Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Ratio of Common House size to Unit Size

[Lynn Nadeau (welcome]

I agree that the most important factor in CH sizing is how many people 
will be using it. To some extent, smaller units do make it more of an 
asset to have a place for a big party or a Christmas tree, or a guest 
room, if the CH has such. But the main thing is population, more closely 
predicted by number of units, vs size of units.

At RoseWind, we have individually-designed and built houses, with a great 
range of size, from about 800 to 2800, cottage to three-story. But we all 
use the CH for group meals, meetings, personal socials, sponsored events, 
and general drop in use. 

We are 24 families, with a CH of 2800 sq ft. Dining/meeting room with 
lounge end is about 30x30, plus fine big kitchen, and kid room, rec room, 
2 lavs, entry foyer. So far it's been very adequate, and is quite 
straight-forward to keep clean. I think if we had 5 or 10 more families, 
we'd want a bigger dining area, but for 24 families we are fine- we often 
have 40 at a sit-down meal, and can fit more for high-volume occasions. 
Events with 50-60 work fine, though an attempt at a concert with 80 was 
too much. 

Lynn Nadeau
Where it's already Spring, with cherry blossoms, daffodils, and children 
running around gleefully shirtless, among the adults in their warm fleece 
jackets. 

Lynn Nadeau, RoseWind Cohousing
Port Townsend Washington (Victorian seaport, music, art, nature)
http://www.rosewind.org
http://www.ptguide.com
http://www.ptforpeace.info (very active peace movement here- see our 
photo)

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