Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Common House Design

[Mmariner (Mmariner]

Paul Kilduff/Jay Perry said:

>...heretical question:  Given that it might be used for dinner only 2 nights
a week, is there justification for immediately building a kitchen and/or
dining room in our common house?

First, I'd hope there is nothing heretical about including/disincluding *any*
aspect of what's called cohousing.  Viva diversity!

However: if you don't have a place and reasons for getting together regularly
(such as meals), aren't you just building another condo complex?  The complex
I recently moved out of had a pool and an exercise room, but very little in
the way of community or connectedness short of people whining and sniping at
each other (or the condo board) when somebody parked in their spot or left
some belongings stacked in their carports.

Even if you only plan irregular/infrequent meals, I'd think you'd want to
include a large, multi-use area for celebrations, dances, parties, meetings.
 Perhaps you could just "rough in" the adjacent kitchen in stage one, or
install a minimal kind of "wet bar" for people to bring in food that wasn't
cooked there.  Then install the serious kitchen stuff when/if people yearned
for those coho meals.  Just a thought.

Mike M
Boulder