The Cohousing Company

June–July 2024 Newsletter

Happy Summer Solstice! Suns out means more time outside together in cohousing!

Picture by our very own Nadthachai Kongkhajorrnkidsuk

Upcoming Events

June–July 2024

• Talks in Denmark & Iceland
• Monday June 24: Grundtvig & Cohousing at the Grundtvigskforum
• Sunday June 30: Lecture and Café at Skråplanet (one of the oldest bofællesskab in Denmark)
• July 3: Presenting our new book to the President of Iceland
• July 6–7: Looking for a new site for cohousing in San Francisco
• July 8: Replacing I-980: Cohousing for Community at Clio's Bookstore in Oakland, CA. Discussion on reclaiming spaces from highways and housing the homeless (Free event, RSVP here)
• July 20–21: Newt Crossing Common House Workshop (spaces available!)
• August 1–4: National Cohousing Conference (Senior Cohousing Facilitator Training Aug 1)
• August 6: Neuro-Inclusive Community Launch & Public Presentation (Northern California)
• Antioch Classes with Charles Durrett – Be sure to save your spot for Affordable & Energy Efficient Cohousing Design starting July 10

Newt Crossing Common House Workshop

July 20–21: A Weekend of Participatory Design and Community Making

Newt Crossing Cohousing is excited to announce that their Common House Design Workshop with Charles Durrett will be July 20-21. This great group of folks with 17 acres right outside of Port Townsend, Washington, did an excellent Site Design in April, and still have a few homes available!

Following the very successful site design workshop, Newt Crossing Community is now ready for their next step in designing their future community: the Common House Design Workshop on July 20-21.

Newt Crossing Cohousing is a very thoughtful group, and together they came up with an excellent site plan for their small eight-unit cohousing community during the site design workshop. We took all of the amazing design input that we received from the workshop participants/future residents and realize them into a site plan drawing that will continue to involve as we start designing the common house and private houses in more detail.

It reminds us of a small village and lots of small cohousing projects in Denmark that are mostly associated with small farms. The current site plan of Newt Crossing Community is designed to respect the existing natural beauty of the site. The houses are clustered close together and connected through the main experiential path that connects the parking space to the common house.

Photo of the final block layout from the participatory site design workshop

Current site plan for Newt Crossing Cohousing

This fantastic location allows community members to fully participate in everything that the creative and progressive Port Townend scene has to offer, from music, literature, and visual arts festivals to maritime trades, sailing races, and a nationally renowned Wooden Boat Festival.

Members of Newt Crossing come from a variety of backgrounds, including a family of Danes, professional gardeners, Buddhists, a former Foreign Service Officer, math professor, eco-healthy building contractor, IT professionals, and more.

This cohousing community is unique in that it will be more woodland than people, with eight households in this tiny village. Sustainable forestry, land stewardship, and large gardens and orchards are all part of the plan. Located in the center of the Quimper Peninsula gives them an excellent step up in resilience to climate change. Port Townsend is a vibrant, exciting place to live.

The group now has great momentum, and we are extremely excited to get this project rolling and going.

If you are interested in living in a cohousing community in Washington state, please consider joining Newt Crossing in Port Townsend, WA for their Common House Programming & Design Workshop on the weekend of July 20-21, facilitated by The Cohousing Company. For questions and to register, please email Eva Holm at newt@olympus.net.

For more information about this workshop, please visit: https://www.newtcrossing.org/

New Book on the Block

The Importance of Literature in the Cohousing Movement

If you have been following our newsletter the past few months, you might know that we've been working on a new and super exciting book about a one-of-a-kind ecovillage/cohousing community in Iceland.

This book has been in the works for 5 years, and after many journeys to Iceland, countless interviews with staff and residents, and many months of research and writing, we are pleased to announce that it will be available to purchase in this limited print run in August 2024.

This insightful and thought-provoking book delves into the innovative approaches and inclusive practices adopted within the ecovillage, offering a glimpse into a harmonious and sustainable community tailored to meet the unique needs of neurodiverse individuals. Through captivating storytelling and in-depth analysis, this book not only educates and informs but also inspires readers to envision a world where diversity is celebrated and everyone is empowered to thrive.

