Please do see our website for the living version of this listing, where we continue to refine our definition of our community, where we lay out community guidelines, where we chronicle some of our previous activity.
Our home is a bustling, bumpin’ one, chock full of good music, food, and stories. We divide house costs on what we call a socialized scheme, where members negotiate what portion of house costs they can accommodate given their circumstances. We challenge one another, though mostly through invitation. We share food, and more importantly, meals with one another and with communities beyond our walls.
The intention of this community is to prompt and foster growth, nourish its members health in all forms. We encourage creative expression, acceptance of ourselves and others, active and ongoing communication, and levity. We support each other to accomplish security in our shared home and lives. We strive to have a positive impact on our broader communities, both small and large.
Hi! We’re Swamp Dog Hobble (named after a native plant). We have a room opening in our home on May 1st. (Photos show the open room): About us:
We’re a communal house (a house! a community!) in Flatbush. This house has:
• Four bathrooms, seven bedrooms + a basement, one tiny guest room, two kitchens, at least four common rooms, a music room with a grand piano
• An emerging food forest with a Hügelkultur mound, raised beds, greens, veggies, fruit trees and 2,600 pounds of compost
• ~1000 books, a washer/dryer, large porch, large garage with a wood-shop and a gazebo (soon-to-be greenhouse or dance studio?!)
We live near Brooklyn College, at the end of the 2/5 lines, about 45 minutes from downtown Manhattan, 25 minutes from Jacob Riis beach and a brisk walk away from the new Shirley Chisholm Recreation Center. Average monthly cost of living is ~$1250 which includes rent, utilities, groceries, the cost of which is always shared. This number fluctuates from person to person in proportion to income and general financial anxiety; not based on the qualities of this or that room (though lately our contributions have been similar).
What does “communal house” mean to us? Basically, we like to be involved in each other’s lives! We sit down at least once a week for dinner together, we check in with each other, we paint rooms new colors; there are big dinner parties, live shows, sourdough focaccia bakes on the weekends when the weather is right; we like projects, we like to do stuff; we draw in the stairways, move furniture around, cook for each other, and share the labor of keeping our house running. Every week, we work together to cook about 10 gallons of food that gets distributed at Tompkins Distro.
What else?
Raucous laughter. Juggling. CDs playing on the first floor. Freezers full of bread and goodies. Piano duets. Sharing food with our neighbors. Everyone’s always in the middle of telling a story. We’ve a moving river, an evolving, transforming community built on our relationships with one another.
We’re looking to add a member who will bring their individuality and passion to our space and who wants to participate in our co-living project. If this sounds like you, please email us at
swamplications [at] fastmail [dot] com and share
(1) a little about yourself and your values and experiences living/collaborating with other people
(2) how you express your creativity
(3) a conflict you’ve navigated in the past between someone you’ve lived with
(4) what you’ve been excited about lately in your life.
We’ll reach back out to schedule time for you to meet some of our members and learn more about the space!
To visit, write to us!
The whole membership decides collectively.
Generally seek agreement, but have backup methods when consensus isn’t reached.
Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.
We operate on a collaborative consent basis.
For a contrived example: “Can I put this art up here?” “I consent. Though I might have mixed feelings about the use of the color orange, I am in support of the community experimenting with interior design. I’ll fetch the nails and wire.”
Yes and… or No but… have been useful in generative decision making.
Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.
Regular fees: $1250
Labor: Yes (2 hrs/week)
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed
Common House, Garden(s), Vehicle Share, Library, Workshop, Large Scale Kitchen, Fire pit, Internet
Connecting 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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