Serenity Hill Homestead found at https://serenityhillhomestead.com/ (“Website”) is governed by the following privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”).

We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it. The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to inform you what personally identifiable information we may collect and how it may be used. This statement only applies to this Website.

WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT AND HOW IS IT USED?

Information You Voluntarily Submit to the Website: We may collect personal information from you such as your name or email address. For example, you may voluntarily submit information to the Website by leaving a comment, subscribing to a newsletter, or submitting a contact form. In addition, you are able to create a user profile, which allows you to create a username and password. We will store the username, but your password will not be visible in our records.

Information We Collect from Others: We may receive information about you from other sources.  You may link your Facebook, Instagram, and/or Google accounts to your user profile.  If you choose to link your Facebook, Instagram, and/or Google accounts to your user profile, we will receive your name, email address and profile picture associated with that account.  The Website utilizes the Facebook commenting system, so if you choose to comment on a Website post, your profile picture will appear.

Automatically-Collected Information: We automatically collect certain information about you and the device with which you access the Website. For example, when you use the Website, we will log your IP address, operating system type, browser type, referring website, pages you viewed, and the dates/times when you accessed the Website. We may also collect information about actions you take when using the Website, such as links clicked.

Cookies: We may log information using cookies, which are small data files stored on your browser by the Website. We may use both session cookies, which expire when you close your browser, and persistent cookies, which stay on your browser until deleted, to provide you with a more personalized experience on the Website.

HOW YOUR INFORMATION MAY BE USED

We may use the information collected in the following ways:

• To operate and maintain the Website;
• To create your account, identify you as a user of the Website, and customize the Website for your account;
• To send you promotional information, such as newsletters. Each email promotion will provide information on how to opt-out of future mailings;
• To send you administrative communications, such as administrative emails, confirmation emails, technical notices, updates on policies, or security alerts;
• To respond to your comments or inquiries;
• To provide you with user support;
• To track and measure advertising on the Website;
• To protect, investigate, and deter against unauthorized or illegal activity.

THIRD-PARTY USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We may share your information with third parties when you explicitly authorize us to share your information.

Additionally, the Website may use third-party service providers to service various aspects of the Website. Each third-party service provider’s use of your personal information is dictated by their respective privacy policies.

The Website currently uses the following third-party service providers:

Google Analytics – this service tracks Website usage and provides information such as referring websites and user actions on the Website. Google Analytics may capture your IP address, but no other personal information is captured by Google Analytics.

Mail Chimp – this service is used for delivery of email updates and newsletters. We store your name and email address for purposes of delivering such communications.  Please refer to Mail Chimp’s privacy policy for further information.

 

At this time, your personal information is not shared with any other third-party applications. This list may be amended from time to time in the Website’s sole discretion.

Except when required by law, we will not sell, distribute, or reveal your email addresses or other personal information without your consent; however, we may disclose or transfer personal information collected through the Website to third parties who acquire all or a portion of our business, which may be the result of a merger, consolidation, or purchase of all or a portion of our assets, or in connection with any bankruptcy or reorganization proceeding brought by or against us.

ANONYMOUS DATA

From time to time, we may use anonymous data, which does not identify you alone, or when combined with data from other parties. This type of anonymous data may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses. Examples of this anonymous data may include analytics or information collected from cookies.

PUBLICLY VISIBLE INFORMATION

If you create a user profile on the Website or leave a comment, certain information may be publicly visible.  To create a user profile, you must choose a username and password and input your email address for profile confirmation.  Your email address will never be available publicly.  At your option, you may also add an avatar, a profile description, and a link to your website.

You may also choose to link your Facebook, Instagram, and Google Account.

Users may see your username, avatar, profile description and website information.

COOKIES

The Website uses cookies to store visitors’ preferences, record user-specific information on what pages users access or visit, ensure that visitors are not repeatedly sent the same banner ads, customize Website content based on visitors’ browser type or other information that the visitor sends. Cookies may also be used by third-party services, such as Google Analytics, as described herein.

