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Strawberry Mountain Retreat has 2 log homes that were built by hand. In the late 70's, "Joe T", was the District Conservationist for the USDA in John Day. He had long hair that he wore in a ponytail. Nina was an artist. The little house was Nina's pottery studio. Their daughter, Camille, was born at home with a mid-wife attending.
Joe and Nina decided to commence work on the house at opposite ends and work toward the middle. There are little personalized touches throughout the house where Joe and Nina tried to outdo one another.
Nina hand painted the tile in the kitchen and fired them in her kiln. Joe designed a gravity flow, spring fed, underground water system so the water is absolutely fresh, and it is cleansed by the natural flow down through the mountain's tertiary system.
Because Joe was a conservationist/naturalist, the house was built with extreme care. He took into account passive solar and building materials that are natural and from the local area. Joe and Nina used the sunroom as a greenhouse and they grew their food year-round in it.
Strawberry Mountain Retreat is the highest private land on the mountain with only wilderness above it. It is surrounded by National Forest so that no impact on the land surrounding the homes would compromise the water supply. A hydroelectric plant that Joe designed with an older gentleman, that has since passed away, powers the homes. It is one of a very few "personal" hydro-electric systems permitted by the USFS, as it is their creek that is diverted to a 1500 foot run to power the Pelton Wheel that powers the homes. There is a generator back up system powered by gasoline. The stove is propane powered. Hot water is heated primarily by electric with an additional system that runs through the indoor wood stove. When you have a fire going, a tank circulates water through the wood stove and heats an extra 50 gallons of hot water. In the summer, the tank serves to absorb interior heat to keep the house cool. There is also a Sauna built a short walk from the house that accommodates 3 adults with a large cattle tank outside to jump into to cool off.
In 1990, they sold the property to a couple. One of the new owners was a computer programmer. The couple tiled the greenhouse floor and made it a sunroom. They ran telephone to the property, they enclosed the upper deck for a large bathroom off the master bedroom, with possibly the only bidet in the County. The smaller house was a computer lab and a gas-burning heater was installed. When more than half of the computer programmers' clients went down in the Twin Towers tragedy they sold the property to us and they moved to Seattle.
Strawberry Mountain Retreat is located 3½ miles up a Forest Service dirt road, which is not maintained in the winter.
So, whether you are a Buddhist or a nudist, Strawberry Mountain Retreat is a calming and serene get away...
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