Dittmer University
lots to learn when you own 47 acres
Betty remembers the first moment she laid eyes on the property in Jefferson County. She and Charlotte were out on a drive and took the wrong turn, thus stumbling onto this property. As soon as she saw it, she wanted it. She said that the first thing you would see was a three-room stone house sitting back off the road, then a little frame house, an octagon. The property had been part of the Eagle’s Nest, a Catholic Retreat run by Father Griesedieck and it was 80 acres. Betty said that she, Charlotte, Nancy Vos and her partner, Duggan, bought the 47-acre property in 1972. For Betty, this was the third piece of property owned in Jefferson County.
Owning that much land was bound to lead to many learning opportunities. Just past that was the house, there was a pool, and pavilion. There was the endless mowing. You had to start with the tractor, then use a riding mower and then closer to the house, a push mower. You had to keep it mowed or you got snakes.
The swimming pool was fed by well water. They kept trying all the normal pool chemicals and nothing worked. Finally, they found out that the quality of well water, that came from 300 feet deep, didn’t exactly need the same sorts of treatment.
Earlier, we had a post that told the story of the log cabin chinking and everything Betty learned in that process. Then there was all the work on the plumbing pipes under the cabin. It didn’t have a basement, so everything was beneath the house but above ground. Trying to get the place warm was a challenge and they tried to insulate it with straw but that didn’t work out very well. She also took a chainsaw to the front porch at one point. Below is the before and after:
They had to constantly deal with trespassers in the form of guys riding three wheelers, hunters, and sometimes the only solution (if they left their vehicles) was to flatten tires. There was the constant maintenance needed of the quarter mile road into the property. Betty decided to plant 2000 Christmas trees from the forestry service.
Eventually they had it platted out with hope of selling one acre lots. The well would have been able to serve an entire subdivision. Betty was also selling real estate in the late 70s. But then the economy went downhill. Making extra money became challenging so they built decks for people and by 1984, they had all moved on and sold the land for a loss. I think this shirt says it all.
