Category: Creating-cohousing


Sharing the Salad Bowl: A Journey in Resident-Developer Led Cohousing

How did a retired pediatrician become a real estate developer? Crow Woods, our new Seattle cohousing community, is a dream come true for me. It is a winding path that got me here.  “Martha’s here, let’s eat!” My sister had arrived for dinner, a casserole of vegetables from our garden, yogurt (homemade in the cupboard... Read More

My Path to Cohousing

For over 20 years my family lived in Vermont enjoying our walks in the woods but with little contact with our neighbors. After our three kids grew up and moved away, Meg and I started thinking about finding a smaller home.  As we explored, we saw a large historic house for sale in a community... Read More

Mission-Driven Communities in Israel: A Model for the United States?

For several years, I have been working to combine two types of community: Jewish and cohousing. These two concepts of community – one that allows people to experience and express their Jewish lives and one that gives people the chance to knit close communities through shared living – can be mutually reinforcing and stronger together.... Read More

Journey to Ahhh…. Part 1

This is the first in a five-post series about the journey to the feeling of Ahhhh…. I’m home! Our Home – Cathedral Park is an actively forming, unique and exciting community in Portland, Oregon. Please read with us as we share our twisting journey Home! Our Home – Cathedral Park (OHCP) is a cohousing community... Read More

WebChat #24 Cohousing Design

Chuck Durrett, who along with Katie McCamant, brought cohousing to the US, joined us for a WebChat on cohousing design and the process he uses to design a community. The theme of the evening was “If it doesn’t work socially, why bother?” Chuck began by sharing his earliest awareness of cohousing, as a young architect... Read More

The BIG Project

I live in Trillium Hollow Cohousing Neighborhood, and just recently completed serving as project manager for a major construction defect remediation. Preparing for my “Managing the BIG PROJECT” presentation at the National CoHo conference, I talked with several other communities who have faced construction issues to gather lessons learned and cautionary tales. I found that... Read More

WebChat #19 Cluster Apartments and Shared Flats in Cohousing

Coho US has gone international with this interesting WebChat about cohousing in Berlin, Germany. Michael LaFond, and architect raising in the US who lives and works in Germany, shared his experience of both living and working in cohousing in Berlin. Like all cohousing, these communities are self organized, community led, and sustainable. Unlike the most... Read More

Village Hearth in Durham NC Celebrates Approval of Rezone!

We would like to say a big congratulations to Village Hearth Cohousing on their recent City Council approval!! On June 19th, 2017, the Durham City Council approved (with a 7-0 vote) a rezone and annexation to pave the way for the first LGBT-focused 55+ cohousing community in the United States. Noting the need for inclusive... Read More

Thoughts on American Cohousing and Being the First in Nevada

While tackling the long and sometimes daunting list of tasks required to start a cohousing group, I draw daily upon every prayer, affirmation and inner trick I know to keep the faith and grow the vision. As our core group grows closer, steadily inching toward this goal, we fine-tune ways to share the vision with... Read More

Cohousing in the UK

Reposted from Schemata Workshop http://www.schemataworkshop.com/blog/ In mid-June I was invited to speak on Cohousing common house design in the UK. It was a great opportunity to visit the various different Cohousing schemes that exist in the UK, highlighting the diversity that is not as present in US Cohousing schemes. We visited LILAC in Leeds, which... Read More