Shady B Ranch - About Shady B Ranch

About | Rachel Bates | Links

The Shady B Ranch is a culmination of dreams of two half lifetimes. My husband Larry and I. We are only halfway through our journey.

As we worked on careers and kids, and myself, a degree in art, we both longed for the day we moved to the country, and had a house on a hill. Well, the house on the hill was my idea, but we both agreed. A house on a hill, with trees, at least 10 acres, a barn, good pasture for the horses Larry wanted to raise, and the bonus of fences to keep 'em close to home.

When Larry was offered an early retirement from Verizon, he jumped on the chance, and we took the opportunity to start looking around.
One day.
The first house we looked at.
It was crazy. We looked at each other the next day, after we had made a decision to make an offer and said just that. "Are we OUT of our MINDS?"

Yes, the house was on a hill. It had trees. Just a scant under 10 acres. Fences. Two barns and two other outbuildings. A good well. Even three (sort of) ponds.
But the house, oh, the house.
It was falling apart. And we had no idea just how bad it was until we had an inspector give us his assessment. He fell through the floor in two places. The owner was upset because he pulled the banister off the wall. It was rotten underneath. The whole house was rotting from termites and water damage.

Built into the side of a hill, the partially subterranean home was really cool, but not designed to drain the water away from the foundation. So it was a termite smorgasbord to say the least. The poor woman was living on top of about a gazillion bugs. eeeeewwwwwww.

So, we withdrew our offer. The house was much more work than we thought it would be. We were heartbroken, and we gave the owner the $1000 earnest money to boot, but we just couldn't pay what she was asking and then have to completely rebuild the house.

A week later the realtor came back with a different option for us. Assess the land and the improvements to the land and make our offer based on those without the house. So we spent the money to have all that appraised and made another offer.

She accepted it without hesitation.
We looked at each other again, and said "Are we OUT of our MINDS?"

Looking back over the past seven years, as we've lived in an RV for a year and a half, and torn this place down and rebuilt it again, we've created ourselves, a place that reflects who we are as individuals, respecting and loving each other while doing so. You can't live in an RV for a year and a half with someone without having great respect for him or her, believe me. It has been a wonderful journey, and my hope is to share the Shady B with friends and artists and family alike for many years to come.

My vision for this wonderful place is to sustain itself through art; it's creation, it's education, its therapy, its peace, its beauty in all it and the people who love it have to offer one another. Blessed be the tie that binds.