In a society where it’s increasingly hard to even start a decent career and loneliness is reaching epidemic proportions it might be time to think of alternatives to the near-ubiquitous privat…
Early community engagement in the planning and development phases sets this cohousing project apart.
Cohousing y las urbanizaciones. Una nueva forma de reducir gastos y convivir en comunidad intentando reducir el individualismo. ¿Es viable?
Architect Laura Fitch describes cohousing communities as "privacy within your home, and community at your doorstep."
What about your privacy? Don’t you want your own little piece of heaven on earth? Is it like some kind of sect? These are some of the common reactions one receives when mentioning that you are…
“the very process of living together educates. It enlarges and enlightens experience; it stimulates and enriches imagination” – John Dewey What is cohousing? Cohousing is a type of intentional community where individuals, couples and families come together to share common goals, plus the workload and benefits of living closely with others – but at the… Continue reading Cohousing
Just as a home is more than its walls and windows, cohousing homes are more than standard condos. To the people who create, join and live cohousing communities, they join an active and involved community of neighbors who know and care about each other and together live more consciously of one another and the earth. Successful communities generally share 5 key characteristics that may tempt you to consider a cohousing community for your next move.
I live in a cohousing community, writes Ben Brock Johnson, and not only is it far from weird, I think it should be a lot more common. It’s like living amidst a brain trust, a flash mob, a grounds crew and a therapy group.
What about your privacy? Don’t you want your own little piece of heaven on earth? Is it like some kind of sect? These are some of the common reactions one receives when mentioning that you are…
Experiments in cooperative living offer a great model for building sustainable urban communities. But can they work for everyone?
The Twin Cities is exploring cohousing as an option for multigenerational & sustainable living. In St. Louis Park, Monterey Cohousing Community is thriving.
A film on cohousing showcases the lives of those living in cohousing communities in Northern California. We talk to filmmaker John De Graaf about the project and its reception since the premiere.
Early community engagement in the planning and development phases sets this cohousing project apart.
Ground Floor Plan Second Floor Plan Co-housing Manor is a design exercise looking at a different form of housing for today's Baby Boomer generation that wants to downsize and simplify from the large homes they raised their families in. In many ways they still need the large homes after their kids have grown and moved away. They need the number of bedrooms for when the next generation comes to visit. They need the large kitchen and entertaining areas for family celebrations and holidays. The three car garage also has become a large project or hobby space that is difficult to give up when downsizing. And often an adult kid may need to come back to live at home when economic hardship or divorce happens. Family members often like to be in closer proximity to each other. Like in the case of an elderly relative that needs to watched over, or the need to take care of a house while someone is traveling for extended periods. The expense of gas and frustration of traffic at certain times of the day can limit the ability of family members to travel across town or between cities to be supportive of each other. Families today also are comprised of close friends that they feel the same level of care for as actual relations and are an integral part of their lives. Co-Housing Manor is a way for a close group of people to live together in a supportive way and still maintain a level of privacy and autonomy. It is five independent living units that share larger common amenities that are difficult to give up when moving to smaller homes, as well as allow the supportive family environment that close proximity allows. There are five living units ranging from 638 to 1729 square feet. The total building area is 8900 square feet giving an average of 1,800 sf per unit. So it allows you to downsize to about 1,500 sf yet retain the large public areas that would be common in a house of 8 to 10 thousand square feet. There is a 19' by 32' Great Hall that can be used for large entertaining such as holidays or family celebrations like birthdays or weddings. It can also be available to invite the wider neighborhood in for community interaction. There is a likewise large outdoor covered gathering space for more casual or impromptu socializing. Supporting both spaces is a large central kitchen which can have larger capacity appliances for use of residents and offers more space than in their private units for projects that need larger layout counters. There is a guest suite attached to the common area to accommodate visitors that allows both they and you privacy that is difficult when you have downsized to a condominium. There is a separate garage that can be set up for a shop or be used for extra storage of sports equipment or hobbies that would not fit within the single garage provided each unit. There are five two story townhouses at each corner separated by garages so they are very private and there is no chance of noise transmission through common walls. The rooms are on the small side, but there are large master baths and walk in closets normally found in larger homes. There is a second space that can be used for home office, guest room or media center. A studio apartment on the second floor can be rented out or used for an adult child that has moved back, or for a person that can act as a caretaker for the complex. Click here to see exterior views. Click here to see interior views. Click here to see another Co-housing Design Concept
Today’s article on cohousing communities was contributed by Alyse Nelson of Sightline Institute. We hope you enjoy the article and the two galleries that follow! Cohousing: Living large in sm…
Credit: Flickr / Quayside Village The new “old fashioned neighbourhood” encourages both […]
About WindSong Cohousing WindSong incorporates the best of urban and rural lifestyles. Our property is rich with indoor and outdoor beauty.Our 34 townhomes are in two long rows facing each other across a pedestrian street. The common house is located midway between the north and south ends. Community streets are covered by a greenhouse-style glass
Today’s intentional communities may look like the communes of yesteryear, but they don’t operate like them. Here’s why cohousing is gaining popularity.
Review by Charles Durrett Original article by Jennifer Latson in Psychology Today You know that we’re getting somewhere when the renowned magazine Psychology Today publishes a feature-length 10-page article about the importance of personal connections. They refer to loneliness as a disease and war
Cohousing neighborhoods are collaborative communities of 12-35 homes where you really know your neighbors and agree that together you can create more than you can alone.
The first affordable, ecological cohousing project in the U.K, LILAC addresses three major issues of our time: climate change, current financial
Oddly, the city has proposed not to encourage a popular concept: handfuls of cottages that surround a common yard
Chatham has worked with Pittsburgh Cohousing to create the EcoVillage, the first neighborhood of its kind in the region. Based on a practice that began in Denmark and has grown in the United States since around 1990, the concept is a close-knit community built on cooperation, sustainability, and contributing to the ecology and academic work of the surrounding campus.
By Nancy P. Kropf, Dean of Perimeter College & Professor of Social Work at Georgia State University and Sherry Cummings, Associate Dean and Profesor of Social Work at University of Tennessee One of the major questions of growing older is, “where do I want to live as I
The co-living concept may be new to you, but it is growing in popularity. Here we review the benefits, downsides, but most importantly, we get into . . .
Image 11 of 26 from gallery of Nanterre Co-Housing / MaO architectes + Tectône. Photograph by Arnaud Schelstraete
Experiments in cooperative living offer a great model for building sustainable urban communities. But can they work for everyone?
