06/22/2026
Steamy Pond Mornings - June 22nd 2026
When Justin and I first found this property in 2018, it had been abandoned for 3+ years as a retired golf course. It was very overgrown and neglected but we could see the potential and all its beauty. We parked my truck in what is now our driveway, ( Hole #5 - a field at the time) walked to the pond , found an old bench in the tall grass and sat there in awe.
I remember thinking how the heck is this still available for sale?
How has no one else been captivated by its untapped potential? Don’t they see what I see?
How in the world do I make this dream a reality?
I have to have this !
Although I came to understand the multifactorial reasons behind some of those questions , in my heart I knew it just needed us to save it. This was God’s gift for loving his land. Also, if you know me and my drive, when my mind is made up on achieving something , there is very little that can stop me until I have exhausted every possible option and then some.
When we started talking about building our house “in the back” , I recall thinking that I had met my biggest challenge yet financially, logistically and geographically. I really had to fight hard with the city of Duluth because of the location I wanted all while in an unrealistic timeframe due to working with the LSC carpentry program deadlines.
Lots of people, including my family, even said …”well It'd be a heck of a lot easier to just build in the front.” I pushed back every time and said “why the hell would we own a gorgeous piece of land like this and not build at the most beautiful spot ?! “ Plus , I have never done “ easy” so why start now. lol
A majority of our land is soft or wet but I also believe that is what preserved it and saved it from being over developed. I fought every single angle from wetland delineations, to de minimis exemption, to FEMA maps, flood zones, protected creeks… you name it. I educated myself in ALL of it and by the grace of God we were able to build at the last moments of availability because the 1982 flood maps that we used to assess the flood fringe ( Zone B at the time that I pushed the boundaries on ) have now been updated and the entire area is almost "un-buildable" now without massive additional steps or workarounds. We had to put 8.5’ ICF’s into the ground 5 ft down below the soil and 3.5’ out of the ground to meet the requirements for the base flood elevation in order to receive an ELOMA certificate. Then the entire foundation was backfilled with sand . That's why it stands so tall and that’s why everyone asks if we have a basement ( my response everytime - “OH HELL NO , that would be a nightmare “ )
My point is this ; by not just giving up and letting potential detours stop a vision I get to wake up and look out my kitchen porch at what I view as one of the most beautiful properties in the Duluth city limits.
We have invested our blood , sweat and tears into having this unbelievable homestead and could not be more proud of all the work and ambition it took to get here. Not one piece of this dream was “given” . Every single angle and effort was the hardest work and determination from extremely late nights and long days with multiple jobs and lots of moving pieces to make it happen.
Our rewards are the beauty of what we didn’t have to work for ; the frogs in the ponds, the geese swimming quietly or flying above, the wind through the trees , a foggy field in the morning that is full of fireflies at night, green everywhere you look with birds singing.
How lucky we are to have a dream come to life but mostly to have the health, sight and hearing to breath it in everyday .
Amity Creek Meadow is our sanctuary .
Thank you God for your blessings.
