After we jumped in to Harmony Hollow we realized that the Creek that ran along the border of the property was part of another parcel, The Historic Stamp Mill, and that even if we put all of Harmony Hollow into a conservation easement, the Cave Creek was still in jeopardy of not being conserved and protected.
I remembered hiking at Spur Cross and that we’d seen a sign that it had been for sale at some point. I asked Steve if he still had the photo of the for sale sign, and that maybe we should look into it because, who knows? Everything else had been falling into place and guiding us, let’s follow that feeling.
Little did we know about what we were in for.
We met Skip, and got to see his little hidden oasis on the Creek.
Lovingly named the Man Cave, Skip had spent the last 30 years turning the old Historic Stamp Mill site into a lush little getaway. He drove from Phoenix most days of the week to work on building amazing structures — a fish and frog pond, and the most amazing bi-level patio on the edge of the Creek overlooking Harmony Hollow.
As we marveled at his ingenious design he told us stories about how he’d acquired a lot of the building materials as salvage leftovers and he’d sit and think on it until something came to mind for which he could use them.
A Stamp Mill is a large machine that was used to crush rock in preparation for gold miners to extract ore. You can learn more about the process at the Cave Creek Museum, and even see a working mill in action at demos in the cooler months.
Skip built the patio around elements that had been left behind by the gold miners, and constructed a long pond with a gravity-fed water feature around the old stone walls.
The black stone rectangles in the middle the patio are part of the base that supported the mill.
Somehow, we’re not sure how, some of those stamp mill stones ended up at Harmony Hollow. They make up a nice little resting space in the shade.
There is just as much interesting stuff to explore on the Stamp Mill property as there is at Harmony Hollow. It will be fun to share it all here.
