Tyler and I have been saying for years that we are moving to the country and we’re going to build a house. People ask us how our “plans are coming along” and we always say something like, “Ohhhh, they’re coming!” The small details change all the time and we have had plenty of “back-to-the-drawing-board” moments, but the Grand Plan remains the same: we will live in the country.
When I first met Tyler I remember him telling me, “I’m going to build my own house in the country one day.” If you knew Tyler back then, you would have responded, “Ya ok buddy!” But one thing people fail to understand about Tyler is that he always gets what he wants. I have learned, over the years, to stop fighting the “Will of Tyler“. When he wants something, it’s more than just an earnest desire or wishful thinking. It’s a powerful cosmic force that puts him in direct alignment with the object of his desire. There is no outside influence that can deter him. Don’t ask him “How?”, don’t ask him “When?”, and especially don’t ask him “Why?” because the details do not matter to him. Just trust him and he will always deliver.
Tyler’s determination can’t take all the credit for making this happen. Our moving to the country has been largely facilitated by my unbelievably kind and generous parents. As my dear father winds down his grain farming career, he has, for some reason, decided to bestow upon me a piece of land on which we will build our future home.
At first, this all seemed so simple. “Land!! We shall build a house on it!!” Not so. The process of building a house on farmland is far more complicated than I could have ever imagined. There are so many rules!! Basically, the municipality wants to keep farmland as is and prefers people to build their houses in town (is how I understand it). Land can only be subdivided into no less than 80 acres, so available places to build a house are actually really limited. Luckily for us, my dad is a “retiring” farmer, and he’s allowed to subdivide his 10 acre building site off the 80 acres its on leaving us a 70 acre chunk that we can theoretically build a house on. So begins the paperwork.
First, we had to apply for this subdivision through South Interlake Planning and the Rockwood Municipality. Forms were filled out, diagrams drawn, and submitted. We waited, not getting our hopes up. Finally, we received word from South Interlake Planning that the subdivision had been approved!!! Conditionally. So more diagrams were drawn, a team of surveyors were summoned, Manitoba Conservation was consulted, MTS had their input, etc. There is still a hearing to take place in town to discuss the “variance” of the 70 acre subdivision since it’s not what they normally allow (80 acres). We don’t expect this to have a negative outcome, but still, not getting our hopes up.
So that is where we stand with our plans in this very moment! As you now know, it’s a lot to break down for people. We still have a long way to go before we can “break ground”. Once the subdivision is officially approved, we’ll have to wait 4 months for it to be given a land title. Once the land has a title, we can go to the lawyer and have it transferred to my name. Once we have the land in our names, then we can get the bank involved.
There you have it! If we keep moving at a steady rate, we should probably be able to start building by June 2021! (jk. We hope spring/summer 2014.) But right now we’re just taking it one day at a time. And today we have a roof over our heads and that’s all we can ask for. J
Thanks for joining me on our journey to becoming country bumpkins!
Liza
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