Coho Canyon

Coho Canyon is a micro-community founded in 1990 and best defined as a very small ecovillage forming the end of a country road. Located in the south-facing hills of the San Geronimo Valley in West Marin County, California, we are in possession of two adjoining, sunny and woodsy parcels on a approx 55% hillside, currently (as owners of both, we can adjust the lot lines) , a 1 acre and an 11 acre parcel with 2 cottages on each, all near each other where the infrastructure was developed; a natural forest, steep but hike-able for forest immersion, with seasonal streams/waterfalls, and wildlife to commune with, and different ecosystems at different levels (trees ( california oak, bay laurel, madrone, douglas fir), coastal sage brush, monkeyflowers)…ridgetop with dark sky and expansive views. We border a 200 acre parcel of raw land, a rather inaccessible forest with no access easement from here.
The 3 cottages and communal farmhouse are within a stone’s throw of each other, at different levels of an approx 1 acre hillside. The setting allows for audio and visual privacy.
Anyone interested to rent from us ( up to 1 year) or otherwise plug in as not-for-profit shareholders should know that, due to its proximity both to San Francisco and wide expanses of protected nature areas, Marin County housing is quite pricey. Our mortgage, property tax and home insurance overhead is pretty hefty.. doable with full house renters and/or sufficient (3-5) co-holders coming in with 100K /each. Many hands make the work light, so we are open to more people at lower initial cost, but there are only 3 cottages plus rooms in community house so you would have to like camping or have small camper van. No mortgage eligibility is necessary, but a subcontract by a coop lawyer with exit strategy, etc. If you are eligible for your own financing, the 1 acre lot could be bought , with a contract. It has its own title and easements in county records, and we would just be nice (and close) neighbors.
We are just 10 minutes west of the bohemian village of Fairfax which has a large natural foods store and plenty of live music and dance, cinema, cultural and educational events, a Summer farmers market, a Kazbah-style Tea Temple with events, etc.
The local economy is such that it is easy to earn a good living if you have entrepreneurial skills and/or a good work ethic.
Unfortunately, the land is still encumbered with a mortgage, high property tax and high home and fire insurance, so we cannot offer below market rental deals, nor work trade. (not making our monthly overhead would cause our little relic from the 70’s to succumb to the gentrification going on here, and it getting sold to a land developer…wouldn’t want that!).
Because of current Times of Great Turning, this is our last ditch effort to gather more buy-in members, and have the land continue to hold the mellow 70’s vibe, have good things happening on and from it ( as has happened since 1976) , and decommodify it when the mortgage is paid off, for the next generations ‘to have and to hold’…

1. This one -of- a- kind place is currently held, and the financing secured by two people only. We are ( 2026 on) forming a legal framework for co-holding land, and are actively screening inquiries/ applications for up to 5 people to put in $100.000 each (or 3 ad 150K/ea) who will have ownership shares with clear agreed on contracts for each person, and an exit strategy if ever needed.. You will still need a source of income to inhabit a dwelling, as there will still be overhead costs ( below 3% rate mortgages, high property taxes, home insurance)

