Colorful co-housing community with vibrant houses and lush gardens in Nevada City.

Nevada City Co-housing

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Home-sharing
  • Town/Small City

Founding year

  • 2002

What we do

We are a 34-unit cohousing community located within walking distance of a lovely Sierra Nevada Foothill town. Over six of our 10 acres are dedicated to open space. The community was initiated by architects Katie McCamant and Chuck Durrett in 2002; the first residents moved in in 2005.
We are 85 people altogether: 59 adult members, 26 kid/young adult members. This includes many elder members (55+), 10 single adult households, and 16 households with kids.
Our community has many sustainable features, including photovoltaic solar for every home and the common house, sustainably forested lumber in the construction of buildings, passive cooling (air conditioning only in the common house), and hydronic heating systems for very energy-efficient, healthy homes.

Our Mission

We share meals and much more with our neighbors (or we will again once the covid-scare situation changes). We value collective wisdom, individual uniqueness, balance, and an environmentally sustainable community life.

  • Purpose
  • Home-sharing
  • Community type
  • Cohousing
  • Sustainability practices
  • Renewable energy systems
  • Activities
  • Property management
  • Experiences

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2002
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2005
  • Started living together

Gallery

  • 56 Total members
  • Not open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
75

How to join

Buy in is legally similar to any condominium, but buyers become board members, and they sign agreements to cook once a month and to do their share of work in the common areas and on committees (one hour per week average). Renters also participate in the cooking and work of the community, and sometimes “vote” as proxy if the owner of their unit is absent (we have an agreement to limit non-owner occupied units to 7). Our Board of Directors, which is all of us, meets once a month to make decisions by consensus (with a back-up voting procedure, which has never been utilized so far!).

Basic expectations or agreements for members

Please call or text Colleen at 831-535-2997 for more info.
Please email na**************@***il.com or co***********@****ud.com if you would like to know about possible homes for sale or rent. Also check our website for descriptions of homes available.

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

All homeowners are Home Owners Association Board Members.
We decide by consensus, with provisions for voting if necessary (which we have never had to use).

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: $550
Labor: Yes (1 hrs/week)
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed
In addition to the average “labor” of one hour a week (work on committees or physical community work), residents contribute time to work parties, and to cooking a common meal once a month.
HOA monthly dues range from $509 to $670 and includes wifi, and absolutely everything (solar panels, internet, as well as all the usual like common gas/electric, maintenance external to units, water, garbage, etc.) except individual PGE (which is only a few dollars a month with the solar) and individual phones. Owners with garages (about half) pay an additional $17.50 per month.

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

Common House, Garden(s), Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Swimming pond or pool, Hot tub or hot springs, Large Scale Kitchen, Fire pit, Swingsets & play areas, 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
  • Festivals, Conferences, Events

Substance use culture

  • Substance use appears in public spaces but no pressure
  • Substance use occurs primarily at celebrations or ceremonies
  • Religions
  • Christian
  • Buddhist
  • Jewish
  • Muslim
  • Quaker
  • Sufi
  • Hare Krishna
  • Native
  • Wiccan, Paganism, or Earth Religions
  • Unitarian Universalist

Gender composition

  • Roughly balanced (no group over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Family-focused (many children and parents)

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

  • By a single individual, couple, or Family Trust

Setting

  • Town/Small City

Smaller municipalities with local services but rural character.

Community type

  • Cohousing

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

Sustainability approach

  • Renewable energy systems

Self-produced energy

  • 33 - 66%

Energy sources used

  • Photovoltaic Solar

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • 33 - 66%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Land area size
    11 acres