Users may, at any time, prevent the setting of cookies, by the Website, by using a corresponding setting of your internet browser and may thus permanently deny the setting of cookies. Furthermore, already set cookies may be deleted at any time via an Internet browser or other software programs. This is possible in all popular Internet browsers. However, if users deactivate the setting of cookies in your Internet browser, not all functions of our Website may be entirely usable.

ADVERTISING

Display Ads

We may use third-party advertising companies to serve content and advertisements when you visit the Website, which may use cookies, as noted above.

Retargeting Ads

From time to time, the Website may engage in remarketing efforts with third-party companies, such as Google, Facebook, or Instagram, in order to market the Website. These companies use cookies to serve ads based on someone’s past visits to the Website.

Affiliate Program Participation

The Website may engage in affiliate marketing, which is done by embedding tracking links into the Website. If you click on a link for an affiliate partnership, a cookie will be placed on your browser to track any sales for purposes of commissions.

Serenity Hill Homestead is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and links to Amazon.com.  As part of this Amazon Associates program, the Website will post customized links, provided by Amazon, to track the referrals to their website. This program utilizes cookies to track visits for the purposes of assigning commission on these sales.

Newsletters

On the Website, you may subscribe to our newsletter, which may be used for advertising purposes. All newsletters sent may contain tracking pixels. The pixel is embedded in emails and allows an analysis of the success of online marketing campaigns. Because of these tracking pixels, we may see if and when you open an email and which links within the email you click. Also, this allows the Website to adapt the content of future newsletters to the interests of the user. This behavior will not be passed on to third parties.

RIGHTS RELATED TO YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Opt-out – You may opt-out of future email communications by following the unsubscribe links in our emails. You may also notify us at serenityhillhomestead@gmail.com to be removed from our mailing list.

Access – You may access the personal information we have about you by submitting a request to serenityhillhomestead@gmail.com.

Amend – You may contact us at serenityhillhomestead@gmail.com to amend or update your personal information.

Forget – In certain situations, you may request that we erase or forget your personal data. To do so, please submit a request to serenityhillhomestead@gmail.com.

Please note that we may need to retain certain information for recordkeeping purposes or to complete transactions, or when required by law.

SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION

At no time should you submit sensitive personal information to the Website. This includes your social security number, information regarding race or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, health information, criminal background, or trade union memberships. If you elect to submit such information to us, it will be subject to this Privacy Policy.

CHILDREN’S INFORMATION

The Website does not knowingly collect any personally identifiable information from children under the age of 16. If a parent or guardian believes that the Website has personally identifiable information of a child under the age of 16 in its database, please contact us immediately at serenityhillhomestead@gmail.com and we will use our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.

CONTACT INFORMATION

At any time, please contact us at serenityhillhomestead@gmail.com for questions related to this Privacy Policy.

Last updated: October 27, 2018.

Disclosure: I sometimes earn money or products from any of the companies mentioned on this site Learn More

And So it Began

Our search for land of our own began 7 years ago when we were living in Texas.  With the exception of a 4 year stint at Fort Campbell where we bought a home, we have spent our entire married lives living in either military housing or rented homes.  Deb has wanted a place of our own for years.  I was always hesitant to put down roots in a place that I didn’t really like that much where I was working a job that I didn’t really care for.  Finally back in 2011 we started looking at homes, land, and discussing what type of place we wanted.

One of the decisions we arrived at is that we didn’t want to live in a subdivision and we wanted no part of a HOA.  Through a friend at work, I learned of a place that owner financed land with a small down payment.  He also told me of a place that did owner financing, moving, and setup of repo manufactured homes.  That would be a start, and it would get us out of our rental house in town.  We looked at some land and it was mostly in the Trinity River bottoms.  Neither of us were keen on buying land in a flood plain and we ended up continuing to look elsewhere.

Making a Move

In 2014 I had an opportunity for a job that would finally put us in the area we really wanted to retire.  It would put us close to my Dad and Stepmom in their latter years, but the downside is that our kids and most of our grandkids would be down in Texas.  After a lot of thought and discussion, we decided to make the leap.

