Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Community-minded people seeking house mate for building more community

[oz (oz]

Andrea is describing a situation which is similar to Songaia Cohousing's
early days (40 people living in 13 homes on 11 acres, with two adjoining
Cohouseholds). As the cohousing founders approached the addition of new
cohousing homes (in 2000), four families rented two houses on adjoining
properties. Each house was shared by two families (including mine). Each
family had semi-private suites and we all shared one large kitchen - which
later became our common house kitchen.

Other cohousing groups have employed similar strategies, with some future
cohousers sharing homes. Whether rented or owned, sharing a house is far
more economical than living in a single family unit. Sharing a house for 8
years, allowed us to save what became our down payment. It also allowed us
to more effective community-build for the larger cohousing community.

After ten years living in the built cohousing homes, my wife and I sold our
Songaia Cohousing home to chip in with others to purchase an adjoining
property which now operates as a cohousehold. We are five adults living in
a 4,000 square foot home. After purchasing the property, we expanded and
remodeled the home to better serve a shared household. The expansion added
a new, purpose-built, fully accessible private suite.

My belief is that cohouseholds provide a viable form of community that is
within reach of many people. For more information, see the Cohouseholding
Project:

http://cohouseholding.org

The Cohouseholding Project is a new program of the Fellowship for
Intentional Community, the 501(c)3 non-profit that also publishes
communities magazine, the intentional community directory, as well as the
cohousing directory found on the Coho/US website.

Oz Ragland
Songaia member: 1992-2010
Life Song Commons member: 2010 - present
Cohouseholding Project instigator: 2012 - present

On Tue, Oct 1, 2013 at 9:52 AM, andrea veltman <aveltman [at] gmail.com> wrote:

-- clipped --


> Expanding into a small retrofit cohousing community might
> be possible as houses come up for sale. Read on ...
>
> 2 1/2 room suite for rent in North Oakland, CA near Ashby BART station.
> $1,500 monthly rent plus one month deposit. Rent includes utilities, wi-fi
> and laundry but not phone service. Off-street parking possible
> occasionally, pets negotiable.
>
> We are a couple who have lived in Oakland for many years and are looking
> for a community-minded person to share our recently renovated home. We are
> renting out two good-size, beautiful rooms upstairs with plenty of light
> and an integrated breakfast area with fridge, cabinets, counter and sink.
> Medium-size closet in each room plus 2 storage areas in suite. Semi-private
> full bath upstairs, second bathroom downstairs. Living/dining room and
> large main kitchen shared, as well as an upstairs sitting room; occasional
> use of guest loft. New laundry machines in basement. All work done up-to
> code and with low-VOC materials.
>
>
-- clipped --


> If this seems like a situation you'd enjoy living in please write and tell
> us more about you by writing OFF LIST to aveltman [at] gmail.com.
>
> Andrea and David
>