Champlain Valley Cohousing

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Home-sharing
  • Rural

Founding year

  • 2000

What we do

Our community lies in the charming rural village of Charlotte, Vermont. We are 30 minutes north from Burlington, which has a lively downtown pedestrian mall, the University of Vermont, a regional teaching hospital, and an international airport. Middlebury, home of Middlebury College, is 30 minutes south. Montreal is a two-hour drive north. Lake Champlain and Charlotte beach is just four miles away. Excellent public and private schools serve the community.
We enjoy occasional potluck dinners, work together on keeping our community beautiful, and have lots of fun. We help each other with childcare, meals, and all sorts of projects. We are committed to living in a thoughtful way that promotes environmental sustainability and healthy community relationships.

Our Mission

We are a self-managed, participatory cohousing community living in a cluster of energy-efficient, privately-owned homes, collectively enjoying, learning from, and stewarding 115 acres of conserved farmland and wildlife habitat (forests and fields). We share in creating and caring for a resourceful, productive, and resilient community to support environmentally sustainable living, and we govern ourselves through a mix of traditional HOA board management and sociocracy.

  • Purpose
  • Home-sharing
  • Community type
  • Cohousing
  • Sustainability practices
  • Carbon footprint reduction tracking or goals
  • Activities
  • Property management

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2000
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2006
  • Started living together
  • 58 Total members
  • Not open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
84

Basic expectations or agreements for members

Please send all inquiries to ch**************************@***il.com.

Primary decision-making authority

  • Small Leadership Group

A few people (not elected by the broader community) make the major decisions.

Decision-making process

  • Consent-Based (Sociocracy)

Decisions proceed unless someone has a reasoned objection.

Governance structure

  • Sociocratic/Circle-Based

Organized in circles or domains with distributed authority.

Conflict resolution approach

We govern ourselves through the principles of Sociocracy (also called Dynamic Governance) carried out through the work of Circles, which are delegated many of the needed tasks and decision making of our community.

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: $0
Labor: Yes (1 hrs/week)
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed

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

Garden(s), Outbuilding(s), Swimming pond or pool, Swingsets & play areas

Frequency of communal meals

  • 1-3 times per month

Significant food acquisition practices

  • Locally sourced

Dietary type

  • Vegetarian Only

Dietary restriction

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

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 occurs primarily at celebrations or ceremonies

Gender composition

  • Majority cis (over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Family-focused (many children and parents)

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

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

Setting

  • Rural

Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.

Community type

  • Cohousing

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

Sustainability approach

  • Carbon footprint reduction tracking or goals

Self-produced energy

  • 33 - 66%

Energy sources used

  • Photovoltaic Solar
  • Biomass (from wood or other organic materials)

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • 33 - 66%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Livestock / poultry

Wastewater management

  • Septic system
  • Land area size
    125 acres

Guest Book

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

Location

  • Vermont, United States

Champlain Valley Cohousing

Needs and Offers

Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace

  • Promoted
Need
  • Promoted
  • Events
1 week ago

Healing Love Healing Money: Trust As The Foundation For A New Culture

Money, love and power are among the hardest things any community works with, and many of us carry the same fears into both: not having enough, losing what we have, and the sense that if someone else gets money or love, we won’t. Healing Love, Healing Money: Trust as the Foundation for a New Culture is taught by two intentional communities. Karen McAllister and Duncan Cryle are from Clear Sky Meditation and Retreat Center, a Buddhist-lineage community in the BC Rockies. Monika Alleweldt and Benjamin von Mendelssohn from Tamera Healing Biotope, a community of about 160 people in southern Portugal that has spent decades studying love, trust and relationship. Clear Sky has spent years working on its relationship with money, and our two communities found surprising parallels in the fears beneath both. Over four sessions we explore the roots of fear around money and belonging, love, possession and power, trust as infrastructure (community as a container for healing), and ethical livelihood. We use short meditations, body-based practices, reflection and small-group conversation. You do not need to be in a romantic relationship or live in community. When: October 27, Nov 3, 10, 17. All four sessions: 12–2pm Vancouver, 1–3pm Alberta, 7–9pm UK and Portugal, 8–10pm Central Europe. Note: US and some Canadian provinces change clocks on November 1, so the US west coast is 12–2pm on October 27, then 11am–1pm for the remaining sessions, and Eastern is 3–5pm on October 27, then 2–4pm for the rest. Cost: sliding scale Details and registration: https://www.clearskycenter.org/event/healing-love-healing-money-online/  
October 27, 2026 13:00 – November 17, 2026 15:00
  • Promoted
Offer
  • Promoted
Offer
  • Communities with Openings
4 months ago

Do you feel called to help co-create a small, newly forming eco-spiritual community?

Old structures are crumbling. New ways of living are calling. We are answering that call. Wild Grace is an eco-spiritual community located in the Sierra foothills 30 minutes from Grass Valley, California. We recently completed new homes for those who feel called to our vision. Currently there are four of us living on this sacred 80 acres of land although we are a hub for an expanded neighborhood community. Many join us weekly for potlucks, expressive dance, Qi Gong, monthly musical gatherings, and seasonal celebrations in our temple, as well as tending to our orchard. We are excited to welcome others to join us on the land who are dedicating their lives to spiritual growth and ready to live in a more focused and intimate heart-centered lifestyle. Might that be you or someone you know? The fundamentals are simple. Spirit. We listen personally and collectively together most mornings, usually starting with a musical offering, a prayer, or a short reading, followed by about 40 minutes of what we call “sacred silence.” Heart Circles. About once a week we gather to share and listen. We are informed by authentic and compassionate communication practices. Nature. The land itself—an 80-acre oasis of field and forest perched above the wild and scenic South Yuba River—calls for our stewardship in the gardens, orchard, greenhouses, and general care. In turn, nature feeds us abundantly, both literally and spiritually. Interbeing. We join with others to share inspiration and connection as we host monthly gatherings of song, story and prayer that draws from the larger community in addition to other events we share with our closer neighbors. As we attend to these fundamentals, Grace flows to and through us—often in “Wild” or unexpected ways. Grace catalyzes through us, but is not something we possess. Because we all are connected, we feel that Grace actively transforms n
Offer
  • Professional Services
2 months ago

