We Closed Escrow!!!
Iona House is no longer merely an idea...
As you know, we've been in a waiting pattern for the past 4 weeks due to the Caldor Fire. With the entire western side of the fire contained and the entire area repopulated, we felt confident about moving forward. So today we gave the green light to complete the sale - it was funded and recorded this afternoon! Praise be to God!!
We're astounded at what has happened so far.
By God's grace, and your prayers and generosity, we have seen just shy of $400,000 raised to date!!! This has made it possible to purchase the land with no debt as well as to begin the first step of the property's development. To be clear, our goal of $400,000 was to purchase the land and get started on the first step (see below - water).
Three major next steps for the land:
1) Water. The plan is to drill a well and put storage tanks on site. This will make possible our agricultural vision as well as provide water for future retreat facilities and increase fire safety. As we all know, water is essential to everything else. We have already taken the first step in the process by reaching out to a local well-driller to get on his schedule as soon as possible.
2) Clean up the Forest & Prepare the Land. This looks like clearing / mulching the underbrush, trimming up the trees, and clearing a section to put in agriculture. This stage is vital for multiple reasons, the most obvious reason, perhaps, being fire safety. With the Caldor Fire as a vivid reminder, the most important thing we can do to protect the property is to clean up the forest (which has not been managed for decades). We'll also work on developing access roads, trails, etc. so that the potential of the whole property can be realized.
To accomplish this goal we're increasingly convinced that the best way to do this is to purchase a tractor that will serve all kinds of purposes for us over the coming decades. Here's a video example of the forestry mulching aspect of the tractor we have in mind at work. This will be our next fundraising project... stay tuned.
3) Agriculture. 2022 will be a year in which we will be developing irrigation, preparing the soil, purchasing trees / vines, planting, etc. to get the farm portion of this vision started. Agriculture takes time, so we'd like to get on this part of the vision early-on.
Other stuff we'll be doing over the coming months:
Prayer / Vision walks on the land (stay tuned...)
Preparing for the purchase of the next two parcels (so that when they come available, we're ready to purchase them)
Site Planning, Architectural drawings, Permits, etc.
This is just the beginning of an incredible adventure. Thanks for joining us in making possible a unique place for people to reimagine all of life in reference to Christ.
Onward in Joyful Faith,
Ryan & Elizabeth