Passive Solar House, built with PO in mind for sale (25420)

brobak · Heavy Crude Joined: Apr 06, 2005 Posts: 103

Its a passive solar home, with metal roofing, a wood stove capable of heating the entire home, super tight insulation, the right windows, etc etc. It lives on 5.5 acres of land 4 of which is wooded, with a stream on the edge of the property. It was just completed in December of 2007.

Its got its own well, with good water, and uses nothing but electricity (no gas for heat, etc) for cooking, heat, and lighting (so a PV install could take care of most of your needs, although the local power is provided by locally mined coal, and there is a ton of it). Everything is energy star rated, and the best I could afford. Tankless hot water, largest pressure tank I could find, 18.5 SEER hvac system with 3 zones for efficiency. You name it.

Its located near a large farmers market, as well as several apple and epach orchards and corn fields within a 5 mile radius. There are deer and turkeys running around constantly, and the lot its on butts up against two other wooded lots which are vacant, so that you're the only one on your own road. I put a gate up at a narrow point in the road. I also put in a partial basement for use as a root cellar, and an unattached 20x20 storage/workshop shed.

You're also within 20 minutes of the MARC rail train line that runs down into DC. You're also about 30 minutes from three medium sized cities (martinsburg, WV, wincheter VA, and hagerstown MD). 2 hours from downtown DC if you wanted to make that commute.

One of the best parts, is that you are right next to Broomgrass, which is a planned eco community on 300+ acres. I couldn't afford a lot in the community proper, so I bought just outside of the line, so that you are about 1/4 mile away from a bunch of people that have sustainability in mind.

It was built to take into account that my wife doesn't really believe in the seriousness of this whole issue nearly as much as I do, so its got plenty of niceties also. Gourmet kitchen, stainless appliances, slate floors, twin shower in the master bath, etc.

So, why do you ask, would I be selling such a thing? The answer is basically family. Some major problems have cropped up for several close family members of mine, and while I'm scared of the implications of peak oil, I'm more scared of not being there when I'm needed for my mother and father.

My plan is to repeat this build basically at a new site, much, much closer in to my family. I just hope I have time to redo it again. Anyway, I thought that perhaps someone here might be interested. I have no idea what everyones price range is, or where you are looking to move, but maybe my loss can secure a fellow forum members future.

If you want to see more of the house,please contact me. I can work it out so that you can view all of the construction pics, lot pics, and plans.If you have any questions, please just ask. I'm sure I can answer all of them. Whats more, I haven't listed the house with an agent yet, so (not knowing what your timeframe is) if you could move relatively quickly, I might be able to save you the listing fees and such, which would come in around 50k.

Rogozhin

Where are you located? The house and the property look very nice! Good luck with your sell!
_________________
"Those who long for exaltation look upwards, but I look downward for I am the exalted."

Thus Spake Zarathustra

brobak · Heavy Crude Joined: Apr 06, 2005 Posts: 103

I'm just a bit west of martinsburg wv, over the first set of mountains. Technically its gerrardstown, wv.

Ludi

How close is the land to the local coalmines?

brobak · Heavy Crude Joined: Apr 06, 2005 Posts: 103

I believe that the closest active mine is about 35 miles as the crow flies, but the majority are farther south west down the mountain chain.

Electricity is all locally generated by locally mined coal. Its very cheap due to this fact. Just 6c/Kwh.