Shortly after moving we began looking at property and discussing what we wanted in a home or land.  One of my favorite places growing up was a beautiful lake near our hometown.  We spent a lot of Saturday and Sunday afternoons swimming at the lake or just driving around the countryside.  Naturally, that is the first place we began looking for property.  Unfortunately, reality sometimes departs from childhood dreams.  There was plenty of land available near the lake, the problem is that much of it was really rugged and challenging to build on.  Many of the lots had run down homes or trailers built right next to the road and the property was pretty trashed out.  A search on the web revealed a disturbing number of registered sex offenders and verified meth houses.  Time to rethink!

The Decision Checklist

1. Did we want to buy a cheap home or build our own?
2. Type of area/activities we want to be near?
3. Plans for the land?
4. What kind of land did we want to buy?
5. How remote and isolated did we want to be?
6. What kind of lifestyle do we want?

Did We Want to Buy a Cheap Home or Build Our Own?

Searches on Zillow, Realtor.com, Mossy Oak, and local realtor sites revealed no shortage of cheap homes.  Unfortunately, there is a reason they were cheap and the price would only be a starting point.  Issues with eaves, roofing, flooring, and utilities end up requiring a lot of work and a sizable cash outlay.  Fixing up a place that needed work would cost more than if we built from scratch!  Another issue is floor plan.  Nothing we saw matched what we had decided was important in a floor plan.  Since this home will be our retirement home, we decided to build our own.

Done deal, we would buy a piece of land and build our own home.  What type of home is a story for another day.

Type of area/activities we want to be near? 

After years of living in military housing and subdivisions, we knew that we wanted a place with elbow room.  My wife grew up in town and always felt that was where she would want to live.  People change over time, and she finally decided that she also wanted a place with some elbow room, space, trees, and privacy.

We both love being in the outdoors and enjoy camping and hiking.  Her family vacations as a child revolved around loading up the pop-up camper and going camping somewhere for a week.  My family spent a lot of time driving through the Ozarks and visiting places in the Mark Twain National Forest.  We both wanted to be near areas where we could get out and enjoy nature.  Go for a swim, go on a float trip, go on a hike, just spend some time in a beautiful place without having to drive for hours.

Plans for the land?

Initially we thought of a property with enough space to grow a small garden and perhaps have a few chickens and rabbits.  Our priorities changed as we discussed our retirement years and the type of life that really meant the most to us.  Living more in tune with nature, less consumerism, sustainable living, responsible stewardship became more important.  We decided that we wanted to buy a place that would have enough room for livestock if we felt so inclined.  Bottom line, we didn’t want to get the bare minimum space and not have room to expand if we wanted.

As a result, we decided that something in the 3-5 acre range would be best.  It would allow us to have a garden, and have a chicken coop and/or rabbit hutch that wouldn’t be right next to the house.  We could start with a small garden and have the flexibility to expand.  Funny thing is, we bought 5.3 acres and Deb wondered what we were going to do with all that land.  As we worked on clearing trees and developing the house site, she began to wish we had MORE space.  When the 5.9 acres on our north border became available, we decided to buy that too and ended up, so far, with 11.2 acres.  Now, if only the 6.3 acres on our east border doesn’t sell before we get in the position to buy it too….

What kind of land did we want to buy?

Deb and I both love the rugged hills and beautiful vistas.  Nothing like a piece of land with a view and a pond or stream.  Deb’s left hip had been bothering her for a couple years, and it became necessary for her to have a hip replacement.  In the next 3-5 years she will probably end up having her other hip replaced.  Build a home and garden on rugged acreage is definitely feasible.  Getting around it with a bionic hip isn’t so easy.  Neither of us could imagine trying it with two bionic hips!  They take care of the pain and restore lost mobility, but they just aren’t made for land best suited to billy goats.

We looked at some cleared land, but really wanted wooded acreage.  We didn’t want rugged hills, but we didn’t want flat land.  And we definitely didn’t want to be in a flood plain.  The narrowed our focus to wooded acreage with a gentle slope that would be easy for us to navigate as we age.

How remote and isolated did we want to be?

