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Former Illinois residents Jason and Jennifer Remillard dreamed of dwelling a easy, debt-free life.
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The couple bought a $50,000, 58-acre property in Maine in 2019 close to the Canadian border.
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They turned two $12,000 Amish sheds into their residence, connecting them with a custom-built hallway.
This as-told-to essay relies on a dialog with Jason Remillard, 49, and his spouse Jennifer Remillard, 55, who left the Chicago suburbs to retire on a Maine homestead.
They constructed their dream residence out of two $12,000 Amish sheds, that are constructed one by one utilizing conventional methods as an alternative of mass-produced. The next dialog has been edited for size and readability.
My spouse Jen and I lived in a small city referred to as Wauconda simply outdoors of Chicago. Jen was a supervisor within the picture lab at Costco, and I used to be the director of high quality and operations for a touchscreen producer.
The Remillards saved for 10 years to make their Maine homestead a actuality.Courtesy of Jason Remillard
We have been the standard American household. We would sit down on the sofa and we might watch TV. Then we might go to mattress, and get up. Rinse and repeat every single day.
In about 2010, we determined that after all six youngsters have been graduated and out of the home, we needed to reside an off-grid life-style and homestead. We spent 10 years making ready for the transition.
The Remillards dreamed of a easy life after dwelling within the suburbs for years.Courtesy of Jason Remillard
In January 2019, we discovered a bit of property in Maine on LandWatch.com. We flew up every week after we noticed it, and hiked a mile and a half in knee-deep snow with our real-estate agent to have a look at it. We fell in love with it.
It is within the Houlton space of Maine, about three and half hours north of Portland. We’re on the finish of an unmaintained street on the Canadian border.
We paid $50,000 for 58 acres.
I liked the privateness of it. We solely have a number of neighbors inside a mile of us.
We dreamed of a debt-free life-style off the grid
The again of the Remillards’ residence.Courtesy of Jason Remillard
In June 2021, we offered our Wauconda residence. We packed up our trailer and U-Haul, dropped our son off on the Marine Corps, and drove out right here.
After we left Illinois, we needed every part paid off. The property was $50,000, the autos have been $40,000, the 2 Amish cabins have been $24,000, and the photo voltaic panels have been $12,000. Over 4 years, we put all that cash apart in order that after we stepped on the property in 2021 we did not have to fret about something.
It permits me to work two and half hours a day on the property and preserve this life-style with out worrying about heavy debt. It is about with the ability to work on your house, work on bettering your life, with out spending two-thirds of your day at a job that you do not like.
It was actually only a mad sprint to determine what the sport plan was. We had no expertise with this life-style. We made a whole bunch of to-do lists.
The very first thing we needed to do was mow the garden. Then we labored on rebuilding the fence and had a gravel pad — a basis for our properties — put in. We needed to clear out the previous shed that was on the property and repair up a brief storage constructing.
It was simply a number of busy work. We put in photo voltaic panels in order that we weren’t working on a generator 24 hours a day. We needed to lower sufficient firewood for the winter.
Being on the finish of an unmaintained street, the Border Patrol knowledgeable us that our property was used as a “lovers lane,” a spot for younger folks to go and simply fiddle. So, we put up a fence alongside the street part of our property, simply to let folks know that we are literally dwelling right here now.
The Amish sheds give us flexibility for a everlasting residence
The Remillards acquired the thought to construct a house out of Amish sheds from their neighbors.Courtesy of Jason Remillard
In 2020, after we had the property however have been nonetheless dwelling full-time in Illinois, we met one in all our Maine neighbors on a visit. They have been sort sufficient to ask us over and so they confirmed us the Amish shed they’d for his or her residence. We weren’t actually positive what route we needed for our endlessly residence, however we noticed theirs and simply thought, “Hey, we may do that, too.”
We reached out to Sturdi-Constructed Storage Buildings in Smyrna, Maine. We designed our personal cabins, every part from the place the home windows are to the place the doorways are.
We’re so glad we did not go the log cabin route as a result of these buildings are so extremely versatile. Since we have had them, we have constructed a porch on one aspect. We will add a solar room to a different aspect subsequent yr.
My first thought was to place them in an L form. However then my concern was that the snow right here within the winter. If I had my two cabins in an L form, contained in the L there would simply be an enormous pile of snow when all of it slid off the roof.
If I have been knowledgeable carpenter, I may join the 2 buildings on the roofline and make them look seamless like one constructing. However I am not that man. So, I constructed a small 5×5 hallway between the 2 buildings. It was the extent of my skills, however it works improbable.
When the cabins have been delivered, they have been simply shells. The ground had insulation, however wasn’t completed, and the partitions have been simply 2x4s. There was no electrical, plumbing, or siding. We went by means of our first winter with no siding on our partitions. We needed to do every part. We spent round $10,000 making the 2 sheds into our residence.
All the exhausting work that Jen and I’ve carried out — I would not commerce that for something.
If somebody needs a giant, elaborate place, the Amish shed in all probability is not for you. That is for somebody who needs a small footprint for his or her residence. However they’re adaptable to any atmosphere, down south in Texas, out in Appalachia, up in Oregon, the Midwest, and, in fact, right here in Maine.
We have documented this journey on YouTube. It is to point out folks on the market who aren’t of their 20s that regardless of how previous you get, you’ll be able to nonetheless observe your desires.
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