Cohousing-L Mailing List: Exercise in custom home design or exercise in community?

[Diane Simpson (dqs]

I am intrigued by the content of this message, and what it implies as a
basic value of cohousing groups. (Partly colored by the fact that I am
writing an article.)

Is it really taken as a given by most cohousing group members that they
will be able to have their own custom-designed house? Was this ever
discussed among the prospective members before joining the group? Or was it
just taken as a given?

The word "cohousing" seems to have filtered out into the ether and is
attracting a wide range of people who are all attaching their own meanings
to the word. For people who have read Katie and Chucks' book and who are
now subscribers to this list, it seems to have gotton very far afield from
the original meaning of the word "bofoelleskaber, meaning "living
communities." ("Community" plus "Housing"). Perhaps we should change the
name in the United States to "HO-com": "Housing" plus "community."

What *kind* of customizing was considered important to your group? Moving a
door six inches? Adding a bay window? A driveway and/or garage? Extra
skylights? A bigger kitchen? Why was it not possible to discuss these wants
and needs during the programming phase and come up with a variety of plans
that met everyone's needs? Was the cost of the customization ever
discussed? Did it ever become an issue for some group members? Any input on
or off-list will be appreciated.

--Diane "stir-the-pot" Simpson(:-)


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>on 2/15/2000 7:22 AM, Rob Sandelin at floriferous [at] email.msn.com wrote:
>
>> perhaps there are ways to make such a shell game more affordable.
>
>Rob, and all...

>Since customizing is so desirable for most cohousing group members, I do
>think this bears looking into further, to see if the "shell game" can be
>played in a more affordable arena.

>Chris ScottHanson

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      @@@@      Diane Simpson  http://world.std.com/~dqs      @@@@
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