We Bought a Zoo Part Two
Ok ok I know there are questions about this whole farm thing. I’ve been trying to write a blog post since we moved in but as it turns out, moving and working and unpacking and owning 16 acres is a bit of a time suck.
So I’m finally here to answer YOUR MOST BURNING QUESTIONS. And by that I mean, the questions I’ve been asked a lot the past 2 weeks.
Why did you buy a farm?
I’ve always had a dream of owning a farmhouse and potentially a barn-style wedding venue. I didn’t tell a lot of people because I figured it would never happen and I’d spend the rest of my life living in a Minneapolis suburb watching reruns of Teen Mom and crying myself to sleep. Jk.
About 6 months ago, Spencer and I started talking about our next big life move. We toyed with the idea of moving to a new state, remodeling or adding on to our house, switching careers, buying a fixer-upper, etc. I felt a quarter-life crisis type of pressure to do something different before we truly “settled down” and got serious about having a family. I stumbled upon a really cool farmhouse in Hopkins during one of my late-night Zillow perusals. Spencer wasn’t loving the idea of moving but he agreed to go look at it with me just for fun. We both fell in love with the charm and character that comes with an old home. That house didn’t work out but we continued to look for a house with more character. I couldn’t really find what I was looking for so I started looking outside of the cities. I stumbled upon a barn in Shafer (where we got married last September) and sent it to Spencer as a (somewhat) joke. He surprised me and brought me to go see it. That’s when I knew we both were starting to take this far-off dream more seriously. We ended up putting in an offer on that property without a real plan in place. It didn’t work out but by then we were completely attached to this idea of finding a farmhouse and a barn to eventually convert into a venue space. When we found our current property, we put in an offer just 3 days after it hit the market and here we are.
Where is it?
It’s in Dresser, Wisconsin, about an hour and 10 minutes Northeast-ish of the cities. If you’re a skier or snowboarder and know where Trollhaugan is, we are just up the road from that. We’re about 10 minutes from Osceola and 10 minutes from Taylors Falls. It’s a beautiful area along the St. Croix River!
Do you know anything about farming?
No. We don’t plan to use it for agriculture, besides maybe a personal garden. It’s mostly prairies and trees which is Spencer’s specialty :) We have a handful of apple trees as well!
What if you’re not able to make it into a venue?
Then we’ll figure out a new plan. We’ve been working on figuring out the legalities behind opening a venue and we will have to rezone, which we expected. There are many other details we will have to sort out, such as parking, a food prep space, bathrooms and contracts. Our barn is currently in no shape to host events either. We realize this is going to be a lot of work and are definitely going to take it slow. If we run into some major hurdle that means the event space is no longer feasible, we will think of other creative ways to make the land profitable. Even if the wedding venue dream doesn’t happen, I am so happy with our decision to move and love everything about the property and my new home so I know it was the right choice!
Are you going to get animals?
We are going to get chickens very soon so we can have farm fresh eggs! Eventually we would like to get some goats and hopefully an alpaca because alpacas are amazing. The previous owners had one so we know it’s possible, but we’ve got a lot to work on and learn before that happens.
How did you afford this?
Well, you can get a lot more bang for your buck if you buy property an hour away from the cities. We built up some equity in our first home, sold that and made a bit of money, and we used some of our savings.
Are you staying at your job?
Yes. Which is why if you follow me on any social media channel you’ll see how much I’ve been whining about driving 2.5 - 3 hours per day. I love my job, I have amazing benefits and a salary that’s helping us afford this land. It ain’t easy but it’s worth it!
Can I come stay?
Yes please. We have a small guest house on the property that we will be renting out on AirBnb soon, but friends and family are welcome to stay there when it’s not booked and we have a guest room in our main house as well. We love visitors!
Those are the major questions I’ve received so far. If you have more, send ‘em my way! I’m so excited to share this journey with you!