There are several dwellings because it used to take a number of people to run a big ranch. Some of the houses had propane refrigerators. Most had wood/gas combo old cook stoves (quite beautiful btw) and all had fireplaces or wood stoves. Water you ask? Yes..,. all had running water although only one had hot water from propane hot water heaters. There was a traditional old central cookhouse and dining area that was used during cattle roundups.
 |
| This is NOT our bathroom but we have one we are just finishing that is very similar to this design |
The place had been home to cattle and an old caretaker who lived in one of the small cottages for years so we chose as our first restoration project to dig into the big OLD 'summer house'. (It was called the summer house because it had only been used by the original family certain times of the year during the roundups).
Big is nice.. Big is also cold in winter and hot in summer. The house had been built with high ceilings to carry off the heat through transoms and stone floors to keep it cool. In the winter there was a huge central fireplace that would create a thermal mass when run long enough.
What we learned...
1) Insulation is a great thing. The ranch originally had NO insulation at all. It was 4X4 redwood post and beam with redwood and stone outside and plaster inside. We opened the walls to find them pristine and promptly filled them with organic healthy insulation. WE put R 30 bats in the attic and Reflect-ix on the roof joists of the attic... We suddenly were cool in the summer (thanks to those stone floors) and warm in the winter.
2) WE had beautiful old wood windows (single pane) but they had to go. New windows and doors got us weather tight and insulated.
3) We loved the gigantic old open fireplace but it was no longer safe so we purchased an Extraordinary insert which still remains the main source of heat for the 3500 square foot main house.
4) We piped propane into small stoves/fireplaces in the other houses as well as bedrooms for backup heat. But, in a grid down each house will heat with a wood stove or insert.
5) The water was already gravity tanks and cisterns. We simply added new tanks and new water lines for our drinking water and kept the old system for irrigation.
5) We brought in and amended literally tons and tons of soil. We have walled gardens and we decided to make them both flower gardens and food forests. Our mindset was to improve the soil down at least 18 inches. Being an organic farm we added fulvic acid, sea kelp, worm castings and lots and lots of organic compost and dirt. We also started a container garden and orchard which is working very well.
6) We developed a firewood plan. We use about 5 cords of wood a winter. We are a temperate climate so we don't use a lot, but, in a grid down we would want to be prepared. To that end we had a wood shed that held 10 cords that was used to feed the old big open fireplace in the main house each year so we cut and filled it. Each year many trees come down on the ranch so we cut and replenish what we use plus stack rounds in the back of the shed.
7) We have ATV's... These let us haul wood, spread fertilizer, have a disc, have a tank with a boom sprayer etc. We also have several early vintage mini bikes which can pull all the implements and are EMP proof. Always have a back up.
8) Because it is a ranch we have several very large diesel tanks which support ranch equipment.
9) We have set up the electrical to be very low watt using led and RV appliances. A 3000 watt generator can run the house. 20 hours is about 8 dollars.
10) We are mid way into a large solar array. This is the way to go but is a trial and error leaning curve.
11) Solar pumps and solar electric attic fans work great.
12) In the California foothills it is HOT in the summer so we have a summer outdoor kitchen complete with barbecue and wood fired pizza oven. We can cook anything on the barbecue we now think.
 |
| We have an outdoor kitchen right next to the old swimming pool in one of the walled gardens |
13) Most important? We have a swimming hole. There is a creek that runs year round and this shady spot is quite possibly the best place on the ranch. Every swimming hole in the world is already off grid so it can't be improved on.
