It has been raining here, a welcome bit of weather on the whole.  But sustained rain events do tend to illustrate one of the often overlooked points of the landscape, that is to say the shaped environment within which the house sits.  Namely, that it is engineered. 

The house sits on the crest of the hill, and so water would not seem to be an issue, and certainly it is not one in the catastrophic sense that one finds in the river valleys.  Hilltops tend to be somewhat difficult to flood.  However, anyone who spends time in the region’s woods learns that bog, streams, and other damp bits can happily perch on hilltops.  (a stellar example of one such bog will undoubtedly be the subject of posts here)  Therefore, if one wishes to build a house, one is advised to consider what the water wants to do. 

In general modern house lots don’t worry too much about major drainage, generally we have already done unto the water in the area and the wetlands don’t exist.  Or if wetlands do exist, you usually aren’t permitted to build there.  But Esperanza’s lot wasn’t fiddled with before the current house was built, so the original design is still extant.  Basically, it is a two-pronged approach: divert as much as possible: two massive tile drains to the east of the house drain the slighly higher (but wetter!) ground to the north and east. Secondly, accept that the water will be there: the foundation and basement are designed to allow water to flow through the north wall built of loose fieldstone, into open channels running the length of the basement and out the south end.  One of the tile drains, the house’s roof and the basement all drain into a set of cisterns that were previously used for utility water. 

You do have to accept a somewhat soggy basement at times (and yes it Is soggy than it ought to be currently but that is a different topic).  However, if the cisterns were cleaned out, grey water would be readily available.  Sensible that.