The first attempt to build a Danish cohousing community began in the winter of 1964 when Danish architect Jan Gudmand-Hoyer gathered a group of friends to discuss current housing options. Over several months, this circle of friends discussed possibilities for a more supportive living environment. By the end of the year, they had bought a site on the outskirts of Copenhagen and developed plans for 12 terraced houses set around a common house and swimming pool. Although the city officials supported the plan, the neighbors did not and the group eventually sold the site without building anything. Gudmand-Hoyer went on to write an article titled “The Missing Link between Utopia and the Dated One-Family House,” in which he described his group’s ideas and their project. When published in a national newspaper in 1968, the article elicited responses from more than a hundred families interested in living in a similar community.

One of the best introductions to cohousing is visiting existing communities. The easiest way is through one of the cohousing bus tours that take place with some regularity in Northern California, the Seattle Area, Massachusetts, Colorado and in and around Washington D.C. – the places that have six or more completed communities reasonably close to one another.

But many folks cannot practically participate for one reason or another. So here are guidelines for visiting a cohousing community on your own.