How close are your neighbors?

I have neighbors across the field behind the house at about a mile away. In front they are 1/2 mile and to the right 1/2 mile away. It is flat enough here you can see for a good 5 miles.

We can't see anyone from the house. The last house on the road coming up here is about a mile away. If I go out in the far pasture and look south I can see a farm about 3 miles away on another mountain. If I go about a quarter mile to the north on the other side of the woods and look down in the valley I can see a few houses.

We're all alone up here. That's how we keep our sanity.

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HIGHGROUND

unioncreek, I live in Redstone most of the time these days, which is about 20 miles West of Plentywood. The farm house is in between Whitetail to the West, Saskatchewan to the North, and Daniels/Sheridan county line to the East...Long ways from Billings...

over 500 acres of continuous woods on three sides of us and our long driveway to the front. Most of the people around here don't even know our house is hidden up here in the woods on top the mountain.

We can see two houses at a great distance from our front yard. Nothing but land all around us. We also live about 3/4 from a State Park.

Cindy

What are you doing living in my house?......LOL Always told Mark I wanted a house on top of a mountain, hidden in the trees. If you have a pond up there and a garage at the bottom of the hill, I'm running away from home to your house!

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nearest neighbor is my brother, he's fine. other neighbors are too close to not take careful aim with a gun. most bothersome neighbor is 3 car dealerships in a row 4 miles away, combined outdoor security lights give a glow like a small city! we used to be way out in the stix, may be time to move soon!

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àigeach carnaid
chaora dhubh
"Don't raise your voice, improve your argument."

cruachan

I think the question should be, "How far away could your nearest neighbor be?" In other words, how close is your property line to your home?

I have run across many individuals who have small acreage with the current closest neighber being 1/4 mile or farther away....and, of course, they love it. Then, a few years later, the neighboring landowner subdivides and now the nearest neighbor is only 100 feet away. This is why we built in the middle of our 40 acres.

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

We have neighbors directly across thee street (highway) from us. I guess it is about 250 feet. They are pretty quiet except for the odd "heavy metal" radio concert from time to time and the occasional outburst screaming at their kids to "get the "F" out of there". LOL

To the north and the south the nearest neighbor is probably 1,000 away and to the east, wow. A LONG, LONG, LONG way (like 26 acres worth).

donsgal

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Life is what happens while you are making other plans. (John Lennon)

My new neighbor are approximately 75 feet from me as I type, I moved into the smaller 1/2 of a duplex (rare thing in the northwoods) to save money. But my new neighbors are wonderful!

Margi

Good point, CF!
Because we opted to rebuild the existing old house instead of building new, we are too close, IMO, to the property line on the one side. The two guys that own 40 acres on that side haven't even been to the property in years and years. They live in OK. I wrote to them some months ago with an offer for part of it, but got no response. I'll write to them again soon offering to buy the full 40. (I'd like them to keep us in mind if they think about selling because of the very reason you describe.) Then we'd have 40 to one side and 80 to the other side of the house.

If they were to subdivide, we'd have little problem selling this house with an acre and building new in the middle of our 80.

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Before you marry someone, ask yourself, "Will they be a good killing partner during the zombie apocalypse?"
-someecards.com

If your facing out the front door of my 1902 colonial my neighbor to the right is just under 14' away in her 1918 foursquare.
To my left is the exact twin of my house, it's almost 20' feet away.
We're separated by our driveways. His house is on a lot & a half the majority on the far side. He's got a total of two driveways, big side yard with plenty of afternoon sun, and a downstairs powder room. He also has a leaning chimmey, no gutters, cracked foundation, leaking roof, and no desire to fix it.
No problem I can wait, he's a 3 pack a day smoker.
Behind us is a 1870's warehouse used for storage with connecting lots. Should be a battle royal for ----ing rights to that one. Taxes are too high & possible soil issues since It was also once a mechanic's garage in the 1920 & 1930's.
It would however make a great antique repair & cider press workshop for DH.
Hmm maybe I should mention that soil quaility issue to neighbors?
~~ pelenaka ~~

That is what is going to happen to our back pasture neighbor in a few years, and I'll be the one subdividing. I completely agree with your assessment, provided that you are going to build. I bought my place built, as did my back pasture neighbor.

When you buy older built places in these parts, they will be closer to the road with the land behind them. That's because it was cheaper in the '40s, '50s and '60s -- before big-bux came to this area -- to have a shorter drive to maintain and to have ready access to electricity. That means build by the road. It is cheaper even now to build by the road, but folks have more money coming in to defray utilities installation than they did back then.

My back pasture originally went with my neighbor's house back there, til I split it off at auction. He bought the house from the real estate agent who bid and got it. Now he is now surrounded by woods and pasture on all sides. But give me 5 years or so, and there'll be a subdivision in his back yard.

It's really pretty funny. In the late 40s, my farm was the farmhouse for a 400-acre holding. That owner subdivided all but about 100 acres of it into lots in the 60s, and that 100 acres left was cut up and cut up til the old farmhouse went along with just 13 acres when we bought it. The farm behind had a 12-acre pasture, so when our neighbor passed and it went at auction, I bought that pasture. So my back pasture is right close to that subdivision, and allows me two areas of frontage on separate roads. I'd be a fool not to develop it as a retirement for myself. If I don't the next guy will! That back pasture also borders 33 acres another guy has, who is retired. So there's room for more expansion.

Now the land isn't cheap here to buy anymore, owing to the growth and location, but whatever the price is, it will be worth substantially more 3 years later.

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Jim Steele
Sweetpea Farms
"To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing." -- Robert Gates

Too dang close.