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Bill's Farm House Renovation
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Lone Prairie
Spring 1996
The movie; Dances With Wolves. That is the answer to the question Bill has been asked so many times over the last 10 years. That movie which came out in 1990, with its grasslands setting in South Dakota left it’s mark on Bill. As you may know Bill has two great passions in life; St Paul and the North American Great Plains.
Taken away from St Paul, Bill spent the latter part of his childhood in western Illinois. It was rolling farm country, with intermittent groves of trees. Below the farm-place Bill once lived, was a small stream. Beyond the stream was a large pasture. In a low spot in this pasture Bill discovered that only grassy slopes rising up around him and the blue sky above were all that he could see. Not a single tree, nor a farm or anything else could he see, but grasses and sky. That feeling of tranquility was new to him.
And those rural Illinois memories all came back in 1990 after seeing a movie.
He sold his Twin Cities cottage, and found a long vacant farmstead in northwest Minnesota in 1992. He called his new home “Lone Prairie” for there was just a bit a prairie on the west side of the barn. It was the highest spot in Mahnomen County, mostly farmland, with some groves of poplar trees here and there. The locals bestowed on him the name ‘Bill on the Hill”. A precursor to the same title he would receive out in Montana four years later. The 6 ˝ acres he purchased, contained a 3 bedroom house, a large barn, five out buildings and an outhouse. All were in need of serious repair. Starting with the house, Bill created a set of drawings depicting how he wanted to see the house returned to a traditional appearance. Within a year and very little money it was transformed. The remaining buildings and the homes interior would take two more.
"Pretty as a picture", his former elderly neighbor Mary Lou remarked with admiration when it was completed.
Bill lived without running water in that house for 3 years. The previous owner had made no guarantees on the well, and had painted an expensive picture for its repair. Only after all the other restoration work was complete, did Bill turn his attention to “the well”.
The grand total for its repair was $26.
His project finished, the grasslands of North Dakota lured him on further. He found a ghost town, pop 5, in the extreme northwest corner of that state. By this time in 1996 he was splitting his time between his St Paul business and his new North Dakota retreat. Train travel became a normal part of his life.
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