Serene riverside scene with trees and a small wooden bench under a tree branch.

Rio Grande Refuge

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Forming
  • Home-sharing
  • Rural

Founding year

  • 2020

What we do

The vision is of a cool green refuge from our increasingly complex and chaotic, crowded and competitive world. We are far from the honking traffic of city life.
We are a largely substance free, looking for people who are eager to roll up their sleeves and get to work building, growing, connecting and harvesting. This vision includes evening swims and quiet dinners. Sunday croquet games on a green lawn. Year-round healthy food grown on site. Vibrant community life including both scientific and spiritual experimentation, education and practice. Winter nights eating pumpkin soup by a wood stove.
This will be accomplished on a working community farm on the Rio Grande, where a small core group (6 – 10 people) manage the farm, including: small animals, orchard and gardens, using regenerative agriculture practices like composting, cover cropping, vermiculture and water harvesting. We restore and build energy efficient, locally sourced, small dwellings, greenhouses, barns and workshops. We take interns and offer classes in all manner of sustainable living, growing and building practices. The community will be funded initially by members, then become sustainable through selling produce and charging for workshops and internships.
Jeff Hood found this six acre farm in 2020. He is joined by Ananda Forest and Iishana Artra. We have recovered the old adobe farmhouse and shed, built a shop, put up a yurt and regenerated a large garden plot. We have formed an LLC and are seeking members who want to (literally) build a community. There is room (and need) for all kinds of skills, including carpentry, farming, fundraising, website development, community outreach and workshop development.

Our Mission

Our purpose is to inspire and support sustainable, compassionate community in pursuit of a harmonious, joyful and abundant relationship with our Mother Earth.

  • Purpose
  • Home-sharing
  • Community type
  • Cohousing
  • Coliving
  • Sustainability practices
  • Waste reduction / composting
  • Regenerative agriculture or permaculture
  • Activities
  • Property management
  • Farming
  • Education
  • Experiences
  • Others

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2020
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2022
  • Started living together
  • 3 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
3

How to join

We are seeking up to six memberships (couples may hold a membership) with equal financial commitment. We welcome visitors to check us out and if interested engage in a 6 month trial period before before joining as partners in the Rio Grande Refuge LLC. They will then have the opportunity to build a dwelling.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

email or text at the above addresses

Decision-making process

  • Modified Consensus

Generally seek agreement, but have backup methods when consensus isn’t reached.

Governance structure

  • Collaborative/Horizontal

Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.

Conflict resolution approach

We have practiced consensus building for years and are committed to using it in relevant decisions.
We envision small or tiny homes clustered around a central bathhouse/kitchen and community house, leaving plenty of space for gardens, orchards and semi wild land on the river.

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 (4 hrs/week)
We have an evolving financial agreement on expenses and income.

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

Common House, Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Swimming pond or pool, Tractor & Farm Equipment, Fire pit, Swingsets & play areas, Waterfront access

Frequency of communal meals

  • About once a week

Significant food acquisition practices

  • Locally sourced

Dietary restriction

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

Community activities and engagement

  • Transition Town (post-petroleum and off-grid communities.)
  • School, Educational Institute or Experience
  • Volunteer, Internship, or Apprenticeship, or WWOOF’ing
  • Neighborhood, Community Housing, or Homeowner's Association
  • WWOOF'ing, Guest Farming
  • Festivals, Conferences, Events

Substance use culture

  • Substance use appears in public spaces but no pressure
  • Substance use is prohibited in the community
  • Religions
  • Christian
  • Buddhist
  • Jewish
  • Quaker
  • Wiccan, Paganism, or Earth Religions

Gender composition

  • Majority cis (over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Mixed adults (few or no children)

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.

  • Coliving

    Shared living spaces with private bedrooms/bathrooms and communal
    kitchens, dining, and social areas.

Sustainability approach

  • Waste reduction / composting
  • Regenerative agriculture or permaculture

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

  • Up to 33%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Greenhouse / aquaponics

Waste management practices

  • Composting
  • Land area size
    6 acres

Guest Book

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Location

  • New Mexico, United States

Needs and Offers

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Cohousing Townhome near the beach in Aptos, CA

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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).

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