Foundation for Intentional Community logo with green tree and text.

Capitol Hill Urban CoHousing

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Home-sharing
  • Urban

Founding year

  • 2010

What we do

We are a very diverse community in an incredibly dense neighborhood in Seattle – Capitol Hill. We have all of our 9 households with children between ages 5 and 19 years old and our adults range from mid-30’s to mid-70’s.
We have 9 units on 4500sf lot (smaller than the typical Seattle single family lot). Our property is located 3 blocks from light rail and has great bus access. We built with high Built-Green and LEED guidelines achieving as many high-performance sustainability metrics for energy and water usage as much as was financially feasible both now and planning for future upgrades.
We broke ground in late October, 2014 and took occupancy in June, 2016. Please note we are a unique hybrid model. All members paid a minimal joining fee of $30,000 to join our LLC. The members built the apartment building and we are self-managed. We pay market rate rents which will be kept artificially as stable as possible, rather than increasing with the market. This is intended to entice longevity. In 2024 we had our first household turn-over since move in. It’s unlikely we’ll have any openings but to be notified please join our mailing list on our website. That is where any short-term rentals or long-term residencies would be announced.

Our Mission

We are an urban community bridging generations, aiming to be good neighbors on Capitol Hill. We value sharing and seek health, both for ourselves and our planet. Our Values include:
* Sharing
* Environmental Awareness
* Intergenerational
* Neighborhood Partnership
* Healthy Individuals
* Healthy Community

  • Purpose
  • Home-sharing
  • Community type
  • Cohousing
  • Sustainability practices
  • Permaculture design

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2010
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2016
  • Started living together

Gallery

  • 17 Total members
  • Not open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
22

How to join

We use a self-selecting process to see if our community is a good fit for you and vice versa.

    1. You would start by completing an online questionnaire to help us to get to know you.
    1. We’ll create an opportunity for you to tour and ask questions.
    1. After that we’ll invite you to attend some community meals and conversations to get to know us better.
    1. Once you’re sure and we’re sure, we’ll ask you to provide 3 references and to complete an application for a background check. Then you’ll sign the Operating Agreement and pay your Initial Capital Contribution. Eventually, we mutually agree on a move-in timeline & you sign your lease.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

There are typically monthly tours lead by our commercial tenant and architect Schemata Workshop. These are usually on Saturday mornings but be sure to check our website’s tour page for info and link to register. https://capitolhillurbancohousing.org/tours/

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.

Economic model

  • Independent Finances

Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • There is a one-time fee, investment, or share purchase to join the community separate from accessing housing
  • 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

Join fee: Yes
Regular fees: Yes
Labor: Encouraged or suggested
originally $30,000 buys into LLC. we are a rental community…this amount is likely to be increased in the future
originally $50/month membership plus market-rate rent monthly…currently we ask folks to contribute as they can
Since we are very small everyone must actively participate in the work of the community. We do not set requirements or track hours.

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

Common House, Garden(s), Large Scale Kitchen, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • 2-5 times per week

Significant food acquisition practices

  • Locally sourced

Dietary type

  • Vegetarian Only

Dietary restriction

  • People can cook and eat what they want in their own residence

Substance use culture

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

Gender composition

  • Roughly balanced (no group over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Family-focused (many children and parents)

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

  • By several individuals through an LLC or a Tenancy In Common agreement

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.

Sustainability approach

  • Permaculture design

Land practices in our community

  • The community practices permaculture

Self-produced energy

  • Up to 33%

Energy sources used

  • Photovoltaic Solar

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • Up to 33%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Land area size
    0.1 acres

Guest Book

Written reviews are available for plus members. Click here to upgrade.

Location

  • Washington, United States

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).

Plus Community Memberhsip

  • Find people with Profile Match
  • Access to your community listing statistics
  • Create Discussion Groups
  • 50% commission when your members purchase a Plus Membership
  • Access to our affiliate program
  • Member badge on your community profile
I am an official member of this community
Disclaimer
I affirm that my information is accurate and I am authorized to manage this listing
Foundation for Intentional Community FIC Member badge logo.

Free Plan

Free Membership
Free

Intentional Advertising

  • Subtotal

    {{ currencyFormat( pricing_summary.total_amount ) }}

Icon representing community connections and collaboration for intentional communities.

Plus Membership

  • Find communities with Profile Match
  • View detailed reviews about communities
  • Direct message and view contact information
  • Create free listings in Needs & Offers
  • Plus Member resources in CommUniversity
  • Plus Member badge on your profile