Types of Cohousing

Retrofit cohousing differs from traditional cohousing communities because neighbors transform an existing neighborhood rather than building from the ground up. Most cohousing groups in the U.S. design and build their neighborhoods. But new construction is expensive and building sites in urban areas are few, so people are finding creative ways to adapt existing blocks of housing and to change usage patterns to develop retrofit cohousing.

Diana Leafe Christian

This slide show explores how cohousing projects in Tokyo are similar to yet different from cohousing communities in North America. After presenting at the Ecovillage Conference in Japan in 2007, Diana visited three cohousing projects with poetic names that show the Japanese love of forests and trees: Kankanmori no Kaze (“The Winds of Kankanmori Forest”), a 28-unit project located on two floors of a 12-story community center for elders; the 12-unit Kyodo no Mori (“Forest of Kyodo”) (featured in Graham Meltzer’s book, Sustainable Communities), and Keyaki House, a 15-unit project centered around a beloved 80-foot Keyaki (Japanese Zelkova) tree

Brad Gunkel

The transience and anonymity that plague many suburbs and towns also impact larger cities. Demand for cohousing is seriously exceeding supply in some urban areas of the United States, yet there are many challenges unique to cohousing in these dense, high-priced markets. All of this requires that groups, developers and architects revisit the physical cohousing model as well as the development models that we have grown accustomed to in this country. Learn about the challenges and potential solutions to creating urban cohousing in America in this image and anecdote filled seminar with plenty of opportunities for questions and answers.

Cohousing came to the U.S. 15 years ago from Denmark, where intergenerational communities gave birth to a successful, age-specific cohousing model for active elders. The first elder-only cohousing neighborhoods for active adults, 55 and above, are just now emerging in the U.S. Design features include easy access for all levels of physical ability and also may include optional studio residences in the common house to provide living quarters for home health aides whose services may be shared by several residents.