Ready with their strong imaginations and a full day complimentary to play, the possibilities are limitless. In his 10 years here, Cook, 53, has seen numerous individuals come and go. Much of the land was platted years ago for neighborhoods that were never constructed. "There is land to be had in these type of funky neighborhoods that were produced in the 1980s, and never ever truly took off," Saguache County Commissioner Jason Anderson stated.
"There is this type of 'Little House on the Prairie' dream. Show up in September, and it's just terrific. There is fantastic land, it's inexpensive, you're with your girlfriend. Then the winter comes, and you haven't gotten much done," Anderson said. "We joke that this is where relationships pertain to die." Some stick it out for a while.
Others squat for the summertime, then leave in the winter, returning with the warm weather condition. Many get here wanting to money in on the state's marijuana rush. "(They build) 3 greenhouses and live in a storage container," Anderson said. "All the cash went into the greenhouses since they're going to make a million off cannabis." Cook, who markets his land to prospective tenants on an off-grid living website, shares the residential or commercial property with another family and a man who lives alone.
The county made it prohibited for owners to camp on their land longer than 2 weeks, whether in a trailer or a camping tent, without showing that they were developing a long-term structure. Cook stated his renters had actually paid for the land they couldn't utilize. "A great deal of the folks who do not wish to comply are going somewhere else in the valley, particularly Saguache and Alamosa (counties)," Costilla County administrator Ben Doon said.
Locals share food and labor. When Answers Shown Here travels to the mountains to cut wood, his son-in-law and an occupant aid to lower and transfer the lumber. Prepare shakes his head as he describes a previous group of tenants who moved in and then did little more than get stoned.