The house itself is on five acres of land, and is built along the ridge line of Mount Elizabeth, giving it a nice westward facing hilltop view of Sonora and the Sacramento Valley beyond. The property is bordered to the rear by a corridor of land owned by PG&E. They have a small aqueduct that parallels the ridge line through the Sierras here. The aqueduct itself is pretty cool, but more importantly it means that the surrounding land will remain undeveloped. There isn't another house within sight, and that probably won't ever change.

Rural living has its challenges. One of them is getting a decent broadband connection to the Internet. I have a workable solution, but it's a story all by itself.

In July of 2003 we began construction on a new house. The old house was a double-wide; decent enough, but not exactly my dream house. The new house will be a 2000 square foot, 3 section modular, with all the family room windows and an adjoining deck looking out over the valley.

The construction process has been fascinating, education, and yes, at times, frustrating. It's worthy of a home construction diary.

I've taken a number of the property and surrounding area:

Looking west over the valley.	640x480 resolution
The old house seen from the front.	640x480 resolution
Sunset (and moonrise) over the valley.	800x600 resolution
My first snowfall at the old house.	800x600 resolution
View west from summit of Mount Elizabeth.	920x380 resolution
East from of Mount Elizabeth to Dodge Ridge ski resort.	640x480 resolution