I’ve lived at the Living Springs Log House since 2017, and it has been a retreat for me in every sense of the word. Barbara, who owns the house, has decided it’s time to sell. I share her hope that it goes to the right person. Here are five reasons I’m grateful for my time here, and for what comes next.
1. It has been a nurturing retreat, and it can be one for you
Most mornings start the same way. My wonderful friend, a dog named India, and I step out into the quiet forest. There’s a path that winds through the trees, so I can take a long walk without ever leaving the land except for about 50 feet on the county road.
Right now it’s a little less quiet than usual. Road work is underway to keep the road from sliding into the lake, and it may last until April. Even so, it hasn’t been very bothersome, and the forest still feels peaceful.
My days are simple and full. I clear the path a little more. I work in the vegetable garden and the butterfly gardens. I gather wild edibles for my salad and make simple meals in the big kitchen, where there’s room to spread out and create. From the bay window, I can look out at the view of the lake while I work. My main jobs are developing the Animal Earth Alliance and letting people know about the log house sale.
Everything about this home feels beautiful and nurturing, inside and out. It has been a real inspiration to me, and I’m so grateful. I love living in the upstairs house, with Robert, my former husband, living in the basement suite. We help each other, and that is a good thing.
Barbara has supported me with encouragement and inspiration from a distance this whole time, and that has made all of it possible.
2. It’s a lovely place for someone’s dream
This land has room for a dream to grow: 14.75 acres of forest and garden, a cave spring that has filled the cisterns for nine years, a 40-by-60-foot insulated metal building, and a cypress log home with space for many people. It could be a small farm animal sanctuary, a homestead, a co-living home, an intentional community, a multi-generational family home, or something no one has imagined yet.
Maybe your dream could come true here, or the dream of someone you know.
3. It will help the Animal Earth Alliance and its future home
The idea for the Animal Earth Alliance was born in this house. Part of the profits from the sale will help the Alliance and its future headquarters, the All Beings Sanctuary. So when this home finds its new owner, it will keep giving, to animals, to the earth, and to the people working for them.
4. I would have a wonderful neighbor
I’ll be living nearby, and I hope for a neighbor who shares a love for animals and the earth. Whoever comes here would have me as a neighbor who cares about the same things.
5. It’s ready for someone who can help it flourish
A place like this asks a lot. It deserves an owner with the means and the vision to care for it well, finish the projects it’s ready for, and help the land and the house become everything they can be. For Barbara, finding that person means she can set down a responsibility she has carried faithfully for years, and turn her energy toward new dreams that relate to helping animals and the earth, including the Animal Earth Alliance.
Room to grow
The 40 acres next door are also for sale. They’re mostly forested, and they could give room for an expanded community someday. You can read more about the land and the surrounding area here: The Features of the Land, Buildings and Surrounding Area.
Come and see
If something in you lights up reading this, please come and see it. Explore photos and stories at livingspringsloghouse.com. The Living Springs Log House is listed with realtor Lori Hawkins.
I’m grateful for every day I’ve had here, and grateful, too, that someone new will get to love this place.
Written by Patricia Mikkelson with Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant. The experiences, the reasons and the gratitude are Patricia’s, from her years living at the Living Springs Log House. Claude helped turn her spoken thoughts into writing.
