Naturalist looking for that pristine off grid mountain location.. please help

[PerduePro]

The bottom one is a fixer upper, I'd actually buy that one

I wonder what something like that would cost to build today, and I'm not talking about some kit set up.

[Stephan_K]

Originally Posted by PerduePro

The bottom one is a fixer upper, I'd actually buy that one

I wonder what something like that would cost to build today, and I'm not talking about some kit set up.

Depending on foundation type, interior finish and weather or not YOU built it all yourself that number can be anywhere between $80K - $200K according to my quick estimation as small as it looks (about 1200 sqft total to me).

I think $80K would be a really low ball number at that even with extreme conservatism in play !

[mtlogger]

Originally Posted by rickers

I've never heard anything about Montana banning the burning of wood. Missoula has restrictions but that's because the air in the valley can get a build up of smokey air during inversions.

I burn pallets instead of logs in an outside boiler which is very efficient and doesn't pollute. Missoula is much like Denver and the front range with special pollution restrictions in the winter.

And, I've not heard a word about a burning ban. That's just ridiculous!

If you don't want to live in a new log home and want a cabin that is "authentic to Montana" your other choices would most likely be log homes in the condition of those pictures below. I don't have data but I think that more folks in Montana live in trailers than log homes. I think anyone thinking about moving to Montana really should visit in the the winter as well as the summer.

They build log-sided mobile homes that are just as nice as stick built and less expensive. Two neighbors of mine have them. At a distance it's hard to tell.

Off-gridders seem to like Thompson, Polebridge and Lincoln.

[WyoNewk]

Originally Posted by Stephan_K

Ever been in the little log house restaurant in Polebridge next to the general store ? It's the other building that makes up "town" ... if that's what you can call it. Was in there earlier this summer. Quite a nice job they have done keeping the place original as much as possible. I'd love to have that place... minus the traffic.

A couple friends and I used to float the North Fork from the Canadian border down every summer during the bull trout runs. That was 20-30+ years ago. We'd make a week long trip out of it, mostly around Polebridge. We ate our meals at the Polebridge log house -- huge burgers on sourdough buns until our insides were bound up like a geisha's feet. I remember the place well and fondly. Glad to hear it's still there.

The first time I was on the North Fork was probably 1976. We drove in early one July morning while the mist was still shrouding that milky-green glacier water. I felt like I was back on the Kenai River in Alaska -- absolutely fell in love with the area! Then to top it off, I hadn't fished for more than 5 minutes before a 15-pound bull slammed my lure. I don't think they allow fishing for bull out of the river any more, do they?

The last time I was up that way was in '96. (I wasn't fishing, just alone driving, camping, kicking back.) I was disappointed/surprised to see all the development in the valley.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by PerduePro

Hi Cedar, yes I have done some woodburning, most of my life actually. I understand that it is a lot of work but I can tell you there is not a hotter heat than wood heat.

Oh yes there is... coal is a hotter heat hands-down. When it got down below zero I could not keep my trailer warm with wood, but I could keep it right toasty with coal. Coal also makes a different "feel" of heat -- penetrates better or something (maybe produces a longer wavelength). Same temperature feels warmer than with a wood fire.

But coal is about as messy and dirty as a household fuel can get, before, during, and after burning it. Wood is pristine by comparison (tho more work).

There have been some attempts to ban wood-burning, and I recall Missoula having occasional restricted days due to the inversions even back in the 1970s. But there are always some folks who don't have, or can't afford, any other heat, so the attempts to ban woodburning have not really gone anywhere.

If it ever happens it won't be for air quality reasons, either -- it'll be because the treehuggers get control over the forests. To some degree that has happened in CA already -- the drastic fires of the past few years came about in part because they got cutting even DEAD trees for fuel banned in the national forest areas, and when 80% of the trees are dead and tinder-dry, that's a massive fire waiting to happen. So now both the live and dead trees are burnt up (with more pollution than woodstoves would have made from the same fuel) and NO ONE got any use out of the dead trees, except maybe the bark beetles and termites.

[RobertaFromMT]

I would go immediately to Eureka, Montana in the Tobacco Valley. It is near the Canadian border in the far NW section of the state. I am a Montana native and also have traveled all over the U.S. to see if there was anything better for wilderness and off-the-grid abundance, and I found nothing better.

[RobertaFromMT]

My husband could build you something as authentic as you like and for extremely reasonable price, too, because he is a "house angel" not a General Contractor: please see [Mod cut] He is also possibly willing to work for trade, too. For example, we are very interested in a trade of house work for one acre Eureka land, or, one acre Eureka land for our 5 acres Colorado land near the Smith Reservoire; Either!

Montana is the best place to live as far as dealing with the federal government. Governor said "there will be no more dictators in Montana" on public radio last summer and he also said that he is a rancher by profession himself, and he has way more guns than he needs and intends to keep them all.