Blue Rock Station,
1190 Virginia Ridge Rd.
Philo Ohio 43771 USA
+1-740-674-4300 (phone)
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Or contact us by e-mail.
1190 Virginia Ridge Rd.
Philo Ohio 43771 USA
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Or contact us by e-
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The simple life
Family leaves careers in city to live close to land
Family leaves careers in city to live close to land
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Mark Ellis
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
PHILO, Ohio — The beat-up country dog that limped last year into Blue Rock Station discovered a new way of life.
Rosie was an abused, discarded mutt when she arrived at a ridge with a low-slung house built of tires, cans and earth. Today, she’s a healthy greeter who knows French.
A symbol of the 38-acre spread devoted to a self-sustaining lifestyle and the gospel of recycling, Rosie will welcome the public starting Thursday.
‘‘I was sure she was going to die," Annie Warmke said. ‘‘She was broken when she came here, and she’s been repaired, and now she’s recycled.
‘‘She’s a loving spirit," she said. ‘‘We’re marketing that."
The marketing includes a series of French commands that the dog has learned — a favorite with visiting schoolchildren, who also marvel at a composting toilet inside a house with walls made of about 1,200 tires.
The effort doesn’t stop there: Warmke has drawn attention to a cluster of attractions between Zanesville and McConnelsville at the edge of Appalachia.
Blue Rock Station, about 70 miles southeast of Columbus, rests near the center of a stretch dominated by the Muskingum River and near Blue Rock State Park and the Wilds animal preserve.
Warmke and her husband, Jay, left careers to develop the property as a study in independent living. Workshops, bus tours and school trips have mustered about 200 visitors a week in recent months.
"Annie and Jay have brought something unique to the area," said Beth Campbell, manager of Campbell’s Market, a grocery in nearby Duncan Falls. "A lot of people here are very self-sufficient, . . . have lived off the land.
"It fits in well."
Blue Rock Station includes Ohio’s first Earthship home made of recyclables, a tangle of woodland trails and two llamas. Gardens, including a sunflower labyrinth, are under way near a sprawling compost project and the beginnings of a pond. A "chicken chalet" is next up.
"It feels right," Mr. Warmke, 47, said while building an outdoor stairway with shredded tires as steps. "I don’t remember a time before when I was so aware of when the leaves come out and the bluebirds are here.
"You’re made aware of the world."
"For Jay and I, this was about just being whole as people and sharing . . . the vision we have," said Mrs. Warmke, 53.
Their vision came into focus with a life-altering move to Europe in September 2001.
Both were reared in Ohio. They bought the Muskingum County land in 1993 for a second home and getaway while working in Florida.
She ran the Women’s Peacepower Foundation for familyviolence prevention in Dade City; he ran BICSI, a Tampa telecommunications association.
They wanted to indulge their love of travel and broaden their worldview by moving to Europe with Cat, their granddaughter, now 11. They are rearing her after gaining custody from Mrs. Warmke’s daughter.
Mr. Warmke resigned as BICSI boss and took on the association’s European region, making the move possible.
The Sept. 11 terrorist attack was a jolt as they moved abroad, and they felt alienated by what they saw as an isolationist, consumer-driven American culture.
After two years in France, Mr. Warmke quit his job, and the family moved to Great Britain for "a gap year, . . . a huge learning experience" while pondering the future, Mrs. Warmke said.
She volunteered for Oxfam, an anti-poverty nonprofit company; he learned stable management and helped build an Earthship house in Scotland.
Life became more simple. They sold their Florida home and lived on savings, returning to Ohio in August.
"We came back because this is where our hearts are," she said.
They wanted Cat to know her roots: Her grandmother grew up on a farm near Baltimore, and her grandfather spent most of his childhood in Athens, where his father was an Ohio University economics professor.
"We have to have a place like this because, as we grow older, are a jumble of storage.
They went to Earthship Biotecture in Taos, N.M., in 1996 to learn building techniques created by architect Michael Reynolds. The concept is a house made of natural and recycled materials, with thermal-mass construction for steady temperatures and use of rainwater stored in cisterns.
Most of the cans and bottles — used to fill space in walls — were pulled from trash bins.
"I have vanity like anybody else," she said. "I found it disgusting getting into those Dumpsters to get beer bottles.
"You have to think of it as a means to an end, so I wasn’t embarrassed."
One end is economic development through eco-tourism.
They make money from tours, gardening-and-construction workshops and publications. A tea-and-talk series is planned for summer. And they sell llamawool kits for children.
The Warmkes circulate an area tour map and encourage cooperation among businesses.
"No savior factory is going to come and resurrect the economy," Mrs. Warmke said. "We have to develop pride in what we have to have an excuse to keep moving," she said. "Our bodies and our souls require it."
Mr. Warmke misses the income but savors "a tangible sense of accomplishment" in developing the property.
"You can’t stand back and admire a memo.
"I like the solitude of it, and I like being frugal."
The centerpiece of the frugal life is the unfinished Earthship. The Warmkes live in a rented house a few miles away because the 2,200-square-foot house is open for tours and some rooms we have. We’ve forgotten our rich history."
The blacksmith is part of history, but one is at work in Duncan Falls. Loren Roper uses hammer and anvil at Simply Smithing, where he does metalwork and charges a couple of dollars for people to watch.
The Warmkes have energized area attractions, he said. What visitors see in the area is "the life and blood of rural Ohio."
Blue Rock Station, Roper said, is "super-cool" but "a hard way of life."
Mrs. Warmke is undaunted.
"If you don’t have that child in you anymore,...you can’t truly be happy or have great passion in this life," she said. "You stopped listening to this child who said, ‘Recycling is cool.’ "
mellis@dispatch.com
MATT SULLIVAN | PHOTOS FOR THE DISPATCH
Annie Warmke makes tea in the kitchen of the Earthship house.
Annie Warmke, with llamas Jojo and Baxter, sells llama-wool kits for children.
Jay Warmke beyond the walkway wall made of empty beverage cans and cement
