Once in a Lifetime Idaho Dream Home
The Farber Property shown below has approximately 70 acres of property with Archie Creek East Fork, Middle Fork and West Fork running for nearly a half mile of major creek frontage. The East Fork is piped into a hydro-electric plant generating 10kw of power 24/7. The West Fork is piped into an irrigation system while still leaving a nice creek flowing past the cabin, garage and apartment building.
The main house is a two story log cabin with two bedrooms and bath upstairs. It has one bedroom downstairs with a living room, family entertainment room, kitchen and dining room. It has a woodstove heater in the family room and a backup wood cook stove in the kitchen. The kitchen has all modern necessities as do the rest of the rooms.
The Immediate Area
The property is located in what is generally referred to as the Lowman Area. This is a stretch of isolated homesteads along the South Fork of the Payette River at the western edge of the Sawtooth Mountains, better known by the area SE of Sun Valley and east of Stanley, Idaho. The unusual value of the Lowman Area is that there is very limited private lands and the population can never be anywhere near that of Sun Valley or McCall where there are perhaps more sections of private land than there are acres in Lowman.
The photo below is of Grandjean Peak from Sacajawea Hot Springs just below Grandjean. This is one of the most spectacular scenic areas in all of Idaho.
Baron Creek comes into the South Fork of the Payette just below Grandjean Peak and known for its outstanding beauty and scenic lakes and water falls. The hiking loop from Stanley to Sawtooth Lake and then down the North Fork of Baron Creek then up the main fork of Baron to the Baron Falls and onto Baron Lakes before descending back to Redfish Lake is probably the single most popular hike in Idaho.
The South Fork of the Payette is becoming known as one of the premier whitewater rivers in Idaho and a secondary destination for those arriving in Stanley and Sun Valley. The river and larger streams are great trout fishing areas for those that know where to go. Some of Idaho’s most prolific elk and deer herds call Lowman home most of the year. Lowman boasts more than 200 miles of trails and four wheeler roads. Some of the most advantageous four wheeler and snowmobile roads initiate right at the Farber Property with exclusive access to certain national forest lands.
Hydro-Plant
Probably most people would not care all that much to have their own 10kw generating system, but with Lowman having a 65 mile single phase feed from Idaho Power, there are plenty of times during the year the Farber’s are happy to have it. Mr. Farber is a long term experienced plumber and hydro-electric generator specialist and has designed, fabricated and installed a unique system. The water inlet has some very unique capabilities that only an experienced person would know to include such as a self cleaning screening system and a self purging settling system. The designs keep the Pelton wheel free of material and mean less maintenance and much improved reliability.
The outlet is underground and provides freedom from freezing in winter. The primary equipment is in the shop where there is easy access for maintenance and servicing.
Garage and Machine Shop
The garage is 28 x 70 and is fully equipped for maintenance on various equipment and recreational items. It has a concrete floor and beams for hoisting and some machine tool equipment such as welding, lathe and air compressor.
Apartment
The northwest end of the shop has an apartment with full necessities for an independent party to have the privacy of separation from the main cabin. It includes bed, stove, refrigerator and microwave as well as TV and satellite accommodations.
West Fork Irrigation System and Trout Lake
The irrigation system is also underground and free of freezing worries in winter. This West Fork of Archie Creek also feeds a small trout lake which has a dock and boat for fishing. There are natural trout in the lake but with a systematic feeding program, much larger fish can easily be developed. This type of recreational activity could develop outside interest in the property should the buyer choose to develop a subdivision.
Subdivision Potential
The Farber’s have sold off some larger lots but further subdivision is still a possibility should a buyer want to go in that direction. Some preliminary engineering has already been done to indicate just one possible alternative to maximize property value but not flood the area with large populations.
Mr. Farber is a pilot and has kept a plane at the Warm Springs Strip in years past. Some have felt that with a slight modification to one power line that a short strip could be built on the property for a STOL type of plane such as the Mountain Goat. This would be up to the buyer to develop if one sees fit.
Snow Removal and Road Maintenance
An association exists with the limited nearby residents for maintenance on the road. There is approximately one half mile of Forest Service road down to Hiway 21 which has been kept open easily with a simple four wheel drive blazer with a front blade. Mr. Farber has a bulldozer which he has used on occasion to widen the berm as may be required in some winters. A simple wing blade can be mounted on the blazer to accomplish the same widening if need be.
Mr. Farber has a small snow cat which he uses to access points of interest on the property and also on the nearby Forest Lands.
House Room Details
Recently the elaborate stone work was completed and the patio enclosed and parts of that project may not be finished completely as of this posting. Mr. Farber has lived here for 40 years and now into 70’s year young is the reason for putting this lifetime labor of love onto the market.
Fireplace in Living Room
Family Room
Master Bedroom with Fireplace
Kitchen
Contact Information
You may contact my neighbor Jim who is a consulting engineer and computer expert better able to deal with unsolicited email. His email is keyword “bransonjim9" followed by the at sign and then server keyword “gmail” followed by dot and then last word “com”. You should put “Farber House” in the subject line. He has movies of the creek and additional pictures he will send upon request. He is quite knowledgeable about the immediate area and has lived most of his 67 years in Lowman.
Pricing is just beginning to get defined because of some remodeling work yet to be completed but something around $1.2 million for the whole affair as finished. Some breakout of a few acres with the house, hydro and irrigation rights might be around $700k and perhaps an “as-is” price of $975,000.
People wishing to visit the property can make arrangements to fly into Boise, Idaho and then rent a car and drive towards Stanley, Idaho to a point on Hiway 21 east of Lowman about six miles. There is a bridge across the river locally called the Jordan Bridge and the property is a mile up Archie Creek Road, the only road in the area. The road forks and each fork goes onto the property. The Farber house is on the left fork about ½ mile and easily identified by the pictures.
The apartment will be made available on a first contact basis. There are local restaurants and limited cooking equipment in the apartment.
Below are video of activities with the snow cat.
