Future Muñoz homesite

I’ve had my eye on this neighborhood called Fern Meadow in Stevenson for over a year now and recently a parcel there became available. We put in an offer and it was accepted. It’s about a mile up the hill from town in an area of newer homes, with private newly paved roads, private wells & septic systems (just out of city limits), CC&Rs to avoid too much hillbilly (haha) action, but not overly restrictive, and it’s relatively flat for this area. It’s Stevenson, so of course there are rolling hills, huge rocks, and the entire area rests on a massive clay shelf in ancient and gulp, recent, slide zones. All properties in Skamania County in fact, must have a Geo Tech test to make sure your property will not be sliding down onto your neighbors in the near future. A massive earthquake would be devastating I’m sure, but there are no major fault lines right in Stevenson. The main issue is just that it’s the Columbia Gorge and every bit of the Gorge has moved and slid about at some point in history because of the Columbia River, glacial action in the past, and the fact that there is a lot of clay in the ground.
At the county planning office, Teddy (county planner) showed us a huge map of the entire gorge, which shows all of the slides over time. It’s extremely interesting to see how they were formed and how they all overlap each other. There is currently an active slide above Fern Meadow (the Maple slide) but it’s headed down the hill on the other side of us directly towards the LDS church, which will be swept away at some point in the next 100 years if they can’t stop that one (don’t know how they could), but it’s also sliding from the bottom, which is the Piper Slide; the lower part of the same slide across the street down the hill from the church. One family’s home (a block from the church) is currently sliding down the hill and the county built them a brand new home directly across the street from our new property, so clearly where we are buying is in a relatively safe area and not expected to slide any time soon. Kinda crazy though, eh? You can see all of this on Google Earth if you want to check it out. Just type in Stevenson, WA and zoom in. It’s hard for me to tell exactly what I’m looking at sometimes, but it is interesting.
Soooo, on to the property, now that we’ve had our geography lesson. lol!
It’s 3 acres, with a well, driveway, cleared homesite, Geo Tech tested, Kanaka Creek goes right through the property with a little waterfall, tons of native vegetation and wildlife (4 deer ran past us last time we were there), and it’s QUIET. Yippy! It’s in Stevenson, so of course it is partially sloped, but nothing major and there are plenty of flat spots. The slide thing might freak some people out, but after looking at several other properties that looked they were literally hanging on for dear life to the side of the gorge, this one looks wonderful.
It was kind of dark when I took the pictures, but I think you can see somewhat; the first one is the waterfall (my favorite feature on the lot!), next is the driveway (built in 2004, so overgrown a bit), and last is the view from the front of the property with the home across the street. The homesite is in the back and is mostly private. Look at all of those brambles! I know 2 boys who are going to be gearing up with machetes and going to work. :-)