diff --git a/lib/vagrant/environment.rb b/lib/vagrant/environment.rb
index 684f4d2c1..1ebca525d 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant/environment.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant/environment.rb
@@ -4,11 +4,28 @@ module Vagrant
   # storing references to the various instances.
   class Environment
     ROOTFILE_NAME = "Vagrantfile"
+    HOME_SUBDIRS = ["tmp", "boxes"]
 
     include Util
 
     attr_reader :root_path
     attr_reader :config
+    attr_reader :box
+    attr_reader :vm
+
+    #---------------------------------------------------------------
+    # Path Helpers
+    #---------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    # The path to the `dotfile`, which contains the persisted UUID of
+    # the VM if it exists.
+    def dotfile_path
+      File.join(root_path, config.vagrant.dotfile_name)
+    end
+
+    #---------------------------------------------------------------
+    # Load Methods
+    #---------------------------------------------------------------
 
     # Loads this environment's configuration and stores it in the {config}
     # variable. The configuration loaded by this method is specified to
@@ -33,5 +50,41 @@ module Vagrant
       # Execute the configuration stack and store the result
       @config = Config.execute!
     end
+
+    # Loads the home directory path and creates the necessary subdirectories
+    # within the home directory if they're not already created.
+    def load_home_directory!
+      home_path = File.expand_path(config.vagrant.home)
+
+      # Setup the array of necessary home directories
+      dirs = HOME_SUBDIRS.collect { |subdir| File.join(home_path, subdir) }
+      dirs.unshift(home_path)
+
+      # Go through each required directory, creating it if it doesn't exist
+      dirs.each do |dir|
+        next if File.directory?(dir)
+
+        logger.info "Creating home directory since it doesn't exist: #{dir}"
+        FileUtils.mkdir_p(dir)
+      end
+    end
+
+    # Loads the specified box for this environment.
+    def load_box!
+      return unless root_path
+
+      @box = Box.find(config.vm.box) if config.vm.box
+    end
+
+    # Loads the persisted VM (if it exists) for this environment.
+    def load_vm!
+      return if !root_path || !File.file?(dotfile_path)
+
+      File.open(dotfile_path) do |f|
+        @vm = Vagrant::VM.find(f.read)
+      end
+    rescue Errno::ENOENT
+      @vm = nil
+    end
   end
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
index 9196b3aba..2c5a7db70 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.rb
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -18,6 +18,59 @@ require 'contest'
 require 'mocha'
 
 class Test::Unit::TestCase
+  # Mocks an environment, setting it up with the given config.
+  def mock_environment
+    Vagrant::Config.reset!
+
+    Vagrant::Config.run do |config|
+      config.vagrant.dotfile_name = ".vagrant"
+
+      config.ssh.username = "foo"
+      config.ssh.password = "bar"
+      config.ssh.host = "baz"
+      config.ssh.forwarded_port_key = "ssh"
+      config.ssh.max_tries = 10
+      config.ssh.timeout = 10
+      config.ssh.private_key_path = '~/foo'
+
+      config.vm.box = "foo"
+      config.vm.box_ovf = "box.ovf"
+      config.vm.base_mac = "42"
+      config.vm.project_directory = "/vagrant"
+      config.vm.disk_image_format = 'VMDK'
+      config.vm.forward_port("ssh", 22, 2222)
+      config.vm.shared_folder_uid = nil
+      config.vm.shared_folder_gid = nil
+
+      config.package.name = 'vagrant'
+      config.package.extension = '.box'
+
+      # Chef
+      config.chef.chef_server_url = "http://localhost:4000"
+      config.chef.validation_key_path = "validation.pem"
+      config.chef.client_key_path = "/zoo/foo/bar.pem"
+      config.chef.cookbooks_path = "cookbooks"
+      config.chef.provisioning_path = "/tmp/vagrant-chef"
+      config.chef.json = {
+        :recipes => ["vagrant_main"]
+      }
+
+      config.vagrant.home = '~/.home'
+    end
+
+    if block_given?
+      Vagrant::Config.run do |config|
+        yield config
+      end
+    end
+
+    config = Vagrant::Config.execute!
+
+    environment = Vagrant::Environment.new
+    environment.instance_variable_set(:@config, config)
+    environment
+  end
+
   # Clears the previous config and sets up the new config
   def mock_config
     Vagrant::Config.reset!
diff --git a/test/vagrant/environment_test.rb b/test/vagrant/environment_test.rb
index 5b8b94fc4..a280cca8b 100644
--- a/test/vagrant/environment_test.rb
+++ b/test/vagrant/environment_test.rb
@@ -1,10 +1,26 @@
 require File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'test_helper')
 
