Reasoning for Soleco...

Our home in Gettysburg had been a very quiet and relaxing small farm, where we had tried many different ways to experience a harmony between nature and our life style.

We had raised milking goats, rabbits (angora and checker giant), black angus cattle for livestock during various time periods. We learned that livestock can be very demanding and in many ways cruel to both man and beast. The goats were the most congenial of the animals but required an ever present vigil over our garden, and needed to be milked morning and night which interferred with travel plans (no one to milk our goats for us) and crimped our visitations to relatives far away.

When it came time to make the decision to sell our small farm (21A) and build a sustainable home we had a long list of pre-requisites which we had gathered from articles throughout the years of ecology studies and involvement, and theories begging to be implemented. And so, the search began. Where could we build a home which offered the following:

  • within a 50 mile radius of our grandkids
  • south facing sloped land for earth berming
  • close to a cultural center for entertainment and college students
  • solar and wind access for energy development
  • a floor plan which allowed for ease of access from one level
  • connection with a university system for internship and study
  • township approval of an alternate waste management system
We felt the needs outlined were going to be relatively easy to attain and actually be attractive for townships to appreciate and encourage Soleco to be in their area.

We spent two years and thousands of miles traveling, writing contracts on properties with contingencies only to learn that many townships do not allow for earth bermed homes. Or the home must face the road. Or land restrictions placed on properties which dictated the type of structure to be buit had to comply with their desires. These restrictions severely hampered our quest for land selection. Finally we found the site which ended up being very close to our home territory and network of friends and business associates. We feel it was meant to be and this is where we were meant to build Soleco.