West Illinois

Rural Homestead/Earth-Home Building Site

For Sale in Western Illinois

$168,000

The Land: This parcel is 9.8 acres, the land is gently rolling and there is a combination of natural hardwood timber, pasture and evergreen trees that we have planted. The natural timber includes oak, hickory, walnut, ash, elm, hackle berry and choke cherry. We have also planted hundreds of trees; mostly white oak, white pine and various species of spruce. There are fruit trees, strawberries, red and black raspberries, grapes and blueberries planted on the property as well as a large garden with some raised beds.

We have made walking trails through the wooded areas

and there is an area that would be very suited for a pond. There is a gentle south-facing slope that would be perfect to build an earth sheltered or underground home on. There are no trees to clear on this slope.

The Buildings: There are two buildings on the property. There is a 24 x 36 barn that is newly constructed in 2006. It has a loft area for extra storage and south facing low e-glass windows for natural lighting. There is an overhang on the south side where we currently have firewood stored and there is a water hydrant there as well. barn

The second building on the property is a very well insulated 36 x 45 Morton building that is seven years old. We have divided the interior of this building in half. One half of it serves as a large workshop/garage with lots of storage space, workbenches and a laundry/utility room. The other half of the building is modern living quarters. It has one bathroom, two bedrooms and an open great room with the kitchen, dining and living areas together as one. The kitchen has oak cabinets, a stainless steel sink with Delta faucet, gas stove and Kenmore dishwasher.

great_room

bathroom

Western Illinois Kitchn

There is a Vermont Castings Defiant catalytic wood stove in the great room that will heat the entire building. There is also an LP gas wall unit that we installed as a back up heat source when we are out of town and not here to stoke the wood stove.

morton_building

The options for the finished living area are many. Anyone just starting out or ready to downsize could be comfortable living in it, as we have done. Or you could live here and store your extra belongings in the shop area while building your dream earth home. This would allow you to move here right away and live comfortably on-site during the construction process. After completing your home, this living area could be used for a home business, hobby area, guest quarters or a place for adult children or elderly parents to live (there are no steps or stairs).

workshop

The Surrounding Area: This property is located in rural western Illinois in the fertile heartland of the Midwest. The nearest town is Matherville. This is corn and soybean country and is a well-suited climate for the self-sufficiency minded who want to grow their own food.

From this property it is 20 miles to the Quad City International Airport and 23 miles to the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Moline, Illinois. The Trinity Healthcare System's Moline hospital campus was built new in 1997. It is quite possible to commute to the Quad Cities from this property (this includes Moline, East Moline, and Rock Island in Illinois; Bettendorf and Davenport in Iowa) and there are many building supply stores and contractors there. For smaller town shopping there is a Wal-Mart and grocery store in Aledo, just 8 miles away. The local school system is Aledo Community District 201 and Illinois has very favorable home schooling laws.

Utilities and Other Information: This property is on a gravel road that is maintained by Preemption Township. It is 2-3 miles to the paved road. There is no homeowner's association and no restrictive covenants. MidAmerican Energy is our power company and Frontier is our telephone and Internet provider; we have reliable DSL service through them. The well is 420' deep and there is a septic system. The water heater is LP. We are including the stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, washing machine, LP clothes drier, high quality water softener (new in 2005), and reverse osmosis system (new in 2005) with the sale.

Included on the property are a small chicken coop and a child's play fort with a doublewide slide, colored solar lights and two swings. Included with a full offer is a 1,000-gallon LP tank with existing LP fuel and two gravity fed fuel storage tanks that each holds 300 gallons. The three tanks and LP fuel will be excluded from any discount offers.

This is a very private, peaceful setting and the property is already improved and just waiting for an earth-home. For more information please contact us at kaadeng@frontiernet.net