RoseWind is a cohousing community within a liberal small city of 11000 on the NE corner of the Olympic Peninsula. Seattle is about 3 hours away. Our views are pastoral, yet we are minutes from everything in town, including a good food co-op, farmers’ market, seasonal festivals, many music and arts activities, and boating. The climate is cool and moderate year round; we’re in the rainshadow of the Olympic Peninsula, so only have 17 inches of rain a year.
Our 26 households include all ages and many lifestyles; however, we skew towards senior, mainly because the community was founded 30 years ago and many original households have stayed. There’s abundant music, food, social interaction, and of course the shared work of caring for our common areas. Our attractive community hall is used often, for meetings, informal morning coffee group, weekly game night (not in summer), weekly art group, shared meals twice a month, movie nights, parties, dances, and concerts. We know our neighbors and help each other out in many ways.
Neither “mainstream” nor far-out, we do our best to learn to live more sustainably by sharing, raising organic fruits and vegetables, and individually making informed environmental choices. Organizationally, we have learned a lot in 30+ years of consensus-based decision making. The extra time it takes to decide things is outweighed by the satisfaction of finding win-win solutions.
Fully built, the main way to join at this point is via resales, which are posted on our website www.rosewind.org. It is advisable to get to know us ahead of time, to be able to make an informed choice if a resale comes up. Check us out!
We value our neighbors, friendship, sense of community, participation and consensus-based decision making.
We encourage those buying a resale, or interested in future resales here, to contact us and get orientation information and get questions answered, so as to be able to make an informed decision as to how well this community fits their expectations and desires.
Please email well ahead of time. Getting to know if we’d be a good fit for you takes time, and the infrequent resales and rentals can go quickly, so you want to already know enough to make an informed choice. You can email questions. When you do visit, you can have a walk around, see the “common house” (community hall), and ask more questions in person. We have no guest room, but there are many options in town.
A few people (not elected by the broader community) make the major decisions.
Everyone must agree before moving forward.
Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.
An elected board/steering committee coordinates meeting agendas and current issues. Normal decision making remains with the membership. Day-to-day practical decisions are made by consensus within working committees– common house, grounds, outreach, facilitation. There is also a self-governing garden cooperative.
CT Butler’s “On Conflict and Consensus” is a reference guide we use.
Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.
Regular fees: $120
Labor: Encouraged or suggested
Community participation is expected, with variations among individuals.
Purchase of a resale home, when available.
Annual assessments are about $1500 a year. We do a lot of our upkeep work ourselves.
Common House, Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Large Scale Kitchen, Fire pit, Swingsets & play areas, Internet
Smaller municipalities with local services but rural character.
Private homes with shared common facilities, designed for neighborly
interaction while maintaining independence.
Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace
A residential project: people live here as their primary home.
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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