Scenic view of a river flowing through a lush green forest in an ecovillage setting.

Living Well Ecovillage

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Ecological
  • Town/Small City

Founding year

  • 2008

What we do

The Living Well Ecovillage is a mixed-use community/ecovillage focused on health/wellness, sustainability, service to the greater good, and honoring the sacred.
This is a 126-acre property bordered by about a mile of frontage on the Deep River on one side and almost a mile of frontage on Sandy Creek on the other side.
The community has a combination of private and shared spaces, a community garden, a Greenway/Railtrail along the Deep River, a neighborhood park, and 53 acres of natural area buffering the creek and river. The Living Well Earth Stewards (a separate nonprofit organization) offers a monthly Folk School.
The property is beautiful with mountain-like topography, the river, rock outcroppings, high areas, the creek, trails, beautiful woods, and abundant wild edible and medicinal plants.
Our community is located near major highway corridors, just two miles from Highway 64 in the town of Franklinville, North Carolina. This property has regional appeal and access, being only a 40 minute drive from Greensboro, 15 minutes from Asheboro and Siler City, and an hour and 15 minutes from RTP (Research Triangle Park), Raleigh, Durham, and Charlotte. We are centrally located between the mountains and ocean, and at the midpoint on the eastern seaboard between New York and Florida. We are also approximately a 6 hour drive from Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Georgia.

Our Mission

Sustainability, Wellness, Local Food, Neighborhood self-reliance, Community, Green Building, Environmental Conservation, Service.

  • Purpose
  • Ecological
  • Community type
  • Ecovillage
  • Activities
  • Property management
  • Education
  • Experiences
  • Services Business

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2008
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2015
  • Started living together
  • 15 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
27

How to join

Our suggested application process tries to help people determine if the mission and values of Living Well fit their own values and lifestyle. We provide information and activities to help you decide whether you want to become a member of our community. Visiting the community in person is an important part of the process.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

Please contact us at least 48 hours in advance before visiting. We do have basic camping spots available for overnight visits, and sometimes have a small house that a member rents out to visitors for a modest fee. Best times to visit are usually on the weekends, but we can accommodate mid week visits if given enough advance notice.

Primary decision-making authority

  • Small Leadership Group

A few people (not elected by the broader community) make the major decisions.

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 all are leaders and we all are followers. Leadership is shared and rotated. We encourage every member to help with leadership on a rotating basis.

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 (1 hrs/week)
We do contribute to common community projects with both labor and donated additional funds.
HOA fees presently are $500/year
We encourage the development of “Green Businesses” and also shared activities to reduce costs

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

Garden(s), Outbuilding(s), Outdoor Kitchen, Fire pit, Waterfront access

Frequency of communal meals

  • 1-3 times per month

Significant food acquisition practices

  • Locally sourced
  • Wildcrafting / Foraging

Dietary restriction

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

Community activities and engagement

  • School, Educational Institute or Experience
  • Neighborhood, Community Housing, or Homeowner's Association
  • Ethical Business, Investment Group, or Alternative Currency
  • Festivals, Conferences, Events

Substance use culture

  • Substance use appears in public spaces but no pressure

Gender composition

  • Majority cis (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

  • Ecovillage

    Integrated communities designed around ecological principles with sustainable living practices.

Self-produced energy

  • Up to 33%

Energy sources used

  • Photovoltaic Solar
  • Biomass (from wood or other organic materials)

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • 33 - 66%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Land area size
    126 acres

Guest Book

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

Location

  • North Carolina, United States

Living Well Ecovillage

Needs and Offers

Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace

  • Promoted
  • Events
3 weeks ago

Healing Love Healing Money: Trust As The Foundation For A New Culture

Money, love and power are among the hardest things any community works with, and many of us carry the same fears into both: not having enough, losing what we have, and the sense that if someone else gets money or love, we won’t. Healing Love, Healing Money: Trust as the Foundation for a New Culture is taught by two intentional communities. Karen McAllister and Duncan Cryle are from Clear Sky Meditation and Retreat Center, a Buddhist-lineage community in the BC Rockies. Monika Alleweldt and Benjamin von Mendelssohn from Tamera Healing Biotope, a community of about 160 people in southern Portugal that has spent decades studying love, trust and relationship. Clear Sky has spent years working on its relationship with money, and our two communities found surprising parallels in the fears beneath both. Over four sessions we explore the roots of fear around money and belonging, love, possession and power, trust as infrastructure (community as a container for healing), and ethical livelihood. We use short meditations, body-based practices, reflection and small-group conversation. You do not need to be in a romantic relationship or live in community. When: October 27, Nov 3, 10, 17. All four sessions: 12–2pm Vancouver, 1–3pm Alberta, 7–9pm UK and Portugal, 8–10pm Central Europe. Note: US and some Canadian provinces change clocks on November 1, so the US west coast is 12–2pm on October 27, then 11am–1pm for the remaining sessions, and Eastern is 3–5pm on October 27, then 2–4pm for the rest. Cost: sliding scale Details and registration: https://www.clearskycenter.org/event/healing-love-healing-money-online/  
October 27, 2026 13:00 – November 17, 2026 15:00
  • Promoted
Offer
Need
  • Promoted
Offer
  • Events
6 days ago

Womens Tiny Mud House Workshop

I’m Na, a regenerative designer, earthen builder and educator with the Global Ecovillage Network. I’m passionate about helping people step into action, however big or small. A women’s build I joined back in 2015 was a much needed transformational experience that set me on this path. Offering this workshop is a way of coming full circle and passing that same spark on. Sat 16 to Fri 22 January 2027 This is a hands-on workshop where you’ll learn earthen building techniques and build a tiny house from the earth up, with your own hands. Why tiny? A tiny house requires careful, creative design and asks – what space do we actually need to live? It uses far less material and takes less time to build, so it’s practical and economical. This also allows us to experience all stages of a house build, from design and brick-making to building and finishing. You’ll get your hands into every part of the build. We’ll work with mud brick (adobe), cob and bamboo, then earth plasters and finishes. This workshop is open to women of all ages and abilities are welcome. Come if you’re new and curious, if you want more practice on specific parts of a build, or simply to play in the mud with wonderful people. It’s genuinely good fun. We’ll be in my little forest, a small house on the edge of a village and national park, 20 km south of Chiang Mai, Thailand. You can stay on site in simple earthen dorms or tents, and we’ll share home-cooked Thai food in the cool, bright days of Thai winter. Read more and register here 
January 16, 2027 00:00 – January 22, 2027 23:59

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