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  • Grit

    BRIDGING THE GAP

    Apr 22, 2022 4 minutes
    Story and photos by Bob Heltman

    Several decades ago, when my wife, Melody, and I had corporate careers, we dreamt of a peaceful retirement property with streams, ponds, and wildlife. Before 1900, when North America was largely rural, folks enjoyed visiting their local town for shopping and Sunday church. Things began to change after rural people moved to crowded urban areas where they had frequent, daily contact with others. Like other urban folks today, we yearned for distance, and to enjoy coming to a crowded town on our own terms.

    We hoped to build our timber-framed dream home on a quiet rural property, and, in 1995, we found some land about 10 miles southwest

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