Thanks all. Where I am now is pretty nice. 4 hours from major ski area, 2 hours from central coast eventing. Tahoes ski season has always been shorter than Mammoth (where I ski). And with global warming will likely get worse. The former Squaw Valley does have a lot of steep which is very fun to me. I have a friend in Reno, known her since high school. Reno is hot in summer but they do have the Red Rock hounds… that would be fun. We’ll see. I’m lucky that I have some options. I’d still like to look into Oregon.
Where I am now is 14 miles to town and to go to Costco/Trader Joes et al. it’s about 50 miles.
You get good at stocking up on essentials.
If you’re going to live off the grid with horses, you might want to consider how you plan on getting hay, supplies, veterinary care, and a farrier.
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I was in an Earthship house in Colorado years ago. It was on the side of a mountain in Crystal Park, above Manitou Springs, and Colorado Springs. The house was passive solar, so I don’t think they even had a heater.
Hay bale wall houses are really popular too (or straw bale).
I would be very wary of remote land in N California/Tahoe or, let’s be honest, anywhere in the western mountains regions. The fire risk is real and spreading…Colorado/Montana/Wyoming fires are burning now and it’s almost winter. Even if it never burns your place you’re looking at weeks of poor air quality.
Living remotely in those mountains is no joke. What about hay? Evacuation? How good’s your water source? Etc
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer but there’s a reason I’m sticking to the northeast. I’ll risk the flooding.
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My partner and I purchased property before we were married, long before, and it did work out fine. However, we were evenly matched financially and we’re still together 25 years later so we didn’t have to test the unpleasantness of a contentious dissolution. And, it was a house that was easy to sell.
I would say, in the western US, if you find property without a house on it, you have to ask yourself why that is. There’s a reason no one has built there before you and it’s probably going to be expensive. It probably doesn’t have water. There may be flooding or geologic stability issues. You can do off grid electricity now but that comes with devoting some amount of your time to maintaining it. If you are far from everyone your vet and farrier options will be limited to nonexistent. If you are on a private gravel road then maintaining it is on you.
Fire is a concern but an even bigger one is fire insurance. They don’t have to write it, and if they don’t write it, you probably can’t get a mortgage nor can you sell your property easily.
There are ways to be semi-remote that don’t require a virgin homesite that you might also consider.
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Doesn’t have to be a clique - in general vets are in short supply everywhere and if you live in a rural area simple logistics can make it impossible for a vet to get to you same day, even if your vet loves you. Vets need to sleep and eat and vacation and see their families too and if you’re an hour out of their way each way and they are already fully booked on the other side of the county there’s only so much they can do.
In northern California we do at least have the option of UC Davis emergency. After a good experience there, I would suggest considering that if you have a colic that isn’t resolving or if your vet is unavailable.
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Then the entire Treasure Valley in Idaho would be too hot as well. It can be punishing here. Plus the cost of housing has skyrocketed. Regular ranch style home is $400,00+ now. And land is getting hard to find because the developers are buying it all up to grow houses and apartments.
Plus you will have to travel for events. We have two great trainers here, but an almost nonexistent competition base.
Sheilah
