True North Cohousing Community is a forming, member-owned intentional community for single, child-free women near Watertown, Wisconsin — part of a tradition of women creating intentional community outside mainstream structures that goes back more than fifty years.
We are considering two models, both on the table as the founding team comes together. The first is a tiny house village on rural Wisconsin land: privately owned homes clustered around shared common space. The second is adaptive reuse of an existing structure — a former Masonic lodge, a vintage motel, or similar — reimagined as clustered private dwellings with common space built in. The right land or building will help determine which path we take.
Members hold their homes through membership, not through a landlord-tenant relationship with True North. The land is held collectively, and buy-in is equal, with no income sharing. Governance follows a sociocracy framework: consent-based, non-hierarchical decision-making, with authority distributed to smaller circles for day-to-day management.
We’re early-stage and building deliberately: the right people first, then structure and land. We’re currently looking for three to five founding members ready to build, not join — women who want to co-create the community’s structure, find its home, and welcome the members who follow.
If you are a woman who has chosen to center your own life and want to live among others who have made the same choice, we’d like to hear from you.
More at truenorthcommunity.info.
True North is a member-owned intentional community for women to live on their own terms with genuine chosen family.
We picture a place where each woman has a home that is fully her own, and a shared life that’s richer because of it. Our core insight is that sovereignty enables generosity: when your own space is secure, you come to the common space with something to give rather than something to protect. Private homes, a common house, and the land between them are designed around that balance.
It’s also a place where you don’t have to be on guard. Living among women who have made similar choices frees up the energy that vigilance takes, and that energy goes back into connection, creativity, and care.
Daily life is shaped by five values:
We imagine shared meals in the common house, working circles for gardening, cooking, and caring for the land, and members teaching what they love to each other and to our neighbors. We see ourselves as part of the surrounding community, not apart from it.
We also expect to grow older together. Our homes and shared spaces will adapt as our needs change, and the support we offer each other will deepen with time.
When hard decisions come, we’ll return to one question: what do our values say about this?
Membership begins with a conversation. Prospective members are invited to reach out via truenorthcommunity.info or at tr******************@***il.com to introduce themselves and explore initial fit. From there, the process moves to a formal application process and structured compatibility conversation — designed as mutual discovery rather than a one-way interview — covering values, daily life orientation, decision-making culture, and vision for community. A trial period follows, designed so that the risk of exploring fit is shared equally between the prospective member and the existing community — not loaded onto one side. The full membership structure will be developed collaboratively by the founding team and documented in True North’s founding governance.
True North does not yet have a physical location to visit — we are in the founding stage, assembling the team that will shape what this becomes. If you are interested in being part of that process, whether as a founding member or a future resident, we’d love to hear from you. Visit truenorthcommunity.info to learn more, or reach out directly at tr******************@***il.com and tell us a little about yourself and what draws you to True North.
The whole membership decides collectively.
Decisions proceed unless someone has a reasoned objection.
Organized in circles or domains with distributed authority.
Conflict is a normal part of community, and repair is a shared responsibility. We address tension directly and early, rather than avoiding it or waiting it out. When we disagree, we return to the question: what do our values say about this? Formal steps, including mediation, will be set by the founding team within our sociocracy framework.
Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.
Specific financial structures — buy-in amounts, monthly contributions, and shared expense models — will be determined by the founding team in the context of Wisconsin land costs, legal structure, and community size. The principle is settled: equal land buy-in regardless of dwelling size, individual ownership of private dwellings, and shared costs on common infrastructure only. True North is not an income-sharing community. Financial accessibility is a design priority, not an afterthought — see truenorthcommunity.info for the full philosophy.
Common House, Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Vehicle Share, Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Outdoor Kitchen, Large Scale Kitchen, Fire pit, Gym or sports area, Internet
The vision includes shared meals and gatherings in the common house, working circles such as gardening, cooking, and land care, creative projects, and service rooted in the causes members care about. Activities will grow from who we are, not a preset calendar.
We support members in leading workshops in their creative passions, for each other and for our neighbors. Members may also offer their professional expertise to the local community or to the broader intentional community world.
Pets are welcome. Specific guidelines, such as those for common areas and outdoor animals, will be developed by the founding team.
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).
{{ item.label }}
{{ item.value ? item.value : currencyFormat( item.amount ) }}
Subtotal
{{ currencyFormat( pricing_summary.total_amount ) }}
