The Cohousing Company

Scenes from Nevada City Cohousing during a tour for Auburn Cohousing group

Cohousing Conference in Madison, WI

August 26–28, 2022

Join us in Madison, WI this August, for our first in-person conference since 2019. The main conference is 8/26-28 with pre-conference intensives and tours 8/25-26.

Together, we will gather and share the skills needed to build and sustain our communities.We will learn and grow among a supportive community of seekers, community members and professionals.

Live and in-person, we will connect with others over our shared dreams for a better world.

Charles Durrett will be presenting in:

Friday 08/26     @ 8:30–12:00PM: Seniors in Cohousing: Lessons Learned

Saturday 08/27 @ 1:30–3:00PM: A Conversation with Cohousing Leaders

Sunday 08/28    @ 9:00–10:30AM: Cohousing Design:A–Z

Sunday 08/28    @ 12:30–1:30PM: Author's Showcase

We hope you’ll join us as we build a healthier future, together.

We hope you are with us for yet another new and exciting year in cohousing.

Other Updates in Cohousing: Table of Contents

August 2022

• Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods

• Bridges to Cohousing: August 9th @ 12:30 PM PST

• The Cohousing Company & Charles Durrett: Repurposed

• Langley Story: WindSong and Compass Cohousing

• SG1 Facilitator Workshop

• Poland Effort Recap: Installment #1

Cohousing Communities

Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods

We are more than excited to announce that the new definitive book, Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods,  is now available for preorder through Wiley and Amazon for only $39.95.

The book will also be available to purchase for the first time at the Cohousing Conference in Madison, WI author's showcase, where Charles will be presenting and hosting a book-signing as well.

Perfect for everyone—from architects and housing advocates to young families and senior citizens—who strive to see new ways to create neighborhoods, Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods compiles facts and concepts that are essential to the design of a high-functioning community, where people can participate in a way that reflects their values, improves their social connections, and retain their autonomy and privacy.

Here are some excerpts from the book:

Testimonials from reviewers

In Latin they call it a “Magnus Opus.” In Danish we call this a “A Work of Consequence that is Long Overdue."

This book does not just list model projects, Chuck also lays out the process, the details, the intent, and the product and everything necessary to accomplish a high-functioning neighborhood—every thing necessary to make a quality community.

Hans Rasmusen, Denmark

Bridges to Cohousing: Virtual Roundtables

August 9th @ 12:30 PM PST

Charles Durrett and The Cohousing Company has recently completed a 70-unit project in the town of American Canyon for previously unhoused seniors and veterans—the book A Solution to Homelessness in Your Town was written about this project. This new community of 70 cottages—averaging 500 sqft. each—was inspired by cohousing design and by the desire to build community. It is the antithesis of warehousing people. It is the epitome of trying to set people up for mutual support. Homelessness in America is not intractable, and new housing models are proving to be doable.

Please JOIN US to learn, discuss, imagine, and work toward solutions to the homeless crisis in our towns.

The Cohousing Company & Charles Durrett: Repurposed

Shifting modus operandi

I thought about retiring at the start of pandemic, but somehow, I found myself continuing to work on a dozen cohousing communities and other projects since then. I’m convinced now that what I meant and still want to do is to repurpose, not retire.

Instead of doing the full working drawings and the full construction administration for new cohousing communities, I found that the experience we have makes it easy to do new cohousing communities expeditiously and affordably if we just do design criteria and schematic design with the group.

We just finished a Design Criteria and Schematic Design for a new community in 6 weeks, when they had been working on that project for 8 years. We have also designed a new school and a new community for the Chickahominy tribe in Virginia in 6 weeks and a new homeless project in just a couple of weeks.

When Frank Lloyd Wright was interviewed by Michael Wallace about why he didn’t retire at the age of 87, FLW replied “now when I shake my arm, building designs just cascade from my sleeves.” Of course, many cartoons of that ensued. I am not saying that I am Frank Lloyd Wright, but I have learned that after 55 projects, that experience means a lot—at least many lessons have been learned, especially how to make a community work optimally, how to do it most affordably, and without delay

(see Chapter 13 & 14 of Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods)

SG1 Facilitator Workshop 2022

Hybrid Design Workshops

"There is a senior housing crisis in this country."

In the United States, traditional senior housing options aren’t meeting the needs of older adults. Senior cohousing, or cohousing for 55+, has proven to mitigate loneliness and provide support to keep older adults in their homes for longer without draining government resources. It is a growing problem as Boomers are retiring and resources are shrinking.