In the early stages of our discussions, we thought about buying remote land far away from the rest of the world.  Sounds romantic, and for some people it is the best place in the world.  We considered things like the fact that we will be working for the next 6-7 years, getting to church, spending time with family, access to medical care.  Remote wasn’t practical for us.  We began searching within 20 miles of the town we wanted to be near that would meet the other criteria that were important to us.

With retirement approaching, we didn’t want to be so remote that we didn’t have fairly easy access to stores and medical facilities.  We don’t need to be near a big city, but would like access to the basics without having to make a day trip.

What kind of lifestyle did we want?

Determining how we wanted to live had a huge impact on the type of land that would be suitable.  We wanted land with enough space to have room between us and neighbors.  We wanted enough space to have a sustainable permaculture garden.  Space for a chicken coop if we decided to go that way was important.  Since we really enjoy relaxing in our above ground pool, there has to be room for that!  I love smoking meat and want a detached BBQ pavilion.  No more having the smoker right next to the back door and bringing smoke into the house.

We wanted to have enough room to make a few trails to stroll through our woods.  Building a fire pit retreat found its way to our wish list.  We wanted a lot wide enough to build in a location where the house wouldn’t be easily seen from the road.  Private, but not isolated.  And we didn’t want to be in an area with junked up places all around us.  Determining what kind of lifestyle is important is vital in picking out the right kind of land.

We’ve got LAND!

In the end, I stumbled across an add on Craigslist for  owner financed wooded acreage.  A local developer had bought a few hundred acres and opened it up.  He ran county water lines, and had the plat accepted by the electric utility and the county.  In the next year the county will be taking over road maintenance.  He gave directions to get to the property, gave some details, and invited us to go check it out.  There was no high pressure sales pitch.  Just told us to go look at it and if we saw something we like, come to his office and we will talk.  I like that approach because I detest a high pressure sales pitch and will walk away in a heartbeat.

We walked several properties and decided on the one we wanted.  The properties have some deed restrictions that actually make them more appealing to us because they will (hopefully) prevent the kind of things that made other areas unappealing.  Deed Restrictions is an ugly phrase to most people setting out to homestead because they want to do whatever they want on their land.  Problem is, the people around you can do the same, and that could get unpleasant.  We made sure that the restrictions didn’t keep us from doing any of the things we were wanting to do on the land and signed the dotted line.

Making it work

My job doesn’t leave me much free time because I work 10 days and get 4 days off.  This gives us every other weekend to get out there and work.  It is challenging, and at times frustrating because things take time.  Of course, it also gives us time to refine our plans and hopefully waste less time.

Rather than have a dozer come in and knock everything down, we cut trees ourselves.  I’ve left the bigger oaks in logs 9-14 feet long to use as posts in our cordwood home.  I’ll mill hickory logs to use in making cabinets and furniture.  The rest of the oak and hickory we have been cutting up to dry for firewood.  Other brush was burned.  Whatever doesn’t make timbers for the frame or firewood will be laid out to make hugulkulture beds in the garden.  Our initial site for a drive and house changed slightly in the fall and winter when could see the land better.  It really is best if you can see the land, sun, and weather in several seasons before you put down something permanent.

People who have been out to our place love it.  We love to spend time there, even if most of that time we are working our tails off.  Some people get it, some people think we are crazy, and that’s okay.  This is our dream, our adventure to do our way.  Mistakes will be made, amazing things will be learned, and great people will be met as we go along.  At the end of the day, we will have built our dream our way, and it doesn’t get much better than that.  Hope you get to make your dream happen too!

 

 

Disclosure: I sometimes earn money or products from any of the companies mentioned on this site Learn More

Serenity Hill Homestead

Welcome to Serenity Hill Homestead, our little piece of paradise!  We are Bob and Deb, a couple who has been married for over 39 years and counting.  For most of those years we either lived in Military housing or rented a house, sometimes good, sometimes not so good.  One of our desires has always been to find a place where we want to settle and develop the place of our dreams going into our retirement years.  For us, it isn’t just about a house to live in, but a place where we live in harmony with the land and enjoy what it can provide for us.