We are very open to ideas of what use you would want of the land in return ( but not speculation!), now or in the future, and the contracts would be supervised by a coop lawyer.
We would love for a conscious, inspiring 501c3 organization with fundraising capability ( we do have 501c3 status ourselves for our charity endeavors) to do the right thing here, and will work with them on a tier system to gain possession. So that the likelihood of the legacy perpetuating itself through the generations is the highest.
The good news is we have secured a new 30+ year fixed on our names as title holders, so we can relieve the next generation of the burden of trying to qualify for a loan, while still providing land-security. Incoming deposits from new members would be used to pay off some more cumbersome, smaller equity loans. We can always engage with loans again if the person/org would need their money back. The CLTV is currently about 50-50. The monetary land value is quite high due to its location.
If anybody is in a position to lend us 150K at 7% interest only, 2 years max, we would rather pay monthly payments to a like-minded person. “Desperate times call for desperate measures”, and it feels nice to have your money in something safe and tangible, like Earth. This is why we are resisting selling it all, besides having loved, maintained the vintage cottages, and rewilded the acreage on this little dot on Mother Earth for 35 years. It is time for the next generations now..
Our alternative is to sell it as a cul-de-sac estate on the market, but in our many years here of hosting community-seeking folks. we have heard that we are one of few communal, not-for-profit landholding ventures in the Bay Area, and pretty much the only ‘hold-out’ from the 70’s. We acquired it in 1990 from the original 1970’s community with 4 of us, to keep it off the real estate market back then. We found the oldtimers time capsule, and gave it to the valley historical museum. This is a legacy, vintage land with grandfathered-in cottages, they have been maintained by various contractor friends after the first big overhaul, and they are in good working order, and will continue to need basic maintenance of course as they date from 1940 to 1976 to 1994.
This listing is our last ditch effort to change the old paradigm, individualistic profit motive in ‘real estate’ to a new paradigm of just co-holding land with like-minded people. We would hear from you what your vision is for joining, when we meet and you see and feel the land.
“It’s all stolen land.. “
Chief Seatlle 1854 speech to colonialists :”How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? ( etc).”
The legacy we’d like to leave going into the future is:
= decommodification. (if we thought it was okay to speculate with land, we would do that ourselves right now after 35 years of paying off speculating partners and a lot of high interest loans and re-financing through all sorts of global financial crises and). We are actively engaged with the larger community in our valley around this issue through public meetings and personal connections.
= the 10 acre conservation nature easement we had surveyed registered in county records to prevent future development of our forest. ( if the primary mortgage would be paid off on that parcel, we could subdivide that off and make it a conservation land trust for wildlife and plant habitat , and be relieved of a lot of property tax….)
= for next generations of guardians to care for, and continue to do good works on and from here, and keep themselves and this endd-of-the-road hillside land with its private driveway a safe haven for times to come.
= we are affiliating ourselves with the Deep Ecology philosophy/reality, and with the re-wilding/restoration movements and efforts in our bioregion. .We are also actively involved in efforts to safeguard/rewild/rehabilitate the larger ecosystems around us. (Coho salmon, wildflowers, native grasses, native Tule Elk on Pt Reyes Seashore..)
Our little eco-haven here is in a very desirable location, and we believe it may be the last acreage in the bay area where the conditions for a rural community/co-housing are met and are already grandfathered in at the county. It is still in our capable, idealistic hands, but if we sell one of the 2 parcels on the market, that chance is forever gone! If you are able to make a substantial donation to our 501 c 3 non-profit organization, become lienholders in 2nd and 3rd position on title ( great CLTV right now) , and/0r buy into a yet to be determined safe legal co-holdership framework with guidance from FIC and other communities, you will help keep that possibility open for future generations.
We weathered storms, literally and figuratively here for almost 35 years years now, and did not succumb to the capitalist traps of real estate speculation (most exiting land partners did, whence the still high mortgage:)).
This being communal land since 1976, we are unique in the area.
Idealism, integrity, and knowing we are mere temporary guardians, always wins!
We hope for same in the next guardianship, who will manifest their ideas suitable to their needs in these coming times. Although there is no need to be a ‘commune’, a common general vision and like-minded/-hearted people will be great, It can be a transactional relationship for those who have other reasons than making this home, and close friendly neighbors, pref inter-generational, for those who do want to homebase here. New partners could help create win-win contracts, within the ramification of what we know is possible as long as the 10 acres are untouched and used for gentle forest immersion only.
We can free up a 400 sq ft and two 600 sq ft cottages, when the rental leases expire (our cohabitants have been made aware of possible impending sale before they moved in) .
The 1500 sq ft farmhouse has two 300 sq ft large rooms with private entrances, they can be freed up as well but we prefer to keep the center part semi-communal, following the co-housing model.
Sorry our land is not suitable for tiny homes:( It just does not work.
We are set up for dogs due to a previous nonprofit dog rescue effort of 10 years, as one of our many ‘giving back’ and activism efforts. Pets would have to stay separated from the wildlife and kept as domestic companion animals.
The land has acquired many friends over the years: Young international permaculture and such students (through Wwoof.org ) come help us and meet minds and hearts with us on and off throughout the year. Our ex-wwoofer millennial’ and ‘gen z’ bay area friends come and enjoy a decompressing experience and help out.
We are looking forward to settling some matching people in here as a true long term home… as soon as possible though in these fast changing times of Great Turning
Travelers /activists/artists/musicians/gardeners with work ethic and skills are welcome to apply to come and home-base on the land and trade for short periods of time with a contract.
We are open to new visions and ideas on how this land can facilitate ceremony, and healing for the Earth…
Are you ready to help create a new paradigm where some form of community is the only sensible, and good way to live? Are you financially solvent and able to help us in any way to keep this safe for generations? Would you want to telecommute from this place of quiet, endless nature, friendly folks, organic farms, small town social life and entertainment, if city-life feels too stressful or is not tenable? We are within an hour of the cities and there is public transportation, ferries, etc, so some commuting works as well. We are fully ‘0n-grid’ although we certainly have the capability to be off-grid!
Do you have skills and abilities, a business sense and creativity, a desire to live simply with friendly neighbors doing same? Let’s do it!