What is Cohousing?
And How Is Cohousing Different?
This Watercolor is a wonderful interpretation of our village and a generous gift from famed artist Kirsten Kawamura- click to learn more....
1. We Are An Intentional Community
We are intentional about Sharing Time Routinely Together, About Mutual Care and Support, About Sharing Resources to Live More Sustainably, About Living Guided by Collective Values, and About Designing our Physical and Social Governance to Ensure We Thrive Socially. At its core, an intentional community is simply a group of people who consciously (intentionally) choose to become a tribe together. The intentionality for community has been described as ”extended family by choice.” Yet intentionality goes beyond simply choosing each other and community. An intentional community can also be a group of people who choose to live together with a shared purpose. While many who use this definition tend to be talking about people with a shared religion, political opinion, or ideology, our cohousing community celebrates diversity in those ways. We have diverse religions, nationalities, ideologies, etc. Our common purpose however is a enjoyment of and commitment to our community and a celebration of those bonds- in the form of sharing time together regularly, managing our village together, and cooking and eating together. Another common purpose is to unify as a village around our shared values, and these values inform our community policies and design. One of those central values is living more sustainably by sharing resources and protecting ourselves and our community from the effects of climate change. For instance, after ensuring our multigenerational needs are met, we strive becoming energy and water self-sufficient. We are also intentional about how we design our physical environment and our social environment. We use sociocracy to govern, have conflict resolution infrastructure and training, and most of all we regularly share time having fun together, cooking and eating, and celebrating with each other to help soften the inevitable bumps when people live together.
Please Note: Intentional Community Requires Physical Presence, Routine Shared Time, and Relationship Building. Thus, We are Not a Part Time or Vacation Community. We create a social compact to share time, but we also very much value our private lives and our private spaces. This balance is important.
2. Vision and Values Led:
We Share a Collective Vision and Set Of Values that Guide Our Choices, Our Policies, and our Culture.
Check out our Vision & Values Statement Here
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3. Community Contribution and Design:
We Collaborate to Co-create and Co-Manage Our Village.
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Acting as “owner-developers,” the future residents of any cohousing community come together in advance, identify and purchase land or buildings together, hire the right developer and builders, and design their village collaboratively with their professionals. Some groups renovate to design their village, and others build new. We chose to build new. We came together in a series of exciting and pioneering collaborative design workshops, with our developer Hillcon Build Group, on our land and in Sparta. We designed every detail of our village with our developer, and we utilized both traditional Greek design as well as universal Cohousing design. In addition, our design details reflect our own shared vision and values, including space for things we value doing together. For instance, we designed a huge walk in restaurant style refrigerator in our Common House because we plan to buy local ingredients, choose from our garden, and cook locally from seasonal, delicious ingredients. It was a meaningful experience that used all of our minds as a brain trust and the talents of our amazing professionals. We created something truly spectacular we are proud of, and we look forward to growing our group and beginning to design our social policies as well as our community culture and celebrations.
4. Special Architectural Design:
We Design Every Detail Of Our Physical Architecture
To Choreograph Moments of Connection
and Prioritize Spaces for Shared Activities.
Everything about our village architecture and site layout is designed to choreograph a joyful community that connects easily. The design also is meant to balance important private lives and private spaces with public spaces that enhance social interaction. Cohousing architectural design principals are inspired by the social spaces of the traditional village, and Greek villages are some of the most beautiful and social in the world. The Greek village central plateia, the village fourno bread oven, and the village fountain, as well as Greek village walkways, all of these have a natural and organic place in our village as we integrate our home into this breathtaking, rich cultural and physical landscape. While cohousing design draws inspiration from these timeless village layouts, it also incorporates contemporary needs and sustainable practices. Our Common House is the heart of Greek Village Cohousing, embodying our commitment to shared living. It features a coworking suite for remote professionals, a workshop, exercise gym, media room, library, living room, and a spacious kitchen and dining hall for communal meals. This central hub is designed to be welcoming and versatile, supporting a range of activities from solitude to social gatherings, thus strengthening community bonds
5. Nonhierarchical Governance
We make decisions using a demonstrably better way to ensure all voices are heard- Sociocracy with Consent
6. Shared Time,
Shared Cooking & Meals:
Cooking & Eating Together is An Essential Cohousing Ingredient
Individual cohousing homes have private kitchens. However, the heart of cohousing is the Common House, and the most important activity in the Common House is cooking and eating together several times a week, often with fresh ingredients from the garden.