Guest Book

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

Location

  • California, United States

Needs and Offers

Offer
Offer
  • Marketplace
6 years ago

Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves Books for Sale

Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves, Charles Durrett and Kathryn McCamant introduce Cohousing with stories and pictures of both Danish and American communities. Beautiful photographs and line drawings illustrate the warmly written account of how these communities came to be. Specific information on legal and financial aspects of working with developers, group process, and design issues make this book informative as well as inspiring. This is the book which brought Cohousing to North America. This book is the much prized second edition which has become a rarer and somewhat of a collectors item. Its community case studies were not included in the more recent publication. It preceded Creating Cohousing which is widely available. I acquired 25 cases from a local distributor who closed down. If you would like three or more copies for yourself, to share with your friends or to market your group, please let me know. I would love for them to be made useful and find great homes. Books are paperback (hard copy was not an option at the time from the publisher) all brand new, in Oakland (CA) so could be picked in Oakland or mailed to you. I would very much like to recuperate what I paid which is $10 per book. So, If you would like three or more shipped, I will add the postage, packing and handling fees. I have sold several cases (18 books per case) for $150 per case ($8 per book). I have a little wiggle room on the pricing. Please let me know if you are interested. Use the Send Message button on this page.
Offer
  • Housing For Rent + Shared
19 hours ago

Turn-key commune opportunity on 30 acres in beautiful rural Minnesota (~$500-550k)

Hi everyone! Our founding group of queer women is transitioning ownership of our rural Minnesota homestead, and we’re looking for new stewards to keep it running as an intentional community! Let me give you a tiny window into what to expect: Picture yourself stepping out of the overwhelming corporate chaos of the city, into an idyllic little slice of a slower life – there’s a certain look of relief we tend to see on our visitors’ faces. When you enter, the path is surrounded by vibrant flowers in every color that come back every year. To your left is a stone path to the organic gardens, growing easily without much effort. Straight ahead are the barns and pathways to the fields – you might pass by the occasional honeybee or butterfly. To the right is a large farmhouse, behind which there is a mossy forested area where you’ll find a conversation circle fashioned out of old logs and stones, and a small sitting platform up in the trees.    The Highlights: 30 Acres: Forest, pond, creek, permaculture gardens (HĂĽgelkultur), native plants, perennial flowers and future fruit trees, and ~1 acre dry-farmed. 9-Bedroom Farmhouse: ~4,000 sq ft across 3 levels. Solid heating, great bones, in good shape, quiet layout. Outbuildings: Garage, woodshop barn, event barn, quonset storage, a silo, plus honeybees & resident farm cat! Location: Quiet and peaceful. Remote with off-the-grid features like a well and pending solar installation, yet under 10 mins to hospital/town. Zero flood/fire risk, and a wonderfully welcoming, queer-friendly local network.   Ideal for an established group of 2+ people ready to take on a relatively large farmhouse and property. We are open to an outright purchase or a gradual transition/shared-ownership arrangements with existing members. -> Full details, photos, and contact info here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ONZk-TUYQg3Xzh5Q7yl14PPeuwl5NYXu9ZDTgFGT4sY/edit?usp=sharing   Feel free to message me or share with anyone looking for land!  
Offer
  • Forming Communities
1 month ago

Create Home in Greece, Together

There are two ways into Greece’s first community-led cohousing network: a new-build mountain-foothills village in the Peloponnese, or an adaptive-reuse project where you help choose the property itself. Both are shaped by the vision and values of the people who will live there. PATH ONE: TAYGETE COHOUSING VILLAGE — NEW-BUILD, PELOPONNESE A mountain agrihood at the foot of the majestic Taygetos Mountains, inspired by the UNESCO village of Monemvasia — pristine national forest and hiking, olive groves, a vineyard, farm, surounded by mountain villages and close to extraordinary beaches. Common House with a full coworking suite, incredible kitchen for indoor/outdoor dining, workout room and lounge with fireplace. Includes a pool, gardens, soccer field, and village plateia. Adjacent to a luxury wellness resort with spa and farm-to-table restaurants now building. 2.5 hours from Athens International Airport, 20 min. drive to a vibrant town with nightly filled tavernas and a new hospital, 25 min. drive to beaches and charming fishing villages. Project Advantage: This project does not require the group to take out a collective construction loan — a rare, significant risk reduction most forming cohousing projects can’t offer. This project also provides the opportunity for a Golden Visa permanent residency in Greece, with the advantages of European healthcare, university access, Schengen business and travel. Stage of Development: Site Selection Completed. Feasibility studies completed. Development Partner Selection Completed. Collaborative Site and Village Design Process Completed. Finance Plan Completed. Architectural and Environmental Studies are completed and in the modification process. A current building permit exists and is in the modification process. Once the permit modification process is complete, member investment opportunities will open. Utility infrastructure excavation is underway, and only 12 investe

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