After many years of fruitless searching, I finally found a job near the area we wanted always wanted to live – the Ozarks in Southeast Missouri.  We began our search for a homestead site near a lake that has been a favorite place since childhood.  Unfortunately like so many things that we think are great as children the reality doesn’t match up later in life.  The land for sale in the area was pretty rugged and would have been costly to build on.  The very rocky soil is a challenge for gardening.  There are no codes, so a lot of really trashy places have popped up, and when I did a search for known meth labs, many popped up in the area.  To top it all off, Deb had a hip replacement a couple years ago and just isn’t up to rugged terrain anymore.  We both had to realize that it wasn’t going to be the best place for us.

Making a List and Checking It Twice

After regrouping, we sat down and did a checklist of what we wanted in a property.  We also discussed finances and made a checklist and plan for paying off debt and boosting our savings.  Then we began searching for a place that met our needs.  We found a newly opened area with nice dead end gravel roads and county water already in place.  The area has gentle hills and is very heavily wooded.  It is 10 miles from Current River, a part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways,  and near several Conservation areas.  After roaming around several of the lots, we found one that met our criteria and we decided to make the leap.

Our initial purchase was 5.3 acres and Deb wondered what in the world we were going to do with all that land.  As the other lots began selling and we spent more time on the property we began discussing purchasing the 5.9 acres on our north border.  A couple months ago we signed the paperwork and expanded Serenity Hill Homestead to 11.2 acres.

Slow But Steady

To date we have cleared a curved driveway, area for garage, house, and septic system.  We used to have to park our car on the grass at the bottom of the hill and tote everything up to where we were clearing because the red clay soil up close to the driveway location was too soft after a rain.  When we finally got the drive and house areas clear to the point we called in an excavating contract it was celebration time.  Getting that culvert and drive in was a big milestone for us.  The topsoil is soft and ruts easily, so I had him put a layer of clay and gravel on the drive.  It has hardened to the point that even after torrential rain we can drive on it with no problem, and when dry a dozer doesn’t leave tracks on it.

In August we had trenches dug for our foundation footings.  Another exciting day!  Now comes gravel, rebar, and concrete.  Once we have the footings in place the electric utility will run power to it so we won’t have to purchase a generator to run power tools.  More money available for building supplies.

As soon as we get a livable house we will be moving to the property.  Once we get there, we can begin developing the rest of Serenity Hill Homestead.  In the meantime, we are getting rid of a lot of “stuff” we have accumulated in boxes in the basement.  No need to move things we haven’t used in years and boxes that have remained unopened through 3 moves!  Mind boggling when I think about it.

The Homestead

What are we building at Serenity Hill Homestead?

• 32 x 40 Cordwood home with shed roof, full length porch, and lots of windows
• 25 x 30 Cordwood garage/workshop
• Forest garden utilizing hugulkultur beds
• Chicken coop and possibly rabbit hutches
• Fire pit and picnic area in a small clearing about 150 feet from the house
• Pond, approximately 1 acre
• Walking paths with seating to just enjoy the woods

We are doing most of the work ourselves and hiring out work that requires equipment or expertise that we don’t have.  Our goal is to have a mortgage free home since retirement is just a few years away.  Some people think we are crazy, some people are excited for us, and some people don’t know quite what to think.  Everyone, it seems, has ideas about what a home is or what it takes to build a home.  When you do something outside that box they don’t know quite what to think.

But then, that is us in a nutshell.  We have always done things a little differently than everyone else.  We value different things than most of our friends and family.  Life is too short to spending it trying to impress other people, best to spend time doing things that make you happy, enrich the lives of those you hold dear, and create wonderful memories.

More to come.  We hope you enjoy following our journey.

 

 

Disclosure: I sometimes earn money or products from any of the companies mentioned on this site Learn More

Carving a homestead out of 11 acres of heavily wooded land and building a cordwood home with our own hands.  Our goal is to be mortgage free, hassle free, and live in harmony with the land and what it provides us.  Serenity Hill is a name that more or less found us, because that is what owning our own piece of land after almost 40 years of renting houses has brought us.  It is lots of hard work, sweat, and sore bodies, but it brings us peace and contentment.

We hope you join us as we build our home, gardens, pond, and decide what food critters we are going to raise.  We look forward to sharing our dream.