What It's like to Buy Vacant Land and Set up a Waterfront Retreat (Sauna, Hottub, Kitchenette)

[@kittencollective]

if its really cold, you could lower the heat and sleep in the sauna

[@mikekrzesowiak7944]

My wife and I bought some vancant land a couple years back and I've been dreaming about what to do with it for the last 2 years. Stumbled across your channel, awesome to see what you and your family are doing! Looking forward to watching more of your progress here on youtube! Keep up the good work.

[@JonathanKuhn]

That’s great! I’m glad you found this. If we love dreaming about what to do with the land.

[@tiituspee]

its tradition in finland, you build sauna first, live in it when you build the main house.

[@CalmingSoundZZZ]

Brilliant. I was going to say all you're missing is a cold plunge but you even have that! Beautiful property. And yes, you have your priorities right, on so many levels. What a lovely family! Warms my heart seeing you enjoying the outdoors and enjoying the simplicity of that gorgeous land. Sadly, we don't have anything like that near but I am going to start looking again.

[@ukr4ever]

Amazing property, amazing plan, good luck! Looking forward to future videos.

[@flyinfinn2007]

Your priorities are in line with Finnish tradition! The sauna was always the first building on the property. You could (in thoery) use it for cooking, bathing, sleeping, and even childbirth! Well done

[@TeadrinkingCanadian]

What a beautiful property!

[@SpringbokCraftCo]

❤your family. Excited to see what you guys do next.

[@kaus1839]

Love the update. You guys are the cutest!

[@JonathanKuhn]

I know you are but what am I?

[@LifeSurfingDude]

wonderful property, it is awesome what you are doing with it. love it.

[@Noonelson]

love your attitude young man 👍

[@ianham]

Your priorities are right on! Ya know what might be perfect? A VW Vanagon or Eurovan. Since you have a kitchenette you could get the Weekender edition which has a wider bed down below instead of the kitchen. Your beautiful kiddo would have a loft bed. You can open the tent windows and the van windows on warm nights. And it can haul stuff. Just a thought. We got one this June and have been loving it. Your videos continue to inspire. Still working on our sauna. :) Take care.

[@JonathanKuhn]

A VW euro van would be pretty great! I like the idea of a van or camper with just a place to sleep. So many have all the goods like kitchen and table packed in but beds is all we need! Thanks for the tip.

[@lizpeterson6719]

Where are you? I want to come visit. I love it. And do it in the steps you guys want. Who cares what anyone else thinks.

[@frankieVeee]

Do you have more info on what the process of buying land like this is? Where do you go to browse lots and what steps do you take to make a final decision? I'd love to know the apProx size and cost of your lot, this is a dream of mine!

[@JonathanKuhn]

We were told about this piece of land becoming available. A lot of factors depend on where you are. You can find land on the MLS or sometimes just by noticing a random sign for sale by owner. Some have luck approaching an owner of vacant land and asking if they are interested in selling. It’s a good idea to get a survey and to call the local planning department to confirm if the site is suitable for you building needs. We tried to find some comparable properties for sale to see if what we got was a fair price but that can be tricky with vacant land and unique lots. Ours is just over 2 acres with a lot of waterfront. I’d rather not share exact price since that is very location specific. It was at or below market value though.

[@CalmingSoundZZZ]

Fantastic video. How did you research if you were allowed to set up your property this way and not building a permanent, living structure? I'd love to do something like this but I just don't know how to start.

[@JonathanKuhn]

I called the town planning department and asked them. They were pretty helpful.

[@chrisbarclay4257]

Where is the TV....???

[@KazarianIX]

out of curiosity what was the zoning type for that property? I'm thing about doing something similar but seems hard to find the right land with the proper zoning to getaway with it.

[@JonathanKuhn]

It’s zoned residential

[@lauriekline8655]

How about a yurt?

[@JonathanKuhn]

We are open to that too! Yurts are about 10x the price of a canvas bell tent and about the same price as a sleeping cabin but they are much bigger and nicer.

[@m6studios]

"Bugs aren't even that good"

[@JonathanKuhn]

I happen to know this as a fact.

[@JonathanKuhn]

Most people would prioritize building a place to sleep… are we crazy?

[@davidokolita418]

I've been doing some research on saunas. I guess back in the day the sauna was the first thing people would build on their land. It served as a temporary shelter for people before they built their house. The sauna would serve many purposes, smoking and curing meat, drying thatch, malting barley. Also the sick were nursed back to health and it was even used in child birth as well as a place to prepare the dead for burial. So I'd say your priorities are right!

[@JonathanKuhn]

That’s good to know! I feel validated. I don’t plan on using our sauna for many of those things listed though… haha

[@ollitumelius4608]

You could build a laavu for sleeping. Do an image search. You can find those in a lot of Finnish camp sites and national parks. Little bit less of a commitment than a cabin or a bunkie and you could always move it when it comes time to build something more permanent. A yurt would be pretty cool, too.

[@JonathanKuhn]

I did not know about this! We are leaning towards a sizeable bell tent which gets its inspiration from that style of building. It’s even less commitment it seems. Hopefully it does well installed semi permanently too

[@ollitumelius4608]

​@@JonathanKuhn There's a pretty sweet tent build on the Wild We Roam channel. By the way, the sauna is badass. You guys took your time to do it right. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJqtoKBsftyehZY

[@troyladoux1953]

Cool place. Where is this?

[@JonathanKuhn]

Ontario, Canada 😀

[@ScoobyFermentation]

@@JonathanKuhn Nice! I live in MN and I'm looking for about 30 acres right now to do exactly as you have done. Probably not on a lake, but something beautiful with the ability to live off grid and very efficient. Glamping in the interim. Thanks for your videos!

[@JonathanKuhn]

Amazing! 30acres will be so nice!

[@박영희-d5c]

😍😍😍😍😍

[@tychonius]

Liabilitrees

[@CalmingSoundZZZ]

Brilliant. I was going to say all you're missing is a cold plunge but you even have that! Beautiful property. And yes, you have your priorities right, on so many levels. What a lovely family! Warms my heart seeing you enjoying the outdoors and enjoying the simplicity of that gorgeous land. Sadly, we don't have anything like that near but I am going to start looking again.

[@JonathanKuhn]

Thanks for such a kind comment.