Neighbors

The lovely gravel road that leads to and bisects our property, facing south down canyon

When we were checking out the canyon we now reside in on our search for land to buy, a larger section of private land had been broken into 4 smaller and relatively equal parcels of 24-acres each. Each parcel was for sale when we were land searching, so we had first choice. We opted for the parcel furthest up the canyon.

All 4 parcels span both sides of our gravel road, with roughly half of the 24-acres on either side, with private land ownership neighbors to the north and south and national forest to the east and west. I still find it interesting how quickly each of the other 3 parcels sold, and surprising how promptly each of the 3 different owners started building. I’m surprised for a few reasons. One, we live in a very sparsely populated area. The entire county we live in, which clocks in at 1,200 square miles, has a population of under 6,000. Two, when the other parcels sold there was also no electricity up our canyon or cell signal or water and most people aren’t into that. And three, all of the other property owners are from out of state.

We purchased and moved onto our 24-acre parcel on July 1 of 2022. The next parcel to sell was the one furthest down the canyon and they started building in 2023. The third parcel to sell was the one next to them and they started building in 2024. The last one to sell was the one next to us and they started building last year in 2025. Thus far still, only one other person lives in our canyon year-round and he’s 1.5 miles down the road. Counting all of us new folks who purchased land starting with us in 2022, there are only a total of 8 homesteads in our particular area. Mainly what we have going here in our neck of the woods is trees. Lots and lots and lots of wonderful trees. Mostly firs and pines.

One of the new builds down the canyon from us

We now have neighbors on both sides of us to the north and south but with the trees and the amount of land we all have we can’t see either one. The folks who live north of us we still haven’t met. They come out 2 or 3 times a year in the summer and stay for 2-3 days at a time. We can hear their vehicles come and go when they’re around and smell when they’re burning stuff outside but that’s pretty much it. But things are starting to change as it pertains to our new neighbors who’ve been building since last year to the south.

Mike was told by the foreman of the building crew they hired that the folks moving in plan to live there year round. The small construction crew is still working over there but it seems that maybe our new neighbors may be over there now too. So maybe they have moved in or are in the process of doing so. It’s been only 2 days but we can hear new voices talking in the evening after the building crew ends their work day.

Fortunately their house is on the other side of the road and not directly next to us on the side of the road we chose to build on. All of our properties are rectangular in shape and rather skinny in width. Most of our acreage is situated lengthwise. With how the acreage is situated with the road, had they decided to build on the same side of the road we did, we’d likely be able to see their house in view from our cabin, which I would’ve profoundly disliked. No one moves into the remote woods to have close-by neighbors. Or so I used to think. Where our new neighbors chose to build is in full and close view of the other house that was built right before and next to them, which I find rather curious and strange. To each their own.

Our “next-door” neighbors driveway; you can kinda see the glint of their roof through the trees

I’ve learned I not only prefer but find great liberation in having and maintaining our privacy. Until moving here, I’ve always lived in places with the kind of neighbors you can see super up close and personal just by stepping outside or opening the curtains. When we moved to the woods, I didn’t have any reference point for how amazingly wonderful it would be to have actual privacy. Living in town, there was always the possibility of people anywhere, everywhere, all around and all the time. Now that we live where we do, I’m not sure I could go back to in-town living. I am deeply nourished by all the space around us and all the trees and wildlife. Out here in the woods, I feel as though I am in my element. Town living or city living is great for those that dig that scene. But me. I’ll take the vast and quiet woods please.

In addition to the 4 of us who purchased the side-by-side parcels that were on the market at the same time, there was a guy who already owned some land with a tiny cabin on wheels neighboring the start of the acreage for sale. He started building a house last year too. So now there are 5 of us private property owners in various states of building in our neck of the woods off our gravel road, side-by-side, surrounded by thousands of acres of national forest. If our “next-door” neighbors move in and live there year-round it would bring our full time population in our canyon to 5 people (as it seems there is a couple who would move in). No one is living in any of the other places yet.

But now that we might have actual neighbors living right next to us, there’s a real possibility for things to change in some really challenging, hardship-producing ways. We have a larger buffer of trees and space between us and our neighbors to the north, but the folks to the south are close enough for us to hear them talking outside. Which for me really isn’t great. Canyons can be especially unique that way. Sound travels in interesting ways in general, but I’ve found the interest level increases when you live in a canyon. Sound just moves around differently and echoes and bounces off the mountainsides differently. It reminds me of how we can improve our hearing sometimes by cupping our ear. Canyons funnel and amplify sounds more acutely in the same way a person cups their ear to better channel something they want to hear with more clarity.

The construction crew that we imagine has to be close to finishing up the house next to us also built the house next to it on the other side. I can’t recall if they started on that first house in 2023 or 2024 but this one small building crew has been coming up here creating a ruckus of noise for at least the past 2 years. Nearly every day of the week from Monday to Friday through the whole of the year, even through our cold and snowy winters. Which is really saying something about their mettle given that up until very recently they’ve been building off-grid and without other services of any kind, including cell signal. (The 4 landowners south of us pulled together to pay for electricity to be brought up from the bottom of the canyon which just went in very recently, so while we and the 2 folks north of us are still off-grid, the other folks south of us now have access to general electricity.)

Our gravel road facing north up canyon; you can see a bit of our sauna roof on the left through the trees

Here’s the thing about having ongoing construction no matter where you live. I’m pretty sure no one likes it. Most of it get it and understand it’s a thing that needs to happen and does happen and is part of life, but no one enjoys it while it’s actively taking place. We all want it to be over ASAP. While things could’ve been way worse, we’ve consistently heard this one building crew shouting and yelling and cursing and building and driving big trucks around for now over 2 years straight. It’s been a practice for me for sure not to lose my mind at times with all the constant clatter of noise. I’ve been so grateful that at least it’s been a hired crew and not the property owners themselves (like us!), as at least they take off the weekends and usually end their work day around 5pm. To add further insult, the building crew sometimes likes to bring their guns along to target shoot before or after their work shift. Ya know. Cuz we live in the woods in Montana.

The crew also digs playing really loud music while they work. Just the other day, in order to be able to enjoy sitting outside on our lovely porch reading in the warm spring sun of the afternoon, I had to put in earplugs to blot out the super loud music blaring from next door. I imagine most/all people feel the same as me when I say spending time outside is way hard to impossible to enjoy when strangers are blaring music or making some other loud nearby ruckus of noise when you’re trying to wind down and relax.

So who knows what our future will hold with our new neighbors possibly moving in. We have of course no control over what will transpire. Maybe they’ll be really into shooting guns. Maybe they too will be blasting loud music all day. Who knows. Obviously we’re hoping things will go smoothly. It’s really rather comical how close they are to us with how few people live where we do. It’s a bit like being in an empty movie theater only to have the only other person who shows up choose to sit in the seat directly next to you when literally every other seat is wide open. Here’s hoping they’re good neighbors. And by “good” I mean quiet.