Monan’s Rill is an established, multigenerational community in the beautiful Mayacamas Mountains in Sonoma County. In late 2020 most of our community homes burned in the Glass Fire. It is inevitable that we will be challenged, nourished, and transformed by the recovery process. Through this, we will emerge as a a close-knit group of people who know what it means to walk together through tremendous loss.
Community members have a multitude of skills to offer – animal husbandry, gardening and agriculture, writing and editing, facilitation, engineering and computer skills, forestry work, interpersonal communication and psychology, nursing and medical training, and more. We also have connections all across the county where we live and the larger region – in land stewardship, facilitation, agriculture, creativity, technology, youth advocacy, social justice. We have decades of experience in consensus, and are willing to keep learning. And … we own 414 acres of beautiful land outright – no mortgage! Our community building, shop with tools and woodworking equipment, tractor, truck, hiking trails, two ponds with azolla to harvest, and a garden with amazing soil all survived the fire. The garden is already alive with volunteer greens and berries that made it through – it just needs a new fence and some TLC. And guess what? There is space to build really energy-efficient, fire-adapted homes, and maybe more importantly, space to dream.
Monan’s Rill’s core community values — Honoring Every Voice, Relationships and Caring for Each Other, Stewardship, and Stability — are held in common by the entire community and help guide our community life, communication, and decision-making process. Our legal structure is a General Partnership, and as such, none of us holds individual title to the houses or land. At the same time, we strive for a healthy balance between private and collective life, and families or individuals live in their own homes.
We know there are a lot of people out there who dream of starting a community – you might be one of them. But this one exists, it’s honest, and it’s real. If you are inspired and excited by the idea of sharing and stewarding land in common, and rebuilding by our sides, please reach out and let us know.
You can read more about us at our website and also in the media at:
https://madelocalmagazine.com/2020/06/a-rill-runs-through-it/
or
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/monans-rill-sonoma-county-community-burned-in-glass-fire-sees-a-safer-fu/
Monan’s Rill is an intergenerational community of individuals and families, guided by the Core Values of Honoring Every Voice, Caring for Each Other, Stewardship, and Stability. We walk on land that was cared for for over 10,000 years by the Wappo people and other indigenous peoples whose names we do not know, and we value a long-term, attentive commitment to one another and to place.
Prior to Membership, a person first needs to spend enough time with us to get to know all current members. Then if they want to pursue membership, they request to start the Visitorship process, which generally will last about 18 months. During this time, a Visitor attends at least one Community meeting and workday per month, and meets monthly with their Visitor Committee to learn about life at Monan’s Rill. Additional participation in Community workdays, gatherings, and committee meetings are optional, but of course demonstrate a desire to connect, learn, and be a part of the Community. A Visitor may be a renter living on the land, or be living off the land.
Please first visit our website and Instagram @monansrill, to learn about our community and fire recovery process. If after that you are interested in learning more about our fire-adapted, climate resilient future, contact us by email! Please, because of the fire, also be patient with 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.
Our Core Value of “Honoring Every Voice” :
Monan’s Rill honors the long tradition of Quaker consensus practice – taking the time to work towards understanding each other’s perspectives, encouraging those with minority opinions to speak up, and listening for intuition and emotion as well as for information. We seek the collective wisdom of the group, recognizing that each member’s perspective is important and needed in order to understand “the whole story.” We acknowledge and honor differences, and aim to create better solutions by exploring differences and disagreement when they arise. In order to create a culture of safety and respect in which everyone feels heard and understood, we attempt to honestly address power dynamics through good communication and facilitation skills. We continually seek to improve our communication and decision-making processes.
Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.
Join fee: Yes
Regular fees: Yes
Labor: Yes
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed
There are three financial parts to a Member’s financial requirements:
1) An Initial Capital investment
2) House investment
3) Monthly fees (Does not include payment on a community house loan. Monthly fees include Community Operating & Capital budgets, house & other building maintenance, taxes, insurance, electrical & internet service, water, trash, recycling, etc.)
Common House, Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Swimming pond or pool, Tractor & Farm Equipment, Swingsets & play areas, Internet
Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.
Private homes with shared common facilities, designed for neighborly
interaction while maintaining independence.
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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