40 acres hosted by Dottie S.
In the 1970s a family of Back-to-the-Land homesteaders found their home here in the Northern California coastal mountains. They took this raw piece of rugged terrain, formerly part of an 11,000 acre cattle ranch, and began raising fruit and vegetables, a variety of livestock, and poultry. With no electric hook-up available over time we built our own system and are completely off-grid, powered by Solar PV panels, a small wind turbine, or micro-hydro depending on the weather. In the early days there were no phones here and the community communicated by CB radio, which is how our homestead came to be called 'Simmonsville'.
For many years Simmonsville was the home of cottage businesses - Simmons Natural Bodycare, crafting natural soaps and other products, and before that a flock of sheep provided the wool for another business - Sheep Thrills, which sold handspun yarns and knitwear. Over time the children have grown and moved on, the businesses as well, and the amount of animals reduced to fill smaller needs, but the homestead continues and those needs are met, and then some!
Our work is determined by the seasons, gardening, harvesting, raising lambs and poultry, canning, drying, fermenting, freezing to fill the pantry for the months ahead, this marks the rhythm of the year.
The working part of the homestead comprises only a small portion of the land. The rest belongs to nature. We enjoy the beautiful vistas and the trails to the Van Duzen river below and the lovely swimming holes there. We revel in the wildlife, the many birds, and the glorious night sky which gives us a view of the milky way on any clear night.
It is the home of our hearts and we plan never to leave.
NOTE: Message us if you are interested in a blocked out date. Sometimes we can make exceptions, and we are always willing to work with you.