Design
Cohousing Topics
Below are all of the blog entries, articles, and descriptions of past and future events on our website related to Design. Can't find something? Let us know
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Builder: (We work to Design and Build) Blu Homes
Maura McCarthy
Co-Founder
Blu Homes
760 Main Street
Waltham, MA 02451
617.275.2334
Email: maura [at] bluhomes [dot] com
New Hampshire Governor visits state's only cohousing neighborhood
Submitted by Cohousing Coaches on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 04:59According to story in today's Union Leader, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch yesterday toured Nubanusit Neighborhood & Farm, the state's first completed cohousing neighborhood.
He wasn't the first New Hampshire Governor to walk the Peterborough property, though: the community was built in 2008 on the historic homestead of Gov. John Steele (1789-1865), and the basement of his renovated now super-insulated home (now offices) houses the ultra-efficient renewably-fueled wood-pellet-burning boilers that circulate heat and supply hot water to the 29 homes clustered onto just five of the 113 acres, preserving extensive woods and farmland, the story notes.
Traditional Housing Copies Cohousing as People Focus More on Their Values
Submitted by Blue Ridge Cohousing on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 21:15American home and neighborhood designs change constantly. If you put yourself randomly in a 20th century neighborhood, chances are that you could tell the decade it was built, even after the avocado-green siding is replaced. We may be in for an even bigger than normal shift in the next decade. How will a 2015 neighborhood be different than a 2007 subdivision? A recent Chicago Tribune article summarizes the eight great real estate trends of 2009:
1. Smaller Houses
2. More apartments
3. Increase in attached housing
4. More rental units
5. New urban centers with homes close to shops and restaurants
6. Common green spaces for outdoor enjoyment of homeowners.
7. Creating Community - where the developer provides social features beyond land, bricks and mortar.
8. Online marketing of homes
(see http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/dec/26/realestate/chi-real-estat...)
Do these features sound familiar?
Building an Inclusive Community: The AHIC Experience.
Saturday 3:15 – 4:15 pm
During the development stage of Coho Ecovillage, members formed a nonprofit organization called A Home in Community (AHIC). AHIC helps people with physical disabilities find homes in cohousing communities by:
- Educating communities and people living with disabilities about the benefits of living in community together.
- Providing information and support that makes it happen.
- Partnering with cohousing communities to create subsidized rental opportunities for low-income adults with disabilities.
For our first campaign, A Home for Mike, we have purchased a unit in CoHo Ecovillage which will always be rented at subsidized rates to adults with disabilities wishing to live in this community. This presentation will describe the process of forming and operating AHIC, the steps to fund and manage A Home for Mike, and lessons learned to date.
AUDIENCE: Forming groups and residents of established groups
Development: Endless Meetings or Efficiency in Design Decision Making – The Workshop Approach
Laura Fitch
How can a group get the most out of their architect’s time and expertise? How can design meetings be run efficiently without a lot of stress or railroading? Kraus-Fitch Architects has evolved a workshop approach that consolidates the programming and design of cohousing site, common house and units into (3) 2-day and (4) single-day workshops. Laura Fitch will explain why she thinks this is a win-win approach for architect and group. She will also share the history of this development and the details.
Laura Fitch is a principal with Kraus-Fitch Architects, Inc. in Amherst, Massachusetts and a 14-year resident of Pioneer Valley Cohousing. Kraus-Fitch Architects has worked on programming, schematic design, and/or full services on 2-dozen cohousing communities across the US. Laura can be contacted at lfitch [at] krausfitch [dot] com.
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