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Cabin on
Lizard
Acres
Betty Lee and her husband
wanted a weekend home on the
desert—but their budget was limited.
So they leased five acres oi
desert land from Uncle Sam and
went to work. Here is the story of
what this energetic young couple
—amateurs at home construction
— accomplished with $612 cash,
the help and advice oi friends,
heaps of ingenuity and eight
months of hard weekend work.
By BETTY LEE
Floor Plan Sketch by M. Gerke
PLEASANT BREEZE, clear
skies and a warm Apple Valley
sun increased our optimism
as we sat watching the Ford Skiploader
plod up the long stretch of section
road to our Mojave Jackrabbit
homestead. We had read and heard of
what others had done with five acres
of desert, a limited budget and quantities
of energy. Could we do it too,
my husband and I wondered, with
such a limited amount of cash, and
that only available in small doses?
$612.51 and eight months oj weekend labor went into Lizard Acres, the author's
jackrabbit homestead in Apple Valley, California.
Our property — five acres of raw
desert land—lay on the gentle slopes
of California's San Bernardino Mountains,
1100 feet off the section road
just beyond the enterprising little desert
community of Apple Valley. We
had leased it from Uncle Sam in October,
under the government's small
tracts section of the Homesteading Act.
We had paid a $10 filing fee and $5
per year lease fee for three years—a
total initial outlay of $25. At the end
of the three years, we would have first
option to re-lease or purchase the land
at $10 an acre, if satisfactory improvements
— a dwelling was prescribed —
had been made. We were determined
to make those improvements.
We spent the first day of our homesteading
adventure following the skiploader
back and forth and tossing away
loosened brush. Between cacti and
juniper slowly emerged a road.
Betty Lee estimates she and her husband spent a total
of 230 hours of work on Lizard Acres and had 150 hours
more volunteered by friends.
We chose a building site which overlooked
the valley. It was a solid plot
with few rocks or other barriers. High
above the valley floor, we could see
30 or 40 miles in the smog-free air.
The building, we decided, must face
northeast as protection from the heat
of the summer sun, for July through
September is hot in Apple Valley. The
ground was leveled and corner stakes
measured before the first day ended
in purple shadows and bright setting
sun. We sat down and viewed our
day's work and watched the lights of
the valley below sparkle on one by
one.
Our building plan allowed for one
large room 18 feet by 22 feet, a carport
1 1 feet by 18 feet and a bath 7
feet by 8 feet. Realizing our biggest
problem would be water, we inquired
about possibilities and learned a community
well was available to valley
The result is a comfortable weekend
retreat easily accessible to their Los
A ngeles home.
SEPTEMBER, 1954 15