000 sq ft starter castles and their impatience with the ways that worked just fine for generations. We fear that when we have to sell out, when we are too old to care for all this, it will go to someone with more money than brains or heart. I hope there is a paradigm change among the young before that happens. I would love to know that we sold our homestead to people who could appreciate its heritage and the character-building aspect of this way of life..