Our silos are lucky enough to be on a very historic homestead in the heart of Teton Valley Idaho. There is a lovely historic farmhouse, lovingly built by hand by local farmers Burton and Leatha Kunz in the late 1940s.
Leatha was a passionate gardener, strawberries were one of her signature crops. She also loved keeping chickens. Burton was dairy farming, and grain farming – and that’s why we have the silos!
Burton & Leatha raised 10 children in the farmhouse, starting out living in the basement. Their son, LaRell Kunz, remembers the day his dad plopped the silos down on the property. I guess his mom had a slightly strong reaction to her view of the Teton mountains being obscured by two grey metal grain bins.
In 1977 LaRell and his wife Deanne moved home to Teton Valley. They built their family home next door to his Mom and Dad. We are so blessed to have them as neighbors. We love hearing their stories about the his grandfather, the farm, growing up here, and raising their 8 kids next door.)
Homesteading History: Samuel Kunz circa 1860s
Double Silo’s farmhouse property story goes even further back though. LaRell’s grandfather Samuel was one of the first farm settlers in this valley. He came from Switzerland around the turn of the century and built a little cabin – right where our garage is! He was the patriarch of the Kunz family, and his ancestors are still abundant on the west side of Teton Valley, thriving as farmers and raising beautiful families.
When we purchased the property it was bank owned (twice sold since the Kunz family lived here). It had been abandoned for almost two years. We had a great time with the farmhouse: cleaning it up, painting everything, uncovering and polishing the wood floors and breathing a new life into the old family home.
Farmhouse Fix Up Photos
It was during that project when Pete got the idea to remodel the grain bin silos into a tiny house!
It’s a beautiful, peaceful location with working farms to the south and north, the Teton River & the Tetons to the east, and the National Forest just west.
