We have a house in the forest, and in our own. This, of course, is not a forest in the direct sense, but former collective farm gardens, but still. Such a hut in the middle of the forest thicket, although rather a mansion to which we are in a hurry to return more and more often.
To build a house in the forest, you first need to purchase this very piece of forest. According to any laws, forest in Russia cannot be purchased. Once upon a time, such a topic appeared in the information space about the Far Eastern hectare. The idea is good, many picked it up then, some for ideological reasons, some from a purely economic point of view. We belong to the second group and also love nature and solitude. And why not buy a plot away from civilization and build a house on it that will be light and comfortable, where you want to come and relax with your soul. And they started looking…
What land can be found for acquisition on a budget:
Former collective farm lands, given to the collective farmer after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the property. Most often, land was given out in not the most successful places. A common problem is the lack of roads, proximity to communications and settlements. If the lands were good, then they found an owner long ago. Agricultural land. As a rule, abandoned former gardens or fields.
Unsuccessfully located cottages, as a rule, on the outskirts, with problematic roads, without some significant communications for someone, and so on. And on the outskirts means close to the forest, which is also considered as an option. And such «uncomfortable» areas are not expensive. The building in such areas is immediately for demolition, repair is often not particularly appropriate. But if there is electricity, then consider that you already have almost everything 
, this is from experience.
If you search long and hard for ads on well-known sites, you can find completely unexpected things. We even found a plot for 50 thousand rubles 100 meters from the edge of the Sea of Azov. Yes, uncomfortable, but still.
The only option that we faced was agricultural land. We found wonderful people who acquired a large amount of land from such a former collective farm with “inconveniences” and divided it into smaller plots and sold them to good people, or rather to their future neighbors. The plots of each are quite large from 1 ha or more, and each on his site uses the space according to his desires and needs. Basically, of course, this is agriculture, crop production, animal husbandry, fish farming and the production of eco-food products.
But there are also lazy people like us who come only to ennoble the territory, collect the gifts of their own forest (the former collective farm garden) and relax 
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Our plot is 1.5 ha. Hazelnuts, wild apple trees, wild rose, hawthorn, blackthorn, mushrooms and many medicinal herbs grow on it. The gardens were with hazelnuts, the rest grew on their own (the gardens abandoned after the collapse of the USSR were mixed with the forest). But even now, after so many years, the division between the real forest and the former gardens is clearly visible, especially on J. Maps.
The average cost of a plot of 1 ha of agricultural land in the Krasnodar Territory (we take the Seversky District) is about 100 thousand rubles, this is from what we know, perhaps something has changed, we acquired a long time ago. Yes, there are restrictions, in contrast to the lands of settlements and lands in settlements, there is no registration, you cannot build on a solid foundation, there are requirements for the cleanliness of the territory, such a site cannot be left to chance. But what a huge number of now abandoned sites like this, a ready-made “wild forest” for nature lovers.
Now electricity is supplied to such plots without problems, the only question is the financial condition of you and your neighbors, if any. The state is very interested in such previously abandoned lands being privatized, because then the land has a real owner who pays taxes. Incidentally, the tax on such plots is quite adequate, about 2,000 rubles per year.
House on the lot
Let me remind you that on agricultural land you cannot build on a solid foundation (if you chose the option with a summer house, there is a different approach). The most optimal solution is frame-panel technology. It’s cheap and pretty fast. Timber frame, insulation and sheathing on both sides. But we have a log house, I’ll tell you why we chose this option: heaters sold in hardware stores are far from environmental standards that are acceptable for us (this is how we decided for ourselves). After all, when building an eco-house in an eco-friendly place, you want the whole building to be perfect in every detail. Most heaters are mineral wool with phenol-formaldehyde resins. And it’s hot here in the Kuban, all this can melt and release not very useful substances into the air. Maybe we are wrong, but this is our opinion. Only now heaters based on acrylic resins, linen-based and so on are beginning to appear. But if you use such a more environmentally friendly flax insulation, for example, then a house with log walls came out much cheaper.
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Stages of building a log house in the forest
Stages of building a log house in the forest
We purchased linen insulation, but used it only for floor and ceiling insulation. We bought the log house from Siberia remotely, because the forest from the Krasnodar Territory is not suitable for such construction (the pine forest in the Krasnodar Territory is on the mountains, there is no flat one, and in the mountains the logs are not so even, as they explained to me). In fact, a designer came to us, who was already assembled by local craftsmen according to the scheme as «Lego». The walls and ceilings were assembled in a week, the floor and decoration were done later in a more relaxed mode with the help of our beloved neighbors. Most importantly, a log house does not need a capital foundation. It is also possible to dismantle such a house and move it to another place. The cost of a 6×6 m log house is the price of three new iPhones, I’m not kidding 
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About communications
Roads and their absence. In the summer and dry season, getting home is very realistic, but the wet road turns into a skating rink and slurry. But we will find pluses here: there are no vandals and random people. When the road is wet, we leave the car in the nearest settlement and, in chic rubber boots, stomp through the forest for 2-3 km through the forest, enjoying the fresh air, the singing of birds and the surrounding nature.
Electricity is in the process of being carried out, but while it is in the connection stage (it is not known how long it will be extended), we use solar panels. A video will be released a little later, there will be about this issue in all details.
Heating. A wood-burning stove of the “fire-battery” type with a smoldering mode so as not to throw up firewood all night and sleep peacefully. It warms up the house in winter if we came here this season in 30 minutes! Firewood is not a question at all, clearing your hectare plot of overgrowth and dry trees, you have enough firewood to live 365 days a year, not to mention rare races.
Cooking food on a tourist stove with a gas cartridge. With fairly rare visits, it lasts for a long time.
Water. We import it by car when there is such an opportunity, a lot of bottles for drinking and household needs. Well, for swimming there is a river 100 meters from our site.
Toilet. Standard house 10 meters from the main house.
The most important thing for which this house was built: a forest, fresh air, a river, the absence of crowds around, solitude and the ability to “cool off” during the sultry Krasnodar hell in summer (the temperature here in summer is slightly lower due to the lack of concrete, asphalt and car exhaust gases) .
Comfort
The concept of «comfort» is subjective, you see… Many people imagine a house in the forest as a picture of their magazine or film, in any case, many of those with whom we talked, talking about our achievements in this direction. The first question that arises is: either it should be comfortable and with all communications, or not at all . But with the right approach, everything is real! It’s not expensive, it’s affordable. The main thing for yourself is to decide what amenities you really cannot live without, include them in the plan and act!
Video clip:
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