Eric, I wish I could join you. You just described my dream (unfortunately, only partly, not entirely shared by my wife). What kind of house are you dreaming of? A cozy log cabin? A post and beam? Let's see... Portland eh? Oregon cob? Cordwood? Strawbale? But I see on your profile you are a carpenter, so I am guessing a post and beam with cob/cordwood infill?

Mini-farming- I will be getting into that next year on my small plot up in the mountains.

Are you vegetarians? Or do you plan on keeping animals for food as well?

How many people are included in the "doing this with us" us? Sounds like you are making your own eco-village. Again, envy is flowing from me like a river.

I wish you only the best, and I am sorry I can't go there with you.

Eric in Japan

Hi Eric in Vermont, I live in NH. A buddy of mine that I
worked with transferred to Portland,OR..His dream is to
build a cobb home..He got me thinking of the Pacific NW.
I like the idea of the longer growing season without having
to deal with the Southern heat.Keep us updated on your pro-
gress.

Swanz

Wa and Or are wonderful... keep in mind the steep prices around Seattle and Portland areas though. I live well north of Seattle, and our 20 acres cost us almost 200,000 with no permanant houses and pretty run down buildings. That was pretty cheap, as a house in our closest town would run almost that much for a fairly nice one with a small yard. An average home in Seattle now runs about 400,000 for a pretty modest house.

It is an amazing area with easy acess to many types of terrain. From beach and seashore, to fertile valleys, to foothills and mountains, to even almost desert on the other side of the mountains. I would recomend it to anyone, even though deep inside, I don't really want to share. (grin).

goodluck.

I've lived in several states but I keep coming back to Oregon.
You should be aware that it rains a lot west of the Cascade Range, especially in the very northern part of the state. Some people move here in the summer and then are depressed when it starts raining. You may want to rent for a year and then decide if you really can take it.

If you go into the mountains, you get a lot of fog and overcast, but in the Willamette Valley you have great weather. I live in the mountains because I like privacy and I have learned to garden in the short season. If you think you're really serious about moving here, consider Vernonia (where I live). It's a 45 min commute to work in Portland and a lot of Portlanders live here because of the beauty. There are a lot of places for sale, but be sure you buy OUT of the floodplain. Realtors don't always tell the truth about that, so ask the locals before you sign away your life savings. Best of luck. Lyn

hey there i would love to help out in any way. I just took a two week permaculture course in carbondale, co and im headed to portland this weekend. my email is zygote55555@gmail.com feel free to contact me for any help.
much love and light
-melissa

I have a home, close-in, Portland, single story, 1700+sf, 3br, 2 bath, with a large lot (for the city) and have worked the last 5 years to make the yard liveable and edible. Based on permaculture principles. Many perennials, mostly have put in backbone of trees, bushes, vines. Raised beds for annuals. It is for sale as of 2nd week of June 2014. see blog for more info: http://portlandgardenhome.blogspot.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: portland permaculture garden home for sale