It was February and there was still plenty of snow on the ground when our realtor, Melissa (who has spoiled us for all other realtors) showed us a five acre property with a stunning view of the mountain as you enter the gravel drive.  

We had recently lost our bid for another five acre parcel with a tiny home lower on the mountain.  It was a charming property with lots of extras.  There was the cabin as well as a shed with generator and well.  However, the cabin was far from level, internet connectivity for our business was going to be a project, and the property around the cabin was essentially unusable, even for hiking.  As so often is the case, this “failure” turned out to be a blessing.

When we first saw our new summer home, it was covered with ramshackle buildings, two large cleared plots with stakes and irrigation tubing for the pot farm that had flourished there for awhile, and a sad-looking scarecrow.  There was also an abundance of trash.  However, we did discover we could ZOOM with each other because of the north facing clearing.  There was also one well-structured outbuilding (a drying shed for the cannabis as it turned out) and multiple sewer hookups and water spigots.  We loved the Mt.Shasta presence and the ability to wander out in the Sierra Pacific forest adjoining the land. 

One resident told us this was the second most beautiful property in the Association, and it was priced that way too.  It would not be on the market until the Property Owners Association cleared it, so even though we began to gather our resources, we couldn’t take action yet.