From our purchase in 2014 until I retired on May 1 2020, our Brown County property went dormant, patiently waiting for the eventual relocation from Wichita back to Bloomington. Over the years, whenever we were “back home again in Indiana” would take the time to drive out and visit. Thankfully, we have several very good friends who live close by, so we never worried about vandalism, squatters or other buffoonery. We sold our Wichita home in September 2020, and moved back to Bloomington into a leased home. I spent the winter of 2020-21, not doing much of anything. It felt great to finally relax after working so hard to get the Wichita home to a sellable condition, relocate our household 700 miles, and… to celebrate my retirement after 34 years with GE Aviation. I used the downtime to research all aspects of turning our rural property into a modest country estate with a home and workshop, to be prepared when Spring arrived.
Offer made and accepted
On July 26th, 2014, Carole and I purchased 3.75 acres of ground in Brown County IN that included a vintage (and thoroughly dilapidated) mobile home. The property is situated on state route 45, 10 miles east of Bloomington IN. Approximately 1 acre is flat with 230 feet of highway frontage, the remainder of the ground is a steep downhill grade of old growth hardwood trees. The back property line abuts the Hoosier National Forest. Was perusing a detailed map of Brown County and discovered our specific location along highway 45 is known as: Howard Ridge, which seemed like an appropriate name for this blog.