We were working in Rochester, MN at the time, had been renters for years, and finally decided to buy our own home. However, the costs were very high in the Rochester area, and so we thought maybe we would try to build our own home on some land in the country.
The 5 acres as a 160 foot wide strip of woods, 1/4 mile long, an old wood lot on the prairies of MN near Pine Island, MN, but out in the country. The area between two branches and valleys of the Zumbro River, meeting at Pine Island, had protected it from fires that kept the prairies tree free. The wedge that was about 2 miles wide for about 5 miles west of Pine Island (a wedge of Pine trees) was valuable for farmers who settled the prairie and had no trees for building or firewood. So the land was platted into long narrow 5 acres strips and sold for wood lots; 5 acres being thought the right amount. The narrow strips so each had access to the road.
Most of the strips had been consolidated later and were farmland, but a few still remained. Ours was heavily wooded with oak, basswood, bitternut hickory, butternuts and ash. The elm were mostly gone already.
We looked at the land May 11th, and the back woods was untouched, unpastured deep woods, in heavy spring wildflower bloom-- wild geraniums, trilliums, waterleaf, bellwort, and all of the deep woods blooming lushly. Margo was immediately sold!
The trailer house was well kept up, had a wood stove/fireplace and two bedrooms, and an addition for an entryway. The 4-car garage had one separate insulated bay as a workshop.
So we made an offer of the full price and offered to do a land contract administered through the local bank so the sellers (two retired folks in their 70s who wanted to move to town) could get the principal and interest over 15 years.
And they took the offer and we moved in with the idea of building our own house ourselves. Scott was 17 and for his last year of high school drove 15 miles to Byron where he had gone the first three rather than changing schools. We didn't ask if he could, just let him do it without saying anything to the school district as we were relatively near the border already.
To build our cabin back in 1975, we cut all of the lumber on Dad and Byron's sawmill. We cut the logs, sawed them, planed them to dimension for framing and for floor and roof. Very inexpensive if not labor intensive.
So I thought we would try the same with the new house. Here is the start of it through 1993 photos where Dad, Everett, Scott, Margo, Byron and I turned trees to framing lumber.
