Fast forward to the present day: I was living in South St. Louis City and knew I needed a change.
A couple of years earlier, I had purchased an RV and traveled around the country, working remotely from the road. It was an amazing experience, but eventually, I wanted a place to park my RV and use it just on weekends—without having to find a campsite in a state or national park.
I thought it would be awesome to find 3 to 5 acres in the country, maybe within an hour of my St. Louis home. So the search began.
Eventually, I found a beautiful piece of land with a small farmhouse, located near my brother’s farm. I contacted the owner, and he gave me a tour. But there was one problem: the property had 120 acres—far more than I needed. I just wanted a quiet weekend spot.
So I mentioned there was a little farmhouse up the road, right across from my brother’s place. And wouldn’t you know it—he owned that one too! It was a smaller house, with less land, and it was exactly what I was looking for.
So I bought the farm!
A project with No Plan to Move
I had absolutely no intention of moving here full-time.
I figured I’d work on remodeling the old farmhouse little by little. It would probably take the rest of my life, but I liked having a project—and this one was a big one.
I started cleaning out the house and called a contractor to inspect the foundation. Unfortunately, the house was built on hand-hewn timbers that were no longer structurally sound.
Just like that, my lifelong project came to a screeching halt.
The Idea That Changed Everything
Despite the setback, I kept spending weekends at the farm—just like I had planned.
And with each visit, I fell more and more in love with the peace, the quiet, and the land. I started to wonder… could I really live here full-time?
But the old farmhouse was falling down. Then it hit me: I had a perfectly good house in St. Louis. Why not sell it and build my dream home right here?
It sounded like a completely crazy idea. This place was in the middle of nowhere, down a gravel road, with no neighbors in sight.
Would I be lonely?
Would people think I was nuts?
(Probably… so I figured best not to ask!)
So I did it. I tore down the old house and built a brand-new one in its place.
In October 2018, Rocky Meadows officially became my full-time home.
