Is the Helicopter needed to get there?
LOL, no. A pleasant, never any traffic hour and 5 minute drive from our primary home. It is located on Harvey lake in Northwood NH.
A few months in now, and I am really enjoying the place, BUT, still on the fence about it being a suitable long term, warm season home after DW retires. Nonetheless, I am still confident that it was sound investment and we could sell it and get (at least) our investment back if we decide it is not for us.
I have been spending about half my days there with our two dogs. We hike at the state park next door almost every day after lunch. I built a woodshop on the main level of the barn that allows me to build things for the property. $25 craigslist table saw, $20 miter saw, etc. Stripped old a partition boards from the barn basement, pressure washed them, let them dry in the sun, and made some tables out of them.
Also, lots of time clearing, pruning and opening up the view on a badly overgrown property. Bought a wood chipper and am slowly clearing woody growth and using the chips for ground cover.
We gave ourselves a $10k cash budget to buy things we needed to make the place usable. About $7k of that is gone now, but we have it set up nicely. We bought all new mattresses and bedding for each room, but beyond that, dirt cheap, or free furnishings found on Craigslist of Facebook Marketplace. It is amazing what you can get for near nothing, especially in rural NH.
I splurged a little bit and bought another tractor just like the one I have at home. Unfortunately a LOT of grass to mow there but a) I never mow it all at once, b) I let it go 3-4 weeks between mowing and c) I don't bag clippings, fertilize, water, weed control, etc. etc. My motto is "if it grows, it mows".
Have found some really interesting artifacts going through that barn a little at a time. Old photos, tools, a junior high diploma from 1966. Nail keg barrels (made a nightstand out of one for one of the bedrooms) The person we bought it from was only there a year (she bought an Inn for sale on the other side of town and is living there). Prior to that it was owned by the Johnson's for God knows how long, and was probably rented in recent years. There is a 91 year old town historian that intend to contact. The Johnsons have a long history in the town, dating back to it's inception.
I spend a lot of time clearing and cleaning out the barn main level and we hosted an "open barn" cookout party in Sept. I have had great fun finding old furnishings to put in there, wiring new lighting, hanging old signs. And then end of the barn facing the lake with a 12 foot wide rolling door is a splendid place for morning coffee, a cold beer and sunsets. The barn is also great fun for my wannabe photographer in me. Even that rug was found in the upper level of the barn.... pressure washed and sun dried.... then put in front of the couch.
That Victorian couch was a Craigslist find and was in the lobby of a well known Inn and Restaurant in Bedford NH for decades. I just had to have it (but probably paid too much for it).
Lastly, the barn sign, M E Johnson. In old listing pics from the previous sale, it was over the barn door on the road end. Sadly, it was gone when we bought the place, or so I thought. One day sitting in my "barn chair" having coffee, I looked at a huge stack of firewood stored inside the barn that I was slowly relocating... ans saw a board roped to the end of the stack with some lettering on it. Lo and behold, there it was. I mounted it inside the barn over a side door as I didn't want it to weather further.
I made the Edison bulb, iron pipe wall sconces myself after finding a pic of them on line.
Anyway, thought I would post some pics in this thread as s follow up ....