-class EnvTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
+class EnvironmentTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   setup do
     mock_config
   end
 
+  context "paths" do
+    setup do
+      @env = mock_environment
+    end
+
+    context "dotfile path" do
+      setup do
+        @env.stubs(:root_path).returns("foo")
+      end
+
+      should "build up the dotfile out of the root path and the dotfile name" do
+        assert_equal File.join(@env.root_path, @env.config.vagrant.dotfile_name), @env.dotfile_path
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
   context "loading config" do
     setup do
       @root_path = "/foo"
@@ -57,4 +73,100 @@ class EnvTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       assert_equal result, @env.config
     end
   end
+
+  context "loading home directory" do
+    setup do
+      @env = mock_environment
+      @home_dir = File.expand_path(@env.config.vagrant.home)
+
+      File.stubs(:directory?).returns(true)
+      FileUtils.stubs(:mkdir_p)
+    end
+
+    should "create each directory if it doesn't exist" do
+      create_seq = sequence("create_seq")
+      File.stubs(:directory?).returns(false)
+      Vagrant::Env::HOME_SUBDIRS.each do |subdir|
+        FileUtils.expects(:mkdir_p).with(File.join(@home_dir, subdir)).in_sequence(create_seq)
+      end
+
+      @env.load_home_directory!
+    end
+
+    should "not create directories if they exist" do
+      File.stubs(:directory?).returns(true)
+      FileUtils.expects(:mkdir_p).never
+      @env.load_home_directory!
+    end
+  end
+
+  context "loading box" do
+    setup do
+      @box = mock("box")
+
+      @env = mock_environment
+      @env.stubs(:root_path).returns("foo")
+    end
+
+    should "do nothing if the root path is nil" do
+      Vagrant::Box.expects(:find).never
+      @env.stubs(:root_path).returns(nil)
+      @env.load_box!
+    end
+
+    should "not load the box if its not set" do
+      @env = mock_environment do |config|
+        config.vm.box = nil
+      end
+
+      Vagrant::Box.expects(:find).never
+      @env.load_box!
+    end
+
+    should "set the box to what is found by the Box class" do
+      Vagrant::Box.expects(:find).with(@env.config.vm.box).once.returns(@box)
+      @env.load_box!
+      assert @box.equal?(@env.box)
+    end
+  end
+
+  context "loading the UUID out from the persisted dotfile" do
+    setup do
+      @env = mock_environment
+      @env.stubs(:root_path).returns("foo")
+
+      File.stubs(:file?).returns(true)
+    end
+
+    should "loading of the uuid from the dotfile" do
+      vm = mock("vm")
+
+      filemock = mock("filemock")
+      filemock.expects(:read).returns("foo")
+      Vagrant::VM.expects(:find).with("foo").returns(vm)
+      File.expects(:open).with(@env.dotfile_path).once.yields(filemock)
+      File.expects(:file?).with(@env.dotfile_path).once.returns(true)
+      @env.load_vm!
+
+      assert_equal vm, @env.vm
+    end
+
+    should "do nothing if the root path is nil" do
+      File.expects(:open).never
+      @env.stubs(:root_path).returns(nil)
+      @env.load_vm!
+    end
+
+    should "do nothing if dotfile is not a file" do
+      File.expects(:file?).returns(false)
+      File.expects(:open).never
+      @env.load_vm!
+    end
+
+    should "uuid should be nil if dotfile didn't exist" do
+      File.expects(:open).raises(Errno::ENOENT)
+      @env.load_vm!
+      assert_nil @env.vm
+    end
+  end
 end