Plenty of room in this tri-level home, inside and out! The spacious lower level is ideal for multigenerational living or a private guest room. Recent upgrades include an updated kitchen and new flooring and carpet throughout.
Relax in the huge backyard with its paving-stone patio, pond, and tons of deck space – even a covered spot! There’s room in the 2 car garage for all your camping gear, and enough driveway for an RV or boat.
Call them filberts or what you will, but drive almost anywhere in the Willamette Valley and you’ll pass hazelnut orchards. According to the Statesman Journal some 70,000 acres of Willamette Valley farmland are planted in hazelnuts trees and farmers are expected to plant 8,000 more acres each year. The 2018 harvest yielded about 47,000 tons, but by 2025, the yield is expected to be 90,000 tons annually.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when I found out my client worked in the hazelnut industry, I mean, 47K tons is a lot of nuts to deal with. As many of us do, I had forgotten that when I reach for my favorite agricultural products, hazelnuts or otherwise, that a lot of people have worked very hard to make those available to me.
It made sense that he found the perfect house in Salem as it’s centrally located in the Willamette Valley and I hope he’s going to love his new home for a good long time.
Fun Facts from the Oregon Hazelnut industry:
The hazelnut became Oregon’s official State Nut in 1989.
About 800 Oregon farm families grow hazelnuts on 70,000 acres.
The total value growers received for their hazelnut crop has averaged nearly $70 million during the last five years. This translates into a total economic impact of more than $150 million in Oregon.
Hazelnut trees can produce until over 100 years of age.
The hazelnut is unique in that it blooms and pollinates in the middle of winter. Wind carries the pollen from yellow catkins to a tiny red flower, where it stays dormant until June, when the nut begins to form.
The nuts mature during the summer months, turning from green to shades of hazel nestled in a protective husk, and are harvested in late September or October after they have fallen to the ground.
In 1858, the first cultured hazelnut tree was planted in Oregon by retired Hudson’s Bay Company employee, Sam Strictland in Scottsburg.
In 1903, George Dorris of Springfield started the first commercial orchard with more than 200 Barcelona hazelnut trees. Barcelona is the most prominent variety grown in Oregon today. The Dorris Ranch is now a living history filbert farm with thousands of visitors annually.
Also, if you made it this far and love to bake please make some of these cookies and write to me about how darn delicious they are!
Pringle Creek Community is a one of a kind neighborhood, and we are excited to let you know that a very special and unique home has just become available. Like that special someone who only comes around once in a blue moon, the Net Zero home is sure to take your breath away. This unique 4-bedroom and 2.5 bath home has a master on the main with plenty of natural light, as well as a beautiful courtyard that’s ideal for entertaining guests. When we think ofthe one, this one is the home that checks all the boxes.
Step into the Net Zero Home.
Taking even a closer look as to what makes the Net Zero home super energy efficient is it’s construction. It’s made out of ICF, which stands for insulated concrete forms. Essentially, 100% recycled polystyrene blocks are put up like you might think of Legos. They are connected together, and then concrete is poured in between them to make a form that provides a very tight building insulation envelope. This means, your energy bills will be significantly less, because it takes less energy to heat and cool the home. This home exhibits expert craftsmanship thanks to Better Builders of Oregon’s expertise in building with ICF for over 25 years.
Light-filled Living
Zooming back out, Pringle Creek Community also has wonderful amenities for its residents, like the first LEED Platinum community center in the nation along with a flourishing urban farm. Residents can choose to have indoor and outdoor gardening plots, or just stop and smell the roses while picking up an extra sprig of rosemary to liven things up. The dedicated green space expands beyond the urban farm’s green houses to the meadows, orchards and spills into the serene namesake Pringle Creek. As you can see, the Net Zero home is such a unique opportunity that doesn’t come along too often. Don’t miss out on this special home situated in an urban oasis.
