Logo of Mountain View Cohousing Community with tree and house icon.

Mountain View Cohousing Community

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Home-sharing
  • Urban

Founding year

  • 2008

What we do

We are in a residential neighborhood 6 blocks from Castro Street (the main street of Mountain View) and downtown amenities (restaurants and sidewalk cafes, bookstores and other shops, the performing arts center and library); near CalTrain, the Light Rail, bus depot, and the weekly farmers’ market; adjacent to Landels Elementary School; and close to the Stevens Creek Trail (biking and walking).
Our 19 condominiums are quite large, ranging in size from 1360 to 2090 sq ft. In addition, we have 6,000 sq ft of shared indoor space. The common house (4000+ sq ft) has facilities for entertainment, exercise, group dining, and crafts. Parking is underground, with some charging stations for electric cars. We also have a workshop, bicycle and other storage spaces, a large outdoor patio, and shared green space. A historic farmhouse on the property has been restored, and has space for meetings and guests.
Our buildings are “green” and energy efficient, with universal design and elevator access to all floors. The units are very well insulated to minimize sound transmission and to minimize the need for heating or cooling, regardless of outside temperature. Our community has an organic garden, 20-tree fruit orchard, and flowers.
The project was designed by members of our cohousing community via design workshops led by architect Chuck Durrett. It has been endorsed by the Greenbelt Alliance for its sustainable features.

Our Mission

A caring, egalitarian, environmentally sustainable, health-promoting, and fun-filled community built on trust and mutual respect, we are committed to nurturing our growth as individuals, as a community, and as participants in our neighborhood and beyond.

  • Purpose
  • Home-sharing
  • Community type
  • Cohousing
  • Activities
  • Property management

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2008
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2014
  • Started living together

Gallery

  • 29 Total members
  • Not open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
29

How to join

Get to know us to decide if this is a community where you would like to live.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

Check out our website: www.mvcoho.org
E-mail us at In*********@****ho.org

Primary decision-making authority

  • All Community Members Together

The whole membership decides collectively.

Decision-making process

  • Full Consensus

Everyone must agree before moving forward.

Governance structure

  • Collaborative/Horizontal

Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.

Conflict resolution approach

Major decisions are based on consensus of all member households. More specialized functions are divided among teams of individual members, each of which makes its own decisions about how to carry out their responsibilities. The teams report back monthly to the group as a whole. There are rules about which types of decisions each team must bring to the membership as a whole for consideration or input, and which must be brought to the entire membership when consensus is necessary.

Economic model

  • Independent Finances

Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • Members need to pay fees, dues, or similar to live there on a per month or per year basis
  • There is a labor obligation
  • Members typically need to have their own job or other personal source of income to cover their expenses while living in the community?

Additional economic information

Regular fees: $800
Labor: Yes (3 hrs/week)
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed
Member households are responsible for finding their own financing, including mortgages if needed, and for paying their own bills.
Amount of monthly contribution to the HOA is high, because it covers property tax, repairs of shared items like the elevator, all utilities except electricity, and a set-aside for eventual repair or replacement of items like the roof and the irrigation system.
Monthly business meetings and committee/team work. The time spent on this totals 10-30 hrs/month; it varies by individual and the team(s).
There are monthly HOA dues.

Shared resources and amenities that are accessible to everyone in the community

Common House, Garden(s), Workshop, Large Scale Kitchen, Fire pit, Gym or sports area, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • 2-5 times per week

Significant food acquisition practices

  • Locally sourced

Community activities and engagement

  • Neighborhood, Community Housing, or Homeowner's Association

Substance use culture

  • Substance use appears in public spaces but no pressure
  • Substance use is prohibited in the community
  • Religions
  • Christian
  • Jewish
  • Unitarian Universalist

Gender composition

  • Majority cis (over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Mixed adults (few or no children)

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

  • By a Land Trust, Home Owners Association, or corporation

Setting

  • Urban

Within city limits with access to urban amenities and infrastructure.

Community type

  • Cohousing

    Private homes with shared common facilities, designed for neighborly
    interaction while maintaining independence.

Self-produced energy

  • Over 66%

Energy sources used

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • Up to 33%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Land area size
    1.1 acres

Guest Book

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Location

  • California, United States

Mountain View Cohousing Community

Needs and Offers

Offer
  • Communities with Openings
7 months ago

Worktrade Opportunities on Big Island Hawaii

We are continuing our work-trade program at Bridge Hawaii for the right people on this beautiful 86-acre land located along the Hāmākua Coast. Ideally, we want to host those individuals who can help with the garden and who can support with build projects for up to a 3 month stay. This work-trade would include lodging, food staples, community kitchen, running hot water showers, off-grid electricity, and laundry. There is access to high speed wi-fi. We often have a car that can be reserved. We also have full bar signal strength with Verizon cellphone service. We have about 2 acres of permaculture garden that needs to be cared for including; weeding, planting, picking up mulch, some tree trimming, ect. We are currently in a building stage on the land. We have a few current grant projects we are working on and some build projects that are underway. We are an intentional community with about 8 permanent residents. There are rescue dairy cows, mini cows, mini donkeys, horses, a donkey, cats, dogs, and active bee hives. We are a drug and alcohol “free” space. A glass of wine or beer with dinner is fine, but absolutely no day drinking or parties. We have a meditation temple and many waterfall pools that are wonderful for swimming. Close to some of the nicest beaches on island. We have snorkeling gear and a kayak. Since this is an animal sanctuary, we limit the consumption of meat on the land. Fish, eggs, honey, and dairy are fine. Let me know if you’re interested by sending an email or text for our application. Maomi (801) 623-0738 ma***@*****************ii.com

Information

Communities

A residential project: people live here as their primary home.

Organizations

An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).

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