We found out that Placer County is planning to sell the schoolhouse next door. We don't know when it will go up for sale or for how much - but the pending sale makes it rather important to complete our lot line adjustment (granted by the school district) for 10% of the portable.
I am pretty sure that the well at the school is bad. Last time the water was running - it was running really red (iron oxide) so the well may need to be dug a bit deeper to clear through that issue. I don't think a whole house filter will do the trick - the water is just too mucky. Above the well on the hillside is a lot of Sierra Slate (or shale) which is quite full of iron. And the well is located up near the street (was broken into when the school closed).
Other than that, the building is in rather the same shape the lodge was when we purchased it - sad. It has limited heating, only a small kitchen and bath, and no bedrooms (just a small loft over the main room), broken window (it was broken into a few winters ago) rest of the windows are vintage single pane and has been boarded up for 2 years. I believe it is on less than an acre of land. Not sure if anyone is crazy enough to take on that project. It will need a whole lot of work.
The only access is through the pedestrian gate. The road down to the school is on our property and there are no easements to allow for it's use once the property is no longer a school. But with the sale, we will lose our winter parking area in front of the school fence. Something to think about.
On Monday, I tried my best to capture the great eclipse. I didn't have any special glasses with me, so I just put my phone over the brim of my baseball cap and shot photos every 10 minutes. Since I have limited photo storage, I deleted the photos that did not show anything and the only one I kept is below. Does not show much. The sky did get a bit dim and the air got a bit cool - but not much to see of the eclipse itself.
Also on Monday, one of our long time neighbors from Fulda (they have been there since 1972) told me about a book that would be an interesting read. It is titled "Diary of a 49er" and it is a diary that was found in a cabin up on the Yuba river. Though it is out of print, I will try to find it an add it to our collection.
Once the foundation work is done and the floor joists re-supported, I will start working on the stone work for the cast iron fireplace. While I am doing that work, Jim will probably be working on the interior wall siding (cedar shiplap) and on getting the metal roof installed over the screened in porch (the sheet shingle roof did not fair well last winter). No rest for us.
10:37 am Eclipse Photo
Hi Carol, That's sad news that the school property will be sold off. I hope the new owners are friendly and will be able to work out an agreement with you about driveway access and parking.
ReplyDeleteThe vacant lot next to our cabin up the road went up for sale. We ended up purchasing it to preserve it, not necessarily to build on it. Soon a crew will come to clear away the two collapsed/rotted cabins that are on it. We're across the street from the former gas station, left side as you go towards the Sierra lodge. Right next to our brown cabin and on the adjacent lot is an old stone fireplace, standing alone. I imagine it must have belonged to one of the buildings that were part of Laing's resort? One of these days we'll wander over to the historical society and look it up.
We've been enjoying your blog entries! Love reading about the area!
Hi Rena! We need to get over to your place sometime and vice versa! We purchased the lot next to ours last year (between the old Hyatt our and us) for the same reason you purchased the semi vacant lot next to you. It is sad that the old cabins on your lot are in such dismal shape. I hope you had an opportunity to check inside for artifacts (?). And you may wish to salvage some of the flooring if it matches yours (vintage Douglas fir that is the right size is hard to come by these days). You may want to pay a visit to the descendants of the Laing Family up on North Fork Place (they are up the hill, across the old Forest Service Bridge and to the left at the fork). We are hoping they come to visit us soon so we can get some additional historical information from them.
ReplyDeleteThe School has a bad well and is in pretty sad "usable" shape. I am to sure of the state of the septic tank. I am pretty sure the wiring is original to when it was built (with lots of add on) so it will need an entire rewire.