Prairie Hill Cohousing, the first cohousing community in Iowa, welcomed its first four households in March 2018. By 2019, more than half the 37 homes had sold and the Common House was complete. As of June 2023, all homes have been sold and occupied.
Prairie Hill is a multigenerational Ecovillage on a nearly 8-acre infill site in Iowa City (pop. 70,000), about a mile from the University of Iowa and downtown, on a bus line near biking and walking trails, parks, restaurants, and businesses.
Over four acres are used for gardens, prairie, orchard, and open space, managed with state-funded sustainable stormwater practices and permaculture principles.
Committed to diversity and inclusion, we especially welcome families with children. Members range in age from 8 to 88 and include teachers, librarians, professors, a mediator, engineers, social workers, a landscape designer, a massage therapist, an editor, writers, a genealogist, and affordable-housing specialists.
Homes range from Common House studio apartments to two-story duplexes, four-plexes, townhouses, and one-story duplexes, from 515 to 1,290 square feet. All are super-insulated, Energy Star and LEED certified, with many solar-equipped.
Iowa City ranks among the best U.S. places to live (4th, per 2019 livability.org), with top public schools, a major research university and teaching hospital, a strong arts scene, free summer festivals, and Big Ten sports. It was the first U.S. UNESCO City of Literature, home to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and noted independent bookstores, and holds silver bike-friendly ratings from the League of American Bicyclists. It hosted the first 2019 World Cyclo-Cross World Cup event.
Prairie Hill Cohousing is committed to these values: Multigenerational membership, social and economic diversity, community and privacy, green buildings with small carbon footprints, sustainability, shared resources, with an emphasis on alternative transportation and ecological land use.
Prairie Hill is based on our beliefs that, as neighbors, we will:
1) Respect and support each other, sharing equally in decision-making, resources, and the work it takes to maintain them
2) Live in ways that are ecologically responsible and sustainable
3) Encourage diversity by welcoming various philosophies, abilities, gender identities, original nationalities, and ages
4) Honor our role as Iowa’s first cohousing community, sharing our experiences with others, both nearby and far away
Those buying a resale unit automatically become members. They meet with the Community Life Circle, orienting them to the values and expectations of membership. New members sign a Statement of Understanding, confirming their role in the community.
Contact us by email. Two guest rooms available.
A few people (not elected by the broader community) make the major decisions.
Decisions proceed unless someone has a reasoned objection.
Organized in circles or domains with distributed authority.
Responsibility for various aspects of community life is provided by semi-autonomous sociocracy circles.
Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.
Regular fees: $214
Labor: Encouraged or suggested
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed
Common House, Garden(s), Library, Workshop, Large Scale Kitchen, Fire pit, Internet
Open landscapes with predominantly grass vegetation
Subtypes include tropical, temperate, and desert grasslands
Examples: African Savannas, North American Prairies
Within city limits with access to urban amenities and infrastructure.
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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