Another A-Frame

There's an A-Frame on Highway 160 near West Plains, MO in Howell County for sale for $30,000. West Plains is the largest town of any size in the area, but still small enough to be enjoyable for small town living.  It is in a nice location in south-central Missouri.  It is convenient to visit all parts of the Ozarks from this location.

The A-Frame was built in 1972.  You can see the era in the carpet colors, that's for sure.  It could use some updating, but it's got beautiful woodwork and it's very roomy at 1,944 sqft with 3 BR/2.5 BA.  It also has its own well, an attached greenhouse and a one-car attached garage.  It sits on 4.5 acres, which is an impressive amount of land.  The way land prices are, this property is a steal.

I saw it listed at Ozark Mountains Real Estate, which is convenient because it shows all of the MLS listings for the Ozarks.  OMRE is located in Ava, MO.  This A-Frame is MLS Number 109198 and the listing agent is Century 21 Ozark Hills Realty, Inc.  The annual property taxes are $505.28.

If my savings were near the asking price, I'd take a look at it.  Gives me something to look forward to in the future.  Here's some photos.

My Almost Home

I made an informal offer on this cute mobile home outside of West Plains, Missouri, right in the heart of the Ozark Mountains.  I received a very generous counter-offer, so I was ready to go.

The only issue I had was that it is in a mobile home park.  Lot rent is a mere $115 a month, which isn't bad, but I'm not keen on not owning the land too.  But I thought I'd give it a shot because the mobile home is very nice inside.  There's no paneling and I like the beams in the living room.  The floors are beautiful and the walls too.  I like the kitchen.  It's a unique arrangement for a mobile home that I've never seen before.  I love the curved sink in the master bath.  The only repair I can see from the photos is the paint touch-up in the second bath.

I love the pink too!  I'm a girl, what can I say.

I thought in a few years, I'd buy a piece of land and move it.  That way I'd have the peace of mind of having my own property.

Everything was fine until it came time to run my sweet Saint Bernard by the mobile home park owner.  I got hung up on twice!  I was shocked.  She didn't seem to understand me, so when I got her to understand my dog was very clean, gentle, mellow and quiet, not to mention, not overly large, she still wasn't having any.  To boot, she wants that mobile home out of the park.  So between my awesome dog and her dislike of that particular mobile home, it was a no go.

Funny, how different people are.  I have plans to stay in a lakeside lodge in the Ozarks beginning in October until I find a house to buy and the innkeepers didn't even flinch when I mentioned my Saint Bernard.  I figure stay somewhere affordable in the Ozarks, so I can easily look at properties as they come on the market.  Plus, I promised my dog no more outdoor winters!

The asking price is $7,950.  It is listed by Ozark Kountry Realty, if you are interested.

A Run on Houses in Ava

There's a run on cute small houses in Ava, Missouri, the county seat of Douglas.  My acreage was in the eastern part of the county and Ava is in the western part.  These houses remind me of the one I had in Argentine in Kansas City, Kansas.  I loved that house.

Ava is a nice town and one of my favorites, especially with the way you come into it from the west.

Just imagine that you're headed east and you'll see this infamous diner pictured below, the Highway House Cafe, an Ava landmark since 1963.

This photo is from one of the best articles I've read. It can be found in Missouri Life magazine. Click on the photo to read the article, titled, "Towers and Tales Along the Trails" by John Robinson.

Now you'll run right into the cafe if you don't make the sharp right and continue along Highway 14--a scenic route that connects Springfield, a major city in Missouri and the urban hub for the Ozarks, to West Plains, the only town of any actual size in the middle of the Ozarks--to go up a steep incline into the town square.

This is what makes this town so unique is that the town square is perched up on a hill and all of a sudden you are going around three sides of the square while technically still on the highway!

You'll come out of the square still headed east, amazingly enough, after all this turning around, and before you know it, you'll find your way into the most amazing scenery to be found in this world.  Welcome to the Ozark Mountains.

There are so many houses, but I've just included a house in town and a house outside of town.  Click on either photo and you'll be taken to the realtor's site.

In Ava.

$34,900
2 BR/1 BA
720 approx. sqft
Built in 1930
Taxes $97
Lot is 50x19
Gas Heat/Central Air
City/Rural Water

Outside of Ava.

$42,500
3 BR/1 BA
950 approx. sqft
Built in 1930
Taxes $70
.6 acres
Propane Heat
Well Water

If you'd like to see others, please visit Missouri Real Estate Multi-List.

My Land in the Ozarks

I've owned land for several years in the Missouri Ozarks.  It is where I call home.  I absolutely love it.  It is the most beautiful place I've ever seen and home to the nicest people I've ever met.

Here's the road to my property.

I've been in all of the lower 48 states, but nothing that I've taken to as much as the Ozark Mountains.  I own nearly six acres in Douglas County and I'd like to get the other six acres next to mine.

My place is off of Highway 95 between Drury and Gentryville.  Highway 95 runs north and south and comes out of Mountain Grove, one of my favorite towns, about 27 miles to the north.  It is the nearest largest town.

Highway 95 is a lovely quiet winding road, not a highway at all, that connects Highway 60, which is an actual highway, and Highway 14, a scenic route.

The two towns right around me are so small that one consists only of a country store and the other one has two country stores, a mechanic and a church.  Two of these small stores are three miles away and the other one is five miles away.

I am just a couple miles north of Highway 14.  I am in a very quiet part of the woods.  Not many people here and it is completely off the grid.

I have a wonderful life here.  I really like being out in the woods with three very cool small towns about 25-30 miles away:  Ava to the west, Mountain Grove to the north and Gainesville to the south.  And I have West Plains, the only town of any "size" less than 40 miles to the east.  I think of it as being in the middle of all of them!

Here's the view just down the road from my place.

I swim in the nearby creeks and rivers, most particularly Bryant Creek.  It is the cleanest, clearest and most beautiful water I've ever seen.  It is the most fun I've had.  Everyone jumps off the highway bridge and swims.  It is a blast.  I cherish my days and can imagine no other future than the life I have.

UPDATE:  I no longer have this property.  I loved it very much, but I wasn't so fond of having a shared road.  You'll notice many of my newer posts are about my search for a new property and once I've found one, my posts will be about my life in the Ozarks.