Get ready to embark on a journey of discovery and possibility as you explore the pages of this enriching literary work.

Living Sustainably in Neuro-Inclusive Community

Public Presentation & Community Launch on August 6th in Nevada City, CA (Sierra Foothills of Northern California)

Join us for this presentation on neuro-inclusive cohousing!

Chuck will share his 35 years of experience designing sustainable communities and assist us in getting neuro-inclusive cohousing built here.

About the Group

We’re creating a welcoming, enriching, and inclusive community for folks with autism, Down’s syndrome, and other intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) with their families & friends right here in Grass Valley/Nevada City, Nevada County, CA. This community is open to all, including “neurotypical” families and individuals who are open to living beside their more challenged neighbors.

The Vision

Imagine living in a neighborhood that’s welcoming, safe, eco-friendly, and that you helped create. Private homes with generous common facilities. Where people know and care about each other in a village setting.

When: Tuesday, August 6 from 7-8 PM

Where: Madellyn Helling Library (980 Helling Way, Nevada City, CA 95959)

Sliding Scale: $10-20 suggested

For questions: Call Laurie at (530) 613-6556

*Save the Date: Group Follow-Up Meeting: Saturday, August 10, 2024

This follow up meeting will be for those who are seriously interested in taking the next step in helping see this dream community become a reality.

If you're interested in joining this group, simply send us an email and we'll get you in touch with the organizers.

Upcoming Learning Opportunities with Charles Durrett

Professional Development Certificates through Antioch University Continuing Education

National Cohousing Conference: August 1-4

Rooted in Belonging

We're looking forward to the upcoming National Cohousing Conference in Denver this August. So reserve your spot, book that plane ticket, and get ready for a good time!

Are you looking to create a Senior Cohousing where you live? Or maybe you're a cohousing professional who wants to learn how to facilitate the conversations that lead to activated and motivated cohousing groups? Be sure to join Chuck Durrett for a pre-conference, all-day intensive on Senior Cohousing "Study Group One" Facilitator Training on Thursday, August 1.

Partner Event: Hybrid Online & In-person Symposium (UK)

Intentional Communities Symposium: Experimental Spaces

In partnership with Braziers Park Community, the 2024 Intentional Communities Symposium will be running over three evenings:

1. Thursday 18th July 7:00–9:00 (BST): Academic presentations 
2. Friday 19th July 7:00–9:00 (BST): Practical workshops
3. Saturday 20th July 7:00–9:00 (BST): The Cohousing Review book launch

This year’s Intentional Communities Symposium is going to form part of the 2024 Communities Conference to be held at Braziers Park in Oxfordshire between July 18th and 20th. If you’re going to that then there’s no need to purchase a separate ticket for the Symposium – more info here.

But if you’re in another country or are unable to get to Braziers then it will still be possible for you to participate online as the Symposium component of the Conference will also be run as a hybrid event.

Purchase this ticket to get access to all three evening sessions. Links will be emailed to you closer to the actual date and recordings will be made available.

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 and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) directly to get bulk discounts, and I find that successful projects get started when lots of folks do this fun homework. I usually need to give a dozen copies of Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities, Senior Cohousing: A Community Approach to Independent Living and Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods 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, and most importantly makes for a better project.

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 today largely because the bookstores in town have sold more than 1,000 copies of Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities and the San Francisco area has over 20 cohousing communities largely because the book has sold more than 2,000 copies there.

Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods

Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities

with Kathryn McCamant

The Senior Cohousing Handbook: A Community Approach to Independent Living

Also available in Spanish

A Solution to Homelessness in Your Town

Also available HERE

Revitalizing Our Small Towns

Cohousing's role in positively effecting waning small towns.

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

Facilitator Guide - Senior Cohousing Study Group 1 Guides

Participant Guide - Senior Cohousing Study Group 1 Guides

Architecture for Ageing Population

with the staff of Images Publishing

The Cohousing Company