thanks guys. WileyCoyote, my cousin & her husband lived in a Yurt for many years in the east Cascades with no power except a wood stove and genny. They used an outhouse for years before adding on. And I watched them tackle a reliable and consistent system to draw water from the river about 50 yards away and down slope. It became unfeasible to live there once their DD was born. The 7 mile commute to/fro the parking lot on snowmobiles got a bit much in the winter. So they live in town now.

I get the keep it simple aspect. Simple would be 100% grid as its what I am used to. Hey it works while it works, right? Then I suppose just having a good back up genny ready to power the essentials in an occasional outage, again like a good prepared suburban homeowner would do. I think, think!, that in my vision I can rewire a house to run a lot of things like lights, some occasional summer a/c and electronics off of a 12v system similar to an RV which would be powered normally by solar & grid (yes wind if possible) then totally by solar, propane, and genny if there was no grid power. I think based on what I have read on here, online in other places and talking to friends in the RV electricial fields that it is possible to configure a house during build or much older house on site to run off a set up similar to an RV system.

My shed would be a pretty simple affair, an established barn would be best, but I'm looking at a prefab metal set up or basic wood frame over concrete. My dad is a hobby wood worker and over the last 30 years has more power tools and implements than most good High School wood shops do. He'd never part with them and would appreciate having more space than just half of his current garage to tinker. His experience and tools would help get a lot of the coops, components, fencing and other set ups done cheaply and onsite. I admit that construction is a shortcoming for me.