The Mediterranean diet is widely considered one of the healthiest possible diets and has produced some of the longest living people on earth. Our community values living a healthy Greek life focused on sharing meals made with fresh and local ingredients. Not only is cooking with neighbors fun but not having to cook every day is also fun, especially in Greece where you can instead spend the day swimming at the beach or hiking in the mountains. On the days you cook at home for yourself, if you have forgotten to pick up the spices, rest assured your neighbor will probably have both the spices and cooking advice, or you can both go pick your herbs from the gardens. Prefer to relax at the taverna, rest assured that if you want company, someone will want to go with you to enjoy the wonderful food and views.
Starting to cook together the Greek way
Rocky Hill Cohousing, Massachusetts, USA
Installing photovoltaic cells on the rooftops
Highline Crossing Cohousing in Colorado, USA
7. Living Sustainably:
We Share Resources, Conserve Energy and Water, Recycle and Seek to Be
Good Stewards
of Our Land
Environmental sustainability in cohousing generally also comes from preserving open spaces and using native species in landscaping, which supports local ecosystems and reduces the need for pesticides and excessive maintenance. The design of smaller homes with shared common spaces, like our Common House, minimizes individual resource consumption and promotes a communal lifestyle that is both efficient and eco-friendly.
Beyond environmental benefits, cohousing reduces the overall ecological footprint through shared resources. This includes communal gardens, shared transportation options like car shares, and common facilities that reduce the need for individual ownership of infrequently used items, thereby decreasing material consumption and waste.
By fostering a collaborative community, cohousing enables residents to support one another in adopting sustainable practices, from energy use to food production. This collective effort amplifies the impact of individual actions, making cohousing a powerful model for sustainable living.
8. Safety and Security for Everyone.
Freedom to Roam and Socialize Independently for Children
Playing in the Common House playroom
Langley, BC Cohousing
Raising children in cohousing
Nevada City, California Cohousing
Living in a community with no cars, where everyone is looking out for one another, and where kitchen windows often look onto the commons, provides an extra layer of safety for children and adults. Even in large cities, cohousing communities experience very little to no crime, offering safe living in an already safe country.
Not only is cohousing safer, but children grow up with a sense of freedom and richness of friendships and connection. Parents are supported by close neighbors. Children can run freely and knock on their playmates’ doors.
In addition, community-centered development includes resources spent on aging-in-place and child-friendly building features as well as outdoor play and safety features that enable all to thrive in the community together. Neighbors who are sick or injured can count on neighbors knowing and caring. There is always someone around to lend a helping hand.
Insightful Cohousing Videos
Cohousing Videos
Cohousing Videos
What is Cohousing?
Cohousing: The Future of Community and Human Connection | Trish Becker-Hafnor | TEDxCherryCreekWomen
Cohousing communities help prevent social isolation
Cohousing: A Closer Look
Some have described Cohousing as the village reimagined. Beginning in Denmark as Bofællesskab, or living community, the first Danish village sparked a design movement defined by very specific architectural, social, and eco-friendly design characteristics. Each characteristic is designed to foster strong, connected community and living more sustainably by sharing resources. Bofællesskab spread worldwide to become Samenhuizen in Belgium, Kollektivhus in Sweden, and “Cohousing” in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even in Spain. Not your average village- the blend of specific architecture, social and sustainable characteristics of cohousing proved so successful that today, many cohousing communities have waitlists.