Enjoy 'the good life' in year round sunshine on this easily defensible 38 acre Survival Retreat 28 miles east of the quiet little ranching town of St Johns, Arizona (population 3,300).Great southern exposure to make the most of the Southwest's sunshine to power your retreat. The 38 acres is very easy to defend, located high on a bluff with a panoramic view overlooking the valley below. You can see a vehicle approaching your location 30 minutes before they reach you! (This would allow plenty of time to be get in on 'on guard' position, if desired) Yet, due to the gently rolling lay of the land and trees, your home would not be visible from the road. (These are two of the most important things that Jim Rawles recommends for retreat criteria) The bluff is protected by sheer cliffs on three sides making access next to impossible by all but foot traffic and even then very difficult for foot traffic on two sides. Most of land is wooded with scattered open grassy meadows of 5-10 acres each. Property has a lifetime supply of firewood, both living and well seasoned. Bordered on one side by one full section (640 acres) of BLM land to provide ample privacy and hunting opportunity.
New asking price of $21,500 cash OR $7500 down and assume non-qualifying loan of $224 per month for 109 months (or pay off the loan faster if you wish, the current pay off on the loan is $14K--no penalty for early pay off--so faster you pay off, the less the land costs you in the long run.)
Enjoy the good life and quiet peaceful living far from pollution and crime of the cities. As each beautiful southwestern sunset closes another day you will be thankful you have found a beautiful, safe place to raise your family.
This property was once part of a large cattle ranch. It has since been sold off in various size parcels of at least 38 acres each. There is a loosely organized property owners association that maintains the roads, doing such work as grading, installing culverts and bridges as needed. There is an annual fee of $160.00 to cover the expense they incur doing so as well as maintaining the property owners community well. The property owners own all the roads in this development and by legal right are the only ones entitled to travel them. All others are considered trespassers and treated as such (this greatly increases the security of the place) Access is by dirt road that is 2WD most of the year, but 4WD would be better in winter and spring. Because this part of the development is so sparsely populated the road is not easy to find unless you know where to look, it appears to be a neglected tract the last couple of miles to property (we like it that way and rarely request it be graded). We feel that this adds to the security of the property since people can't find it if they don't know it's there! By sparsely populated I mean there are only 25 homes on over 30,000 acres of the development. This includes acres of BLM land for hunting/4wheeling as well as miles upon miles of roads within the ranch that are ideal for horseback riding and walking. The people who live here are mostly like minded families who have left the cities for a better, more peaceful place to raise their families. They are happy to mind their own business, yet are glad to pitch in and help one another with old fashioned barn raisings, fence pulling parties, etc. They all try hard to look out for one another, noting strange vehicles, etc They are currently in the process of setting up a communication network via CB, Ham and two way radios amongst themselves so that if someone has an emergency or needs a hand all can be alerted to the situation and help out if desired.
Well depths average from 175-400 ft., but can go as deep as 1200 ft. However, as a property owner, you would have access to the 'community well' to fill your cistern until you can drill a well, giving you immediate access to water on your property. Many people set up a permanent cistern with solar pump and never do get around to drilling a well. This can give you immediate access to water either temporarily or for permanent use. This can make setting up your homestead much more affordable.
St. Johns is located in Apache county, and is a Mayberry like town where people can still let their kids ride bikes all over town with no worries. They have a nice selection of services including a Post Office, a beautiful City park with large clean pool, a Fiesta park for festivals, a state of the art regional equestrian center (horses are big here!) several churches (LDS, Catholic, Baptist, Nondenominational) IGA grocery store, a Western Drug/Variety, modern health/wellness center, Ambulance/EMT, Dentist, Chiropractor, Family Dollar and Dollar General, 3 gas/convenience stores, a feed and seed store, health food shop, beauty/barber shop, Ace Hardware, Napa, Car Quest, 2 mechanics, a tire shop, glass repair shop, propane delivery (that offers delivery to the ranch) bank, video store, 2 feature movie theatre, 3 small motels as well as half a dozen mom and pop restaurants (no fast food here, just good old fashioned home cookin'!) They also have nice clean modern schools that the community is committed to supporting. For bigger shopping needs there is a Wal-Mart Supercenter as well as Lowes and Home Depot 54 miles west in Show Low. Show Low also boasts a large modern hospital.
The property enjoys a mild four season climate at 5900'. Wintertime highs average in the mid 50s with nighttime lows in the 20s. Summer days are comfortable at this elevation with highs in the 80s and nighttime lows in the mid 50s. Average annual snowfall is 19 inches, rainfall 10 inches. The soil is a sandy loam and perfect for organic growers since it has never been tilled or amended with chemicals. For those wishing to grow their own gardens and keep livestock one important note is that Arizona is one of the few states where the NAIS system has been totally rebuffed by the lawmakers. Many more photos are available upon request.
Contact: themongoose_007@yahoo.com
