Just as we're in the thick of our housing disaster, we've started fantasizing about a new pared down, simple lifestyle. Escape! Very low mortgage payment. Eveything we want in a beautifully designed house and more. Yesterday V+ R told us that jackson place cohousing has a 3bd unit available. It's only 333K. They're ready to jump on it. We visited last night. There were tons of kids wandering around the courtyard. Elliot and asher got on the big wheels and drove around the cute gardens. Some neighbors were having a party so we mingled and asked questions. The house for sale is cute with 3 levels, wood floors in the common area, updated fully (although it could use newer kitchen appliances). It's definitely enough space for our family with a separate entry downstairs (potential office and guest room) and 2 1/2 bedrooms upstairs. 2 1/2 baths. I could see us living there. It's close to happy medium school and orca alternative public school. Downside, it's close to the freeway and most views from inside the house are of the freeway. It's in the central area, there aren't any really close cafes -- 2 miles away. The development looks a little dated, so I wonder if it will keep it's value as much as the west seattle cohousing community duwamish.
Cohousing is something that V+R have dreamed about for years. I think they should sell their house and go for it. 5 years ago when joel was thinking about moving to portland, we looked at a few cohousing developments with him. I was totally into this one community that was fairly close to downtown and it made me yearn for that kind of lifestyle. It's an idea that has always appealed to me because it seems like a less stressful, fun way to live, especially when you have young kids. Last year I saw that the duwamish west seattle community had a 3bd for sale, but I was too late. Their units are separate cottages centered around a garden courtyard. They do 2 shared meals per week. I wrote to them and asked that they keep me on their list if any 3 bedrooms come available. I never heard back. I guess you have to go there and visit to get on the list. Anyway, then we went ahead and decided to pursue our monsterous construction project instead of moving. I tried to get V+R to build a cottage community, but they weren't into it. What if we combined the first 3 lots on our street and made a small 4 or 5 unit cottage development? danny pointed out that having even closer quarters with v+j probably wouldn't be appealing to anyone.
Cohousing communities combine the advantages of private homes with the benefits of more sustainable living, including shared common facilities and ongoing connections with neighbors. These intentional neighborhoods, created and managed by residents, offer an innovative solution to today's environmental and social challenges
Detached houses, cottages, row houses and a building containing multiple dwellings can be found, along with a "great room" for shared meals, child care and community events. This allows for many types of households to be a part of the community: singles, single-parent families, two-parent families, even seniors whose kids have left home. Co-housing offers something far more sociable than a typical development where different ages and incomes are segregated.
http://www.cohousing.org/
beautiful cottage community in kirkland - danielson grove
http://www.cottagecompany.com/ccDanielsonPhotos.html
cottage community in shoreline - Greenwood Ave
http://www.cottagecompany.com/ccshorelinepics2.html
cottage company sunset magazine article
http://www.cottagecompany.com/pdfs/sunset_article.pdf
article on ravenna cottages -- I've always loved this little cluster of cottages which is just a few streets away from our house. The garden is lush and well tended at the center, with the cottages lining the courtyard.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1017/p14s1-lihc.html
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