A Homestead East of Mount Hood

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This is the view of Mount Hood as seen from the back of our cabin.
This is the view of Mount Hood as seen from the back of our cabin.
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The deck is down and the walls are going up... and this was just the first day of work on our future home. 
The deck is down and the walls are going up... and this was just the first day of work on our future home. 
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Before the cabin was even completed, we decided to put on this addition containing our son's bedroom and a glass-roofed study. 
Before the cabin was even completed, we decided to put on this addition containing our son's bedroom and a glass-roofed study. 
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For hot showers, we made a temporary setup consisting of an old electric water heater tank in a plastic cover... and it worked! 
For hot showers, we made a temporary setup consisting of an old electric water heater tank in a plastic cover... and it worked! 
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[6] When winter's first real snowfall measured more than four feet—and all but buried our truck—we found out how helpful country neighbors could be!
[6] When winter's first real snowfall measured more than four feet—and all but buried our truck—we found out how helpful country neighbors could be!
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At first we worried about our son's adjustment to wilderness living, but here's happy Jacob playing
At first we worried about our son's adjustment to wilderness living, but here's happy Jacob playing "junior road builder."

A few years ago–when my wife Sande and I lived in the lush forests of northwestern Oregon–some friends invited us to visit the 80 acres they’d just purchased on the eastern side of Mt. Hood … and we discovered that the difference in climate, even though their land was just 60 miles away from our home, was nothing short of remarkable! On the western slope of the magnificent mountain, you see, there are regular rains at least seven months out of the year … while, on the eastern side, the weather is generally sunny and dry.

As time rolled by, we became progressively more tired of our area’s wet weather and its attendant mud, mold, slugs, and rust … and we made quite a few trips over the mountain to “dry out.” Rain would be pouring down–as usual–when we left home, but as soon as we crossed the summit from west to east, we would drive into glorious sunshine.

Decision Time

Besides being disgusted with the incessant dampness, we were also disturbed that our once quiet road had turned into a highway and new houses were appearing at–to us–an alarming rate. On top of that, the property values in our area had more than doubled in the four years we’d lived there, and the taxes had, of course, kept pace.

So it’s not surprising that, in the late summer of 1978, we searched out (and fell in love with) a 108-acre site on the sunny side of the mountain. At an elevation of 2,600 feet and situated about 13 miles from the nearest town, the property offered fantastic views of three peaks and of miles of untarnished countryside. Our Oregon homestead-to-be also featured two seasonal creeks … plenty of pine, fir, and oak trees … the remains of several log cabins . . . and quite a few acres that had been cleared many years earlier.

  • Published on Sep 1, 1980
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