Thanks for letting me introduce myself. It's a funny thing, moving (or not quite moving) to a teeny-tiny town. Turns out people are curious about you! Here's what's up...

Living and working in Washington, D.C., I might not seem like the most likely candidate for falling in love with this little town. But I did - so much so that in 2024, I had to buy a house about it. Years and years before I could possibly afford to quit my job and live here. So here we are.

The thing is, in the pandemic-weird Spring of 2020, my mom, Margot, had jumped into her lifelong dream of cultivating some rural acreage, and suddenly I started hearing quite a lot about a town called Mineral.

I was cautious at first. I’m a born-and-raised city girl (Seattle!) who, in childhood, required bribery to participate in family hikes. On our daily chats (pandemic, remember?), I would listen as my mama buzzed about the things she was learning, the people she was meeting, the ducklings she was raising. It sounded like a great journey for her. But I think we both understood that I, as her most-indoorsy offspring, would visit Mineral mainly to be polite.

Except: From my very first visit—definitely undertaken out of eldest-daughter good manners—I was smitten. Crazy in love with this town and the way life works here. My trips home to my beloved West coast started to include Mineral. I tried out new skills (splitting logs by hand, anyone? Installing sheetrock? I'm still not great at either), met neighbors, and explored the beautiful surroundings via hikes that no one had to coax me to take. Nights, I spent quiet by the woodstove in my mom’s cabin or laughing at Headquarters Tavern with new friends.

A few years passed—tiny, lovely, curious pockets of time, away from the bustle of life in DC. Then, Christmas, 2024: My mom picked me up at SeaTac and said, direct quote: “There’s a house in Mineral that I’m pretty sure wants you to buy it.”

I was in no position to buy a house, and certainly not one on the other side of the country. But if you yourself have a mother, perhaps you will understand why, at the beginning of a 90-minute car ride, “Interesting—tell me more” seemed like a better response than "Are you out of your mind?"

Mineral had slipped into my heart, stealthily, without my permission. Over the next two weeks, this piece of land by the lake, with its weird assortment of buildings (2002 manufactured home with a 1902 workshop? Sure, why not!) did the same. Instead of all the reasons it didn't make sense, what I saw was...possibility. By the time I boarded my return flight, I was on the phone with lenders, pleading my case.

The intervening months have been a whirlwind of learning, building, and clearing. (The previous owner sold “as-is,” which in this case meant there was a lot of stuff. We stopped counting dump runs at 23). Margot plays on-the-ground property manager/chief remodeler/what-is-this-thing-I found-in-the-Barn?-during the time I need to be in DC. But every few months , I get to come home. I get my hands dirty, rekindle friendships, build things, and, every time, I hate to leave.

I look forward to the day I can live in Mineral full time. In the meantime, it brings me great joy to share my home with people who, I hope, will come to love Mineral as much as I do.

While you're here, support our local businesses! 

Welcome to Mineral!