Rocky Corner Cohousing

Description:

In November 2021, Ion Bank of CT foreclosed on the Rocky Corner project. We do not know if the bank will maintain our vision as a farm-centered cohousing community. Rocky Corner was to be the first cohousing neighborhood in Connecticut. Building has stopped on our 33-acre former dairy farm in the town of Bethany. With a beautiful New England setting, yet only about five miles north of New Haven, we hoped to be an inclusive, multi-generational community, valuing diversity of culture and background. Many homes were spoken for, but the bank should have affordable and market rate units available (2 and 3 bedroom). Move in is unknown right now.
We care deeply about the health of the planet and were committed to green building and living sustainably. With Centerbrook Architects we have cooperatively designed 30 passive solar, single-family homes. These are clustered near the 4,500 square foot common house, which features shared meals, leisure, and maker spaces. We were chosen to receive a large grant from the state of Connecticut to help make some of our homes income-qualified affordable homes (below market rate).
We worked with Appleseed Permaculture to make the best use of the farmland and watershed. In addition to a community garden with individual allotments, shared community plantings, and farmland that residents can lease for their own farm enterprises, we are planned an edible landscape of, berries, orchards, and wildlife habitat. The finished site, which embodies low-impact development principles, hopefully will include pasture, wildflower plantings for pollinators, paths, and ponds, as well as greenhouses.
We adopted sociocracy as our organizational and decision-making model, and have trained with John Buck, Diana Leafe Christian, and SoFA (Jerry Koch-Gonzalez & Ted Rau).
We applied universal design principles to accommodate the needs of people at all stages of their lives. The site plan is people-centered, with cars on the perimeter yet conveniently accessible to each unit.
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Rocky Corner — a great place for families, for singles, for LGBTQ folks, for people with disabilities; a safe, cooperative, supportive community.