From design, to clearing land, to bringing water to the site from a natural spring, we put our homesteading adventure into action. We were fortunate to find a great crew of people from the surrounding area to help us. Together we dragged out old hardwood fallen logs from deep within the forest, hand cut adobe bricks, learned about the culture and community, and developed friendships while building our house.

 Over time we became aware of the great ecological importance of the forest, its unique orientation in the area, its abundant water supply and the history of anthropogenic actions. This was the catalyst to designate the land for conservation and declared it a private nature reserve.

Villa Monte Reserve is an active natural reserve where we experiment, study, generate small-scale sustainable models and create learning experiences through workshops, internships and volunteer positions.