Scenic aerial view of lush green landscape near a large lake.

Marenal

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Home-sharing
  • Town/Small City

Founding year

  • 2022

What we do

We are a sustainable, intentional, gated agricultural community based on libertarian, voluntaryist principles. The number of our members/partners is limited. Each partner owns a registered lot of at least 5,000 sqm and a proportionate share of our community and commercial properties. Our governance form is Sociocratic. We are self-managed by our Marenal Partner Association and its General Council. The concept of our community was created by Franz Xaver Meier, our founder. His background is detailed in the introduction of our website, marenal.com
Our mission is to advance our principles by setting a positive example for future generations and by preserving and promoting our ecological and intellectual assets. We are guided by our respect for the native ecosystem and its rich biodiversity, and we strive to….
move towards self-sufficiency by growing our own food, supplying the community with chemical-free water from our own well, using renewable energy, and other ecologically sound resources, whenever possible.
protect and restore our environment by minimizing our footprint, and by promptly remedying any unavoidable impact.
provide educational opportunities for our residents and the broader community.
inspire mentorship and collaboration with the local community by sharing the knowledge, experience, and talents of our partners.
promote our intellectual and physical well-being through literature, education, history, science, the arts, a healthy lifestyle, and spirituality.
become a well-functioning Sociocratic Community.

Our Mission

“Peace, Freedom, and Pura Vida” expresses our belief in self-ownership, personal responsibility, property rights, the non-aggression principle, the right of self-defense, peaceful dispute resolution, freedom of association, the advocacy of the principles of Voluntaryism, the importance of education, and the right to a happy life.

  • Purpose
  • Home-sharing
  • Community type
  • Cohousing
  • Sustainability practices
  • Renewable energy systems
  • Activities
  • Property management
  • Experiences

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2022
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2025
  • Started living together
  • 66 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
116

How to join

After submitting the Compatibility Assessment and receiving Community approval, the potential member/partner will be invited to visit and select a property. If he decides to purchase, he must accept our guidelines, rules, and regulations, and agree to repurchase rights before we proceed to the contract and to closing.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

Fill out our Compatibility Assessment and make a reservation.

Primary decision-making authority

  • Single Leader or Founding Couple

One person or partnership has ultimate authority.

Decision-making process

  • Consent-Based (Sociocracy)

Decisions proceed unless someone has a reasoned objection.

Governance structure

  • Sociocratic/Circle-Based

Organized in circles or domains with distributed authority.

Conflict resolution approach

Until the Marenal Partner Association is formed, the Founder and Developer is enforcing the guidelines.

Economic model

  • Independent Finances

Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • Members need to pay fees, dues, or similar to live there on a per month or per year basis
  • 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

Regular fees: $100
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed

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

Common House, Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Library, Swimming pond or pool, Outdoor Kitchen, Tractor & Farm Equipment, Swingsets & play areas, Gym or sports area, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • Rarely

Significant food acquisition practices

  • Growing our own
  • Locally sourced

Community activities and engagement

  • Volunteer, Internship, or Apprenticeship, or WWOOF’ing
  • Neighborhood, Community Housing, or Homeowner's Association

Substance use culture

  • Substance use appears in public spaces but no pressure

Gender composition

  • Roughly balanced (no group 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

  • Cohousing

    Private homes with shared common facilities, designed for neighborly
    interaction while maintaining independence.

Sustainability approach

  • Renewable energy systems

Self-produced energy

  • Up to 33%

Energy sources used

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

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • Over 66%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Greenhouse / aquaponics
  • Land area size
    22.4 hectares

Guest Book

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

Location

  • Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Marenal

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
  • Promoted
Need
Need
  • Communities with Openings
4 weeks ago

Heart-centered, nature-loving unschooling family seeking a community to land with for winter 2027

We’re a German-American family who left conventional life about four years ago to live in line with our values: freedom, connection, nature, and spirituality. We started out as worldschoolers, moving every month or two. That taught us a lot, including that too much movement leaves a family rootless. Since then we’ve been looking for the balance between adventure and belonging. We found a taste of it on a multigenerational farm community in Austria, and we’re now living alongside a small community in Norway. For January to March 2027, we’d love to spend a season inside a community that feels like home. What we’re hoping for A community with teenagers and a culture that welcomes self-directed learning, where unschooling is understood and not just tolerated Nature at your doorstep (forest, land, animals, or garden) Some shared meals, perhaps shared rhythms, and real relationships, not just a place to park A spiritual or reflective thread, whatever form it takes for you An opportunity to get to know your community by giving back (although we can’t do a ‘full’ volunteering program as we have the past three years – ie: Workaway- because we have meetings online that take up too much of our time to volunteer full time)  What we bring Resilience and emotional wellbeing. I’m an online resilience coach with a BA in Developmental Psychology, certified in HeartMath®, and an experienced yoga and meditation teacher. I can offer community sessions in nervous system regulation, stress resilience, and meditation, and support for parents and teens. Experience raising three children in a nomadic, family-centered lifestyle, including years of travel across Europe. Open, adaptable, and grounded. We’ve lived in many settings and adapt quickly. We show up as contributors, not consumers. Unschooling and homeschooling know-how. We’re glad to share what we’ve learned, especially for families navigating legal and practical questions in Europe. Many other shareable skills: carpentry, sourdough bread baking, food fermenting, music making, dad-joke-telling, drone pilots, cookie bakers, food preservation and much much more.   We’re looking for a mutual fit, not just a bed for the winter. If our story resonates and you have space or know someone who does, we’d love to hear from you. Tell us about your community: your values, your daily rhythm, and what you’re hoping for from the people who join you.
Need
  • Forming Communities
2 weeks ago

Forest Community Starting

Description: Willits, CA, Pacific Northwest rainforest system. Forest Haven is seeking forest lovers who value solitude. We have several areas in the main compound and a few tucked away in private. Space is designed for your RV / Tiny Home / +++. We will add power and water for each new Steward’s space. Land: 40 acres(17 hectares), 3ac for humans. Year-round creek at base of parcel. Heavy trees, 40 meter-ish high. Conifer mix. With a large south-facing common garden.   New forest stewards have agreed to prioritize tree health. This means each person here will have a say in whether we cut any single tree. We never cut for wood or sale.  Stewards agree to walk the forest daily as our one required 20-minute group activity.    Limit the number of dwellings to 3-5 Total. There are 8 common buildings, with 3 having flush toilets and one with a hot shower, washer and dryer. We are 100% off-grid.  We have a natural spring and solar. The full-size common kitchen is large enough to process the garden harvest and more. Remote workers and retirees’ welcome. Full online and cell service available.    Forest Haven is currently a private forest reserve.   If 2 households sign on, it will become a 501(c)(3). Each person’s “donation/rent” will be tax-deductible. This is a private forest reserve going public as a nonprofit.    Please inquire if you want to help in a small way using basic permaculture methods to improve our forest’s health, message me to learn more.

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A residential project: people live here as their primary home.

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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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