Sweeping panoramic mountain views, rolling hills, and meandering meadows are par for the course along beautiful Old Hill City Road, and Verlin and Phyllis Schlultz’ s home sits on some of the prettiest country in the Black Hills.
“ Our property has one of the best views around here. From the house, we can see Elkhorn, and we can see Harney Peak, and it ' s just a beautiful view.”
A Slice of Heaven story by Laura Lindblom
Sweeping panoramic mountain views, rolling hills, and meandering meadows are par for the course along beautiful Old Hill City Road, and Verlin and Phyllis Schlultz’ s home sits on some of the prettiest country in the Black Hills.
“ Our property has one of the best views around here,” Verlin said.“ From the house, we can see Elkhorn, and we can see Harney Peak, and it ' s just a beautiful view.”
Hill City is a convenient, short drive away, but in spite of their proximity to town, they have all the peace and solitude of a more remote location.“ It ' s in an area that ' s nice and quiet. From the house, we don’ t hear any noise at all from the road, which isn’ t far away. We get a lot of traffic, and we don’ t hear anything. Even during the Rally, we don’ t hear any of the motorcycles going by. It’ s just very quiet, very peaceful, and we love it.”
The 8-acre parcel is partially timbered and beautifully maintained.“ I have the trees all thinned out, so there ' s no fire danger to speak of,” Verlin said. There are no covenants, allowing ample scope for the imagination for the project-oriented or the small-scale homesteader to bring ideas to fruition.“ They could do whatever they wanted,” Verlin said, including building another house in a different location, or even subdividing the parcel.
The property is completely fenced with woven wire sheep fence, so small livestock could be kept. Gardens or a greenhouse could be established, and for the avid horseman or horsewoman, hundreds of acres of Forest Service are easily accessible, bordering the parcel on the north and the east.
“ The house was built by a friend of mine that used to build commercial buildings, so he built it super, super strong, and it ' s like a fort, so we don ' t worry about storms or anything,” Verlin said, an incredibly beneficial characteristic in a region known for some extremes of weather, from Winter Storm Atlas to the windstorm in December 2025. Not only is the 1,040 square foot berm home built like a fort, being set into the side of a hill, which helps keep it cool in the summertime even without AC, but the southwest exposure allows for wintertime sunshine to warm the house as well, making it super energy-efficient in all seasons. The house has Andersen windows with extra heavy glass.“ They’ re very tight. It doesn’ t take much to heat it,” Verlin said.
The house interior glows with warm pine tongue-andgroove paneling.“ It’ s bugwood,” Verlin said,“ So it has a little bit of color to it.” The bugwood beautifully complements the slate backdrop for the freestanding propane stove, which pro-
20 Down Country Roads November / December 2026