The Study Group 1 Aging Successfully Course (SG1) was developed in Denmark as a way to make seniors aware of the issues around aging and to inspire them to be active in their own aging scenarios. SG1 has proven to be a catalyst in getting senior cohousing communities built on-time and on-budget because groups who go to the training have addressed uncertainty and gained trust with other participants in the SG1 course. 

"Study Group One is not only about how to make your life awesome, but also how to stop being part of the care-giving problem and become part of the solution, and how to not continue to be part of the environmental problem and to be part of the environmental solution as well."

For almost two decades, The Cohousing Company (TCC) has trained facilitators to do SG1 in their regions. This is the tenth year we are offering the facilitator course online and have had great success. The training includes virtual meetings once per week for 10 weeks and interesting reading assignments. During this time, Chuck Durrett will lead conversations, presentations, and Q&As. As a facilitator, you will have access to the facilitator network and The Cohousing Company will promote your events on social media and our newsletter.

“I was very fortunate to participate in Study Group 1…and feel well equipped to train others in my area. [The] program impacted me personally by helping me qualify what will work for me in my retirement and to be proactive in pursuing great options for healthy and productive senior years.”



Sue Smith, SG1 Facilitator

The project WindSong Cohousing, photo above, in Langley, BC, which The Cohousing Company co-designed some years ago, has inspired a second cohousing in Langley now called Compass Cohousing. The project just passed its fourth and final hearing at the city council meeting on July 25^th, and final negotiation will be in the next few weeks.

When we started the Compass Cohousing project there 3 years ago, the head of planning in Langley said:

“We do not want to duplicate City fees.”

In other words, if you are saving the city money by virtue of providing services, such as rides for seniors to the doctor, to the grocery stores, common recreation on site, and the long list of other services that city might provide (childcare, afterschool care, music lessons, & etc.) then the city doesn’t want to charge you for that city service twice.

(See Chapter 13 in the new book, Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods)

Please consider sending letters of support to their Facebook page. They still have a few hurdles.

Charles's Effort in Poland: Installment #1 

June 30th, 2022 5:00 PM at Heartwood Eatery Nevada City

There is a huge need to stem the tide of chaos and stress for the young war-torn Ukrainian children, and to mitigate it with warm and nurturing environments.

The good management of Heartwood Eatery, located on Commercial St, Nevada City, read of this project—Durrett Childcare Initiative—and asked that I do a short 1-hour synopsis of what it was like, what we were able to accomplish, and what is next. 

“It was the best of times and it was the worst of times”

The best: Serving these young children, getting them the cozy and nurturing environments that they deserve. The camaraderie, coordinating the volunteers themselves, the glorious and good people. The mission creep, the moms, the children themselves, the Polish, the Ukrainian, and all the international friends we made there, as well as the Danish Refugee Council... and more.

The worst: The corruption, the politics, the trauma and sadness that surrounded us, and huge arms build up at the border, the mission creep; and more.

Books by Charles Durrett

Books have played a major role from the beginning in terms of getting cohousing to this country and built in your town, starting with our first book Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves (The European Story). Bookstores normally play a key role in culture change in general, and cohousing is no exception.



Many groups have contacted the publisher (New Society Press) directly to get bulk discounts, and I find that successful projects get started when lots of folks do their homework. I usually need to give a dozen copies of Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities and/or Senior Cohousing: A Community Approach to Independent Living away to planners, banks, neighbors, mayors, new residents, local architects, builders, and so on—to give them context. It saves the group thousands and thousands of hours, dollars, and delays. Cohousing is more than a sound bite; it is cultural pivot, and it takes folks doing some fun research first. Seattle and the surrounding areas have about a dozen cohousing communities largely because the bookstores in town have sold more than 500 copies of Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities

Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods

A Solution to Homelessness in Your Town

Also available HERE

Revitalizing Our Small Towns

Cohousing's role in positively effecting waning small towns.

Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities

with Kathryn McCamant

The Senior Cohousing Handbook: A Community Approach to Independent Living

Also available in Spanish

State-Of-The-Art Cohousing: Lessons Learned from Quimper Village

with Alexandria Levitt

Happily Ever Aftering in Cohousing: A Handbook for Community Living

Finding A Site: Cohousing From the Ground Up

Growing Community: How to Find New Cohousing Members

The Cohousing Company Website