Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: managing the common house

[Saoirse (saoirse03]

On Oct 21, 2007, at 12:39 PM, Mary English wrote:

> Different ways to manage the common house.  What kinds of
> management policies are practiced in cohousing land?
> My community manages the common house similar to how one would
> manage one's home. Norm Gauss
>
> 1. The heating and cooling system is fully adjustable to any
> individual's preference.
>
> HV: Decisions about heating and cooling have always been centered  
> around what is "best practice" in terms of sustainability.  
> Sometimes it's pretty cold in there during the winter. We bump the  
> thermostat, but we still layer. As for cooling, we use cross  
> ventilation and fans.

> 2. The doors are left open all day and a few hours after dark.
>
> Our common house is open from about 6 am to about 9 pm. We are  
> situated such that strangers do not wander in, but it seems prudent  
> to lock up at night when no one is around. I personally never lock  
> the doors to my house, because anyone who looks like a stranger  
> going in and out of my house would be immediately noticed. I do  
> lock my car, which is in a carport, because it cannot be seen from  
> my house.
> 3. Kids are allowed to use the common house unsupervised.
>
> Children under the age of 14 are not to be in the Common House  
> without an adult supervising. Older kids can use the Common House  
> without adult supervision, but we do expect a parent to be aware of  
> what is going on and to check on how the CH is left.

> 4. Any food in the refrigerator is free for the taking.
>
> Food in the common house refrigerator is considered free for the  
> taking unless it has been marked.

> 5. We have two guest rooms and charge nothing to guests.  At
> present we have a temporary resident who is a professional
> musician  on an engagement lasting more than a week.
>
> We have some guidelines about use of the common house guest room,  
> and we have a sign up system. Donations are requested of visitors  
> who are not "attached" to a resident.

> 6. We have frequent public meetings and private social events and
> charge nothing to the sponsors.
>
> Private events have a set of guidelines and may be asked to pay,  
> depending on the size and purpose of their group.

> Is this style of management typical of cohousing communities?
>
> Communities have their own set of expectations and norms, and each  
> one seems to come to what works for them. That being said, it  
> ultimately comes down to what each particular community chooses to  
> set as their guidelines and boundaries, and even within that  
> individuals will vary.
>
> In a comm'ty, I give up some of the control I might otherwise exert  
> if I were living in a different situation. Other people in my  
> comm'ty cannot imagine why I would leave my doors unlocked. I am  
> not afraid walking into a dark Common House. But I do worry about  
> the damage kids can sometimes do to expensive equipment in the  
> common house. So we accommodate one another.  I take my turn  
> locking up the Common House at night, because it is what my  
> neighbors need. We occasionally revisit expectations of kids in the  
> common house.