Community Matchmaking: Get Help Finding Your Community

Would you like to join an intentional community but don’t know how?Feel overwhelmed by the number of communities out there?Not sure if there is one that’s a fit for you? CommunityFinders is here to support you on your path to community living. You can find your community by: Taking the free Community Types Quiz to learn which of the most common types of community is a fit for you. Booking a 1:1 consultation with a Community Matchmaker to receive recommendations for communities that are a fit for you. Joining the Money and Community Mini-Course to find out which communities are within your budget. Reading the book Intentional Community to help you understand your options and decide whether community living is right for you. Our goal is to help community seekers become community finders — people with confidence that their community match is out there and they will find it. Looking forward to working with you to find your community! Please be in touch, Cynthia TinaFounder communityfinders.com What communitarians are saying: “Cynthia helped me clarify the intentional communities that fit me, better get to know them, and finally choose one that I’m now a member of. I have no doubt anyone on a community journey will find great value in her guidance.” – Alan Stillman “Out of potentially thousands of communities, Cynthia matched me with very similar values revealed on their websites. I am in the process of applying to visit the number one recommendation. I’m excited and thankful for Cynthia‘s skills. Beyond well worth.” – Tommy Teeple “Due to her extensive community experience, she could offer many insights, provide useful tips and present selected communities to me that she had visited herself.” – Antonia Von Hassell  
Offer
  • Communities with Openings
4 weeks ago

Housing Co-op in Berkeley, CA has two member openings for 1-bedroom units

Parker Street Cooperative (PSC) – a co-owned housing co-op in Berkeley – has two openings for 1-bedroom units for new prospective members! THE APPLICATION DEADLINE IS 11:59PM ON NOV 1ST, 2026 You can find the application on our website at parkerstcoop.org Our monthly assessment for a 1-bedroom will likely be just $675 (compared with average rent of about $2,400 for a 1-bedroom in Berkeley). This covers all our shared costs. This is a great opportunity to become a fellow co-owner at a very affordable cost and secure long-term low-cost housing with a co-op community in a fantastic location in Berkeley! The current  share price for a 1-bedroom membership is about $30,600 (which is a small fraction of market rates and entirely refunded/sold back with nominal interest if a member leaves the co-op) ONE-TIME CAPITAL CONTRIBUTION FEE Lastly, if admitted, becoming a member also requires a one-time, nonrefundable $6,000 Capital Contribution Fee, which helps sustain the co-op property. For example, renovating a unit prior to move-in averages about $12,000.   CO-OP DETAILS PSC has 24 units in two buildings. We’re located in a highly convenient Berkeley location, fairly near the UC Berkeley campus, downtown, a bunch of grocery stores, Ashby Avenue, the Berkeley hills, two BART stations and other public transportation, and just two blocks west of Telegraph and two blocks south of Dwight.   The apartments have beautiful, nearly wall-to-wall windows in the living room, sizable windows in the bedroom and kitchen, hardwood floors, and original Art Deco kitchens and bathrooms. Shared spaces include common rooms, rooftop decks, beautiful though moderate garden spaces (17 fruiting plants!), high-quality fitness equipment, a very well-equipped maintenance room, bike/storage space, and a rear parking lot. MAKING IT POSSIBLE We co-own and manage the property and work together to help keep it very affordable for us and for those who come after us. For that reason, we need people who are excited and prepared to contribute substantial time, energy, and skills to the co-op, such as project leadership, budget management, facilitation, conflict mediation, administration and/or gardening. An ability to get along with a wide range of different people is also highly desirable, and prior co-op experience, or similar experience with cooperative or community-based living, is a plus. MAINTENANCE SKILLS — HIGHEST PRIORITY FOR THIS OPENING For these specific openings, substantial maintenance experience/skills are a major priority! 9-MONTH PROSPECTIVE TRIAL PERIOD The final two candidates selected after our interview process would first enter a 9-month fixed-term tenancy. As a tenant, the candidate would pay $1,675/month in rent, along with a $1,675 security deposit (which is either refunded or credited towards the share value). Near the end of the 9 months, the co-op will make a final decision about whether to offer the candidate admission as a co-op co-owner. CO-OP TOURS We’re planning to organize at least two tours of the co-op property in October before the application deadline. If you’d be interested in joining a tour, please contact us at pa***************************@***il.com and let us know. We don’t have openings that often, and each one is a special opportunity! Please feel free to share this opening with anyone who might be interested in being a new member for our community!

Update to a Public Profile

  • Log in
  • Go to your profile page
  • Toggle on the "Add my profile to the directory"
  • Save your profile

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 Membership

  • Find people with Profile Match
  • Access to your community listing statistics
  • Create Discussion Groups
  • 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
  • Create free listings in Needs & Offers
  • Plus Member resources in CommUniversity
  • View communities detailed reviews
  • Plus Member badge on your profile