Background 1992-2004

We moved to Teton Valley in April, 1988. Jeff worked for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and our move to Driggs, Idaho was the perfect place for our family of four. In 1992, we left the valley to pursue a different dream but as we really liked the Driggs area we decided to look for a piece of land. We found the perfect piece of property and purchased 40 acres on the west side of Teton valley in the Big Hole Mountains. The property lies on a east facing aspect with the elevation ranging from 6700 feet at the bottom east boundary to 7000 feet elevation at the top west boundary. Tree species include mostly Douglas and sub-alpine fir with aspen groves and some lodgepole scattered throughout. We have one juniper tree and several spruce located in the drainage which contains our spring. Our home away from home....

Photo taken in October from the county road looking west. Our property starts at the aspen line.

When we bought the property, there was a sad, little 12x16 cabin located on a small south facing slope looking down on about a four acre meadow. The perfect place for a cabin but.....the roof was caved in, the steps and front porch had fallen off, and the windows and door were gone. The interior walls were covered in old grey boards and the walls were filled with pine cones and anything else the pack rats could stuff between the 2x4's. Piles of sticks, pine cones, and other garbage covered the floor and an old sink sagged from one wall. The exterior of the cabin, no worse for wear, consisted of old log slabs and the whole cabin sat on heavy duty railroad ties and treated posts. We talked about tearing the cabin down but instead Cheryl, Jodi and Maggie set to work gutting and sanitizing the interior while Jeff rebuilt the roof, porch and stairs. We replaced the glass in the windows, hung a donated oak door, and installed a small Earth stove in the corner. Unfortunately, we did not take a picture of the cabin in its original condition but I do have several pictures after we replaced the roof and fixed the porch and stairs. This transformation took place the summer of 1994, the first summer on the property. We had created a nice, little vacation home....

For several years our place was fondly called "the property" and the family trekked back from whenever we were to spend as much time as possible working on our place. We built a nice deck with log railings and Jeff built kitchen cupboards out of aspen from the property. We installed a small kitchen sink with a tiny drain field, an RV propane refrigerator and acquired a 50 gallon barrel with a spigot for stored water. It is amazing how little water you use when you have to pack it in. We also were motivated to build section after section of sawbuck rail fence to keep the "pooping" cows out of our spring and meadows. We drank several beers and watched deer and moose from that deck and had many a barbecue with our friends.

The girls, Jodi and Maggie, grew up but still we all converged on the property.

Our oasis, a place to go and just be....