AN
OVERVIEW
Of the Turbo Ranch Project
Why?
Sometime in 2010, I decided that if I was going to have
any kind of a life in my retirement years, I’d have to build it now with
whatever resources I could find; the future of the economy in this country is unstable
to the point that even my 401(k) value would likely disappear by the time I was
old enough to withdraw any of it.
I also now, for the first time in my life, have a Partner who shares my
desires and dreams in this area and is capable and willing to come along side
me in the endeavor. She and I will,
together, build the majority of this project ourselves by hand, drawing on both
our experiences and skills from remodeling projects in our past.
With that in mind, I began to research locations that were
geographically close enough to my current work and living as to permit me to
work on the project on weekends without extreme travel inconvenience, yet far
enough from the urban areas that at least some sense of security and self
sufficiency could be created.
Self sufficiency means different things to different
people.
For me that is:
- Off-the-grid
– this is a must to be able to survive in a variety of future possible
situations
- Away
from civilization enough to have minimal traffic in the area
- Convenient
enough to civilization for re-stocking without excessive travel needed
- Located
in a part of the country where potential threat (natural, terrorist, etc) is
minimized
- Sufficient
Land to have respectable distance from neighbors for a level of privacy we seek
- Room
for long-term storage of food and supplies
- Ability
to grow my own food of some type
Driving through the San Luis valley in Southern Colorado
on a working trip back from Northern New Mexico, I was taken by the scenic
beauty of the landscape and I also noted a lot of signs offering land for sale
in the area.
Mount
Blanca and surrounding peaks – Winter view from Southern Costilla County
Colorado
I began researching and found an agent with excellent
reputation and references. Wolfgang
Sattler, his wife Jane and daughter Karen have deeply invested in the San Luis
Valley property for the sole purpose of helping others build their dream
locations. Since completing my land
transaction with them, I have come to know them personally as well as professionally
and highly recommend them to anyone interested in the land in this same
area. Their very busy and full
website is at http://www.colomtland.com/index.html
and is packed with useful information, as well as some very nice parcels of
land for sale. I’ve met many
people in the Valley who have purchased through them, and all have nothing but
good things to say about their experience.
I’m certain there are other great Realtors in the area, but my
experience is with the Sattler’s and I can heartily recommend them to
you.
How?
When I began to research this project, I started by
recognizing my own limitations.
Being an Electronics Engineer, the concept of living off-the-grid is
highly appealing and challenging.
But the mechanics of home construction is another matter; having done a
great deal of that in my childhood with my Father, as well as through my adult
years on my own properties and that of my siblings, I knew what was ( and was
not) the stronger points in my skills.
I was confident in my ability to finish the details of the project
– alternative power systems, flooring, plumbing, cabinetry – those
were the simple (relatively speaking) parts. It was the “getting into the
dry” part that was a bit daunting and mysterious. I needed a way to kick start the project
to the point that I could manage the smaller details needed to finish.
Watching Doomsday
Preppers on TV (more for humor and scientific knowledge than an endorsement
of their paranoia) I observed a guy in South Texas build an entire compound out
of Shipping Containers. I started
researching those items and what others were doing with them; they come in a
variety of sizes and are by nature solid and waterproof. People were doing all kinds of things
with them it seemed:
Photos
of Container Home Projects
This got my brain in a whirl, and I began to draw out possible
design plans in Visio based on commonly available Container sizes. Once a few plans were made, I began
shopping for Containers that would meet my needs. About that same time, I became aware of
the county regulations for permanent structures on my land. The biggest issue
was minimal square footage – that specifically being 600 square feet
(excluding storage, garage, porch, etc.) of living space for a single-story
home, or 800 square feet for a 2-story home. Well, I have sworn off of living in a dwelling
that requires stairs a long time ago, so I just needed to meet that 600 square
foot single level requirement. Using that as a base, I designed several options
using 20 and 40 foot Containers in various configurations.
After hours of research, I went and looked as some
containers in person at a couple of places, and finally found a company close
by (1 hour away) that not only stocked the Containers, but could special order
various sizes and had the added benefit of owning a delivery and welding service. Suddenly, the aspects of my project of
which I was most uncomfortable became fulfilled and the plan was afoot. Working with Chuck Heald, owner of
Healdworks, Inc. http://www.healdworks.com/index.html I special ordered a pair of 48 ft
“high cubes” and arranged for them to be delivered to my land and
welded together to make the ‘bones” of my house.
My two cubes as they were delivered to the Healdworks
facility in Del Norte
When?
My late father died at 64, following several years of
diminished health and quality of life.
He always worked very hard and was an excellent provider for my Mom and
siblings; but he often spoke to me of his desires to build a home that would
give him some self-sufficiency. I
tend to take after my mother’s side of the family, which has a pretty
good reputation of longevity in their lives – I recall my maternal
great-grandparents were pushing 100 when they died, my grandparents both over
80. So I am planning to live to be
90, and want to have time to enjoy the fruits of my labors with my bride. While I’m not rushing things, she
and I have both had very busy and productive careers, and mutually desire to
slow that pace down with some kind of a living arrangement such as this project
will yield.
I found that I could piece-meal this project along, and
have it done in time for a reasonably comfortable retirement on my own schedule
– that specifically being by the time I turn 55. And by “retire” I only mean
leaving my day-job and moving to the Ranch and continuing my Consulting
business that has been my side work for the past 20+ years. That being said, I have emptied most of
my savings to buy land and get the Containers on site, and will be moving the
project along now “two thousand
dollars at a time” as my SDCR neighbor John related to me. His project took nearly 7 years in this
manner, and he’s still an absentee owner today.
An Actual photo from the ridge up behind my house plot
toward the Northwest
That means I’ll break the rest of the project in to
smaller phases; or as I am fond of reminding people “you have to eat that elephant one bite at a time”. So it will be steps somewhat like this:
- Getting
the land in shape enough for work to start
- Setting
the cubes and welding them together
- Cut
out for and install doors and windows
- Insulation
and siding on the outside
- Design
and build a roof over Containers, parking area and porch
- Inside
sub-flooring and wall framing
- Build
the porch, deck, driveway, yard, etc.
- Design
and build the Solar Array
- Assemble
and erect the tower and antennas
- Install
Wind Turbines
- Dig Water
well and install basic plumbing
- Install
Septic System and finish external plumbing
- Finish
internal plumbing
- Finish
inside wiring
- Complete
inside finish work with cabinets, trim, etc.
- …and
so on.
Optimistically, this can be done in 2 years; realistically
more like 4 to be comfortable in the effort needed and the finances required to
pull it off.
I outline other details of how this project work on other
areas of this website, and document my progress with photos and narrative. I’m happy to help others achieve
what I am, and gladly share my research and experiences to aid in that
endeavor. At least until I
get it all finished and we move here permanently… then it is “off
the grid and on the internet” and this website will go away.
Enjoy!