90 posts and 200 80–pound bags of Quikrete later, and I’m ready to hang fence rails! Yay! I’ll try to be finished up by Friday, and post some After photos. The arena area is looking a bit scruffy since I haven’t bothered to mow the perimeter or rake the footing in a while. But as soon as I’m done the fence, the outdoor ring will be back in service!
And so it begins. Our first ever selective timber harvest is officially underway. Earlier this year we hired Gary Long of Ridge Runner Forestry who expertly guided us through the entire process. Gary orchestrated a very successful sealed bid timber auction. If you own wooded acreage in the SWVA area and have pondered selective timber harvests, you will find no better professional to work with than Gary Long.
Planning to retire? Looking for a beautiful, accessible, wooded hilltop setting for you, as well as some open acreage for your horses? Dreaming of mountain and valley views? Hoping for an easy 25 minute commute to Carilion or downtown Roanoke?
My wife and I own Oak Hill Stables (http://www.oakhillstablesva.com), and we are moving forward with the sale of 30 of our 130 acres. This land sale represents a rare opportunity for the amateur equestrian to build their dream home right next door to one of the finer riding facilities in the Roanoke area. The proposed 30 acre tract would have +/- 5 acres of sloped open pasture, a small year round creek, and several potential home sites. Chief among the potential home sites is the 1,420′ summit of a hill that offers gorgeous northern views of Cahas Mountain, with peaceful southern highland views. The hill itself has an established logging road, thereby reducing the investment required to build a private drive to the desired home site. We are working with a surveying firm to subdivide the 30 acres into two +/- 15 acre tracts. We will accept offers of $300K for both 15 acre parcels; however, sold individually, the asking price will be $180K for each parcel. Interested parties are invited to ask for more information by email, or by calling me (Sean) on my cell (540-521-7819, before 10pm EST please).
Within 1–2 weeks I’ll be listing this property in the MLS. Buyer’s agents are invited to inquire. If you have a client that has been on the lookout for Franklin County land close to Roanoke with true horse farmette potential, with significant viewshed potential, then this may be the ideal property.
Gorgeous ridgeland buffer:
Potential home-site on summit of 1,420’ hill (labeled “Bunker Hill” on old maps, and in Google Earth as well). If desired, the hilltop could be cleared and would then offer +/– 2.5 acres of open land, with superb 360 degree views:
Pictured below is one perspective of the +/– 5 acres of open land. It begins at the fenceline (labeled with a ‘B’), continues outward and fronts our private road at left (Steeplechase Lane) for over 500’. We recently installed a $10K 32×14 double bay run-in shed with an 8×14 storage room. The run-in would convey, unless the buyer has no use for it. Near the run-in is a Bar-Bar-A automatic frost-free waterer. This would not convey unless under special arrangement with the buyer; we would be happy to convey the waterer and negotiate a fixed fee for the continued use of our water supply for the buyer’s horses while the buyer coordinates their own supply. Labels ‘C’ and ‘D’ illustrate how the small year-round creek travels through the property. Approximately where ‘C’ sits, the logging road begins, which travels up and around the ridge to arrive at the summit of “bunker hill”.
Cahas Mountain is one of the most beautiful and untouched mountains in the Roanoke area. This is only a small slice of the overall view potential from the prime potential home-site:
Last month we had the pleasure of visiting Cass Scenic Railroad State Park in West Virginia. What a fantastic family trip!
We rented one of the many restored company houses in Cass. The entire town of Cass was purchased by the State of WV in 1976, fifteen years after the state purchase the railroad. Staying in the company house was a neat experience for the kids.
It also offered creature comforts for the adults. I am pictured below attempting to acquire a wireless signal. A fruitless endeavor, I would later learn. Apparently Cass is a stone’s throw away from Green Bank, WV, home of the largest world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope. Therefore, there are no cellular towers near Cass.
In desperation the first evening, I jumped in the Prius and high-tailed it to Snowshoe Mountain about 25 minutes West of Cass. For the record, you can’t get Verizon wireless internet service anywhere near Cass. Even on the top of Snowshoe Mountain. Even if you’re standing, in your socks, on the top of the car. Let that be a lesson to you. You can, however, smoke the brakes of a Prius if you double-time it back to Cass. Just watch out, that last S-curve back to town is a poor mistress when your brake pads are on fire. Note to self, it’s a Prius, not a Porsche.
Our train took us to Bald Knob, the second highest peak in WV:
Regardless of the lack of wireless internet service, the trip on the Cass Scenic Railroad, and our time in the authentic company town, was well worth the three hour drive from our home in Boones Mill, VA.
As we approached Labor Day weekend, Nancy and I planned for the arrival of a Hollins College student who will be living with us and working part-time with Nancy at the barn. Since the girls’ playroom was going to be converted into a college student’s bedroom, Nancy asked if I wanted to paint the room and make some improvements. That was all the encouragement I needed 
Last week, our playroom looked something like this:
Everyone pitched in to relocate the playroom into an area of the basement. Then I got to work:
First of all, anyone who has ever lived in a house with base, chair and crown molding – and plenty of casing – can appreciate the time involved in painting such a room “correctly”. Prior to rolling on paint, you have to “cut” along each side of molding and around all of the casing with a good quality brush. It is very time consuming. I cut two coats to get proper coverage and it took several hours. Time was, I’d use blue tape to isolate trim to help prevent overpainting, but I’ve found that I do a better job – with less frustration – without tape. I don’t sweat any imperfections in the straightness of my lines when I’m cutting on the wall along trim. I simply make sure that I apply an even coat and lines are – more or less – straight enough. And since I paint walls before I paint trim, I tend to overpaint trim ever-so-slightly. That way, when I paint the trim, I can make really smooth and straight cut lines with the trim paint.
After about *censored* hours, this is what I ended up with:
For the curious, the wall paint is a Valspar (?) satin (Stratosphere) and the trim is a Valspar semi-gloss (Overcast). The ceiling paint is an off-white semi-gloss with a hint of a very small hint of yellow. I also re-waxed the floor *twice* to restore the finish. I removed the shelving from the left closet and installed a clothes rod. This room project turned out really well, and the next step is some drapery and furnishings.
While I was cleaning the register duct I found a 30 year old Milky Way wrapper that was presumably left behind by a contractor who helped build our home. Nutrition Facts did not exist back in 1978 but I did note that Milky Way bars are approximately 35% heavier now than they were 30 years ago. Just like most Americans.
