Colorful window with string lights and potted plants on a cozy porch.

Template House

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Social
  • Urban

Founding year