Patricia Mikkelson

Who Is This Land For? Every Way the Living Springs Log House Could Be Home

A log house with a red roof on an Ozark hillside, with a family working in a fenced garden, friends eating together on the deck, and small cottages and a metal building far across the meadow
This picture holds a lot of my dreams for this land at once: a family working together in the fenced organic garden, friends sharing a long meal on the deck, small homes at the edge of the meadow, and the metal building out across the field, which could be used in many ways. Whoever you are, I hope you can see yourself somewhere in it.

By Patricia Mikkelson, a resident of the Living Springs Log House since 2017

I’ve lived on this land since 2017, and over the years I’ve written about almost every way I can imagine it being used. People find one article and ask, “What else could it be?” So here they all are in one place. Find the dream that fits you, and follow the links to read more.

What’s Already Here

Whatever you plan to do with it, you start with:

  • 14.75 acres in the Ozark hills outside Huntsville, Arkansas, with forest, gardens, a walking path, and land that could be opened back up for pasture or orchard
  • A limestone cave spring that has filled two cisterns since 2017
  • A 40-by-55-foot fenced organic garden, plus hugelkultur beds, medicinal herbs, wild greens and pollinator plants that come back every year
  • The log house, with a primary bedroom and a smaller bedroom downstairs, each with its own bathroom, plus two large upstairs bedrooms
  • A walk-out basement suite with its own entrance and its own heating and cooling (Why do I call it a suite and not an apartment? A home without a full kitchen is called a suite. This one has hookups that could be wired for a kitchen with some work, so it could become an apartment.)
  • A 40-by-60-foot insulated metal building with 240-volt power, a bathroom, a wood stove and room for a second story
  • High-speed internet, groceries and hardware stores about 25 minutes away, and the Northwest Arkansas metro about an hour away
  • Prayer Lake just across the road

A Homestead

For a family or a group of friends who want to grow food and live closer to the land. I wrote about the hard parts too.

A Big or Multigenerational Family

Grandparents in the basement suite, a family upstairs, and room to build more.

Co-Housing

Each person or family in their own small home, sharing the log house as the common house. Read more: A Common House Already Built: Co-Housing at the Living Springs Log House

Co-Living

Friends sharing one big house, with private bedrooms and shared meals. Read more: Why I Think the Living Springs Log House Could Work Well for Co-Living

An Intentional Community

A community built around shared values, with the land, water and gardens already in place. Read more: Why the Living Springs Log House and Property Could Be a Good Fit for Intentional Community Living

A Retreat or Healing Center

A quiet place for people to rest, heal and learn new habits.

A Sober Living Home

A calm, structured home in the country, close enough to town for meetings and work.

A Farm Animal Sanctuary

Pasture, water and shelter for rescued animals.

Off-Grid and Self-Sufficient Living

Spring water, rain catchment, rocket stoves and a greenhouse.

A Small Plant Business

Healing herbs and hardy greens that could become a nursery or a line of salves.

The Metal Building

The big opportunity for any of these: apartments, a common house, a workshop or a classroom.

Vegan Versions of Every Idea

Every one of these ideas could also be lived out the vegan way, from a vegan homestead or retreat to vegan co-living, co-housing or sober living. (A farm animal sanctuary is vegan at heart already.) These articles imagine how:

Room to Grow: The 40 Acres Next Door

Where to Go Next

Start with Welcome to the Living Springs Log House: Start Here, read the Questions and Answers, or browse every article by topic. If one of these dreams is yours, or you know someone it fits, please pass this along. Learn more at www.livingspringsloghouse.com.

The Living Springs Log House Is for Sale

Offered at $475,000 for 14.75 acres near Huntsville, Arkansas. Listed with Lori Hawkins of Viridian Real Estate. See the Zillow listing. To ask questions or arrange a visit, text Patricia at (479) 313-0414. Calls are welcome too.

How We Wrote This Together

This article was written by Patricia Mikkelson, who has lived at the Living Springs Log House since 2017, together with Claude.ai, an AI assistant made by Anthropic. Patricia came up with the idea of one guide to every use of the land, and all the ideas in it come from her years of living here and writing about it. Claude helped gather the articles and write the guide. The picture was created with AI. Patricia is a friend of Barbara Hulley, the owner of the Living Springs Log House.

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