For Rent!

The greenhouse apartment is FOR RENT!
Want to come live at the farm? Need to live somewhere with an incredible view? Want to be excited to come home after work? Then come see the apartment! Please direct any inquiries to cparavel@gmail.com.

Click on the link in the tool bar to the right of your screen to take a picture tour! Also, see our ad on Craigslist here!

Upper Garage Construction: Part 1

Construction is under way!! This project was started last year before all the craziness with Whitt's health, Mia & I moving up to the farm; even before winter really got in to the swing of things. Needless to say, this project has been put on hold for quite some time. Now that the dust is settling, and Mia and I are acclimating to farm life, it's time to get-a-move-on and finish this project up! It's hard to fit it in during the busiest seasons of spring and summer up here, but we're doing our best.

For those of you who may not know about the project (or even what the "upper garage" is for that matter), I'll start at the beginning. Before Whitt and Martha moved to the farm, there was only one house, one garage, and the barn on the property. When Whitt & Martha arrived, they built a house a bit farther down the mountain complete with another garage. In 1987 the original house burned down, leaving the garage for the original house as the only structure left standing above the barn on the property. In order to differentiate between garages on the property, the garage higher up the mountain has always been called the "upper" whereas the now main house has been called the "lower" garage.

Now that we're on the same page, the upper garage has essentially just been sitting untouched as a storage area since 1987. It housed our water tank as well as a lot of old antiques, keepsakes, building material; things of that nature. We've now cleaned it out and began renovations!

First (as mentioned above) the old water tank had to be removed and replaced. Being that it's a big concrete tank weighing in at 12,000lbs -- EMPTY -- it was a fairly huge task. Our neighbor, a bit farther up the mountain, Brian was kind enough to lend us a hand. With the use of his massive four wheel drive box truck, we were able to pull the tank out of the garage. You can see below that the pictures were taken during last fall/winter.

Biggest. Truck. Ever.

Brian hooking up the cables.

Hm..let's try it the other way.

Voila!

For Rent!

Looking for a place to live? Hoping to find an amazing apartment with an even more amazing view?

The upper apartment is officially FOR RENT!

Click here to see the ad on CraigsList as well as more pictures of the apartment.

When One Yurt Isn't Enough...

Get another one!

We're getting another yurt from our friends at Blue Ridge Yurts! The new yurt will be a 16' yurt, so a little more than half the size of the current yurt we are running as a Bn'B. We're planning on using the smaller yurt as a rental geared more toward a camping atmosphere then anything else. As of right now we're imagining hikers from the Appalachian Trail, or families in need of a camp site being able to find running water, compostable toilets, and shelter inside the new yurt with fire close by. However, we are also aware that the ideal simplicity of the new yurt may very well be turned in to a full on cabin type endeavor much like the larger yurt. The best part about yurts are how endless the possibilities are!

Check out the yurt! We'll be picking it up toward the end of March/early April. We already have a spot cleared. Stay tuned for all the new things happening!

Yurt For Rent!

Hello all!

It's gorgeous up on Pocosan Mtn today. We haven't seen clear skies in what feels like months. The sun is shining, the snow is melting, and we can see blue skies for miles! With today's spring-anticipation-inducing weather it's the perfect opportunity to spread the news about the Yurt we've built! As of the first of this year our Yurt has been fully functioning as a bed and breakfast. Stay the weekend, stay a week, or even stay a month or two if you need it! Check out the pictures below to see the before and afters of the project!

We raised the Yurt in one day with a lot of help from our friends and family back in April of 2010. The structure is 30' in diameter, and 18' high at the center with approx. 1,200sq. ft. of living space. The inner walls are comprised of wooden lattice stretched between two doors (the front door and back door) with steel cable woven through the top of the lattice for support.

Mia, Whitt, and Mary showing off the new walls!

The roof is then attached to the steel cable by way of slots in the end of the ceiling beams. A torsion ring in the center of the ceiling connects to the beams providing the downward force that keeps the Yurt all together.

Tristan and Sam using some elbow grease to keep it steady!

Sliding the cable into the slot on the beam.

The outer shell is three layers: inner cloth lining, high efficiency insulation, and a strong coated fabric outer shell which provides protection from the elements for 30years.

The first layer getting fitted.

After the outer structure is complete, the inside is a completely blank slate. Whitt and Martha could do whatever they wanted as far as design, commodities, rooms, etc. They quickly worked wonders and came up with the design scheme which can be seen in the finished product. With tools in hand Whitt headed the build (essentially doing all of the work himself with our help when two hands weren't enough). Construction of the Yurt was officially complete in November of 2010. See the pictures below for a tour!

Plenty of parking next to the fire pit! And yes! The Yurt is handicap accessible!

Just inside the front door to the right: living room. The bedroom can be closed off from the living area if chosen.

Just inside the front door to the left: kitchen and dining area as well as the stairs up to the loft.

A look straight up and out the sky light!

A closer view of the bedroom.

A closer view of the FULL kitchen (dishwasher included!).

A view down the hall and out the back door.

Down the hall to the right: second entrance to the bedroom.

Down the hall to the left (across from bedroom door): Full bathroom!

The loft.

The view from the loft!

Propane powered for safety and warmth!

Tsuki & Oskar enjoying there first and ONLY chance to relax in the Yurt! No dogs allowed, but since they helped so much with the build, we gave them a freebie.

For more information on renting the Yurt, check out AirBnB! All of the reservations can be taken care of via the website. Select Virginia: Charlottesville Area and it should pop up, OR search for Blue Ridge Mountain Yurt in the search bar. And remember you can always contact myself, Whitt, Martha, Mia or any of us to reserve your stay as well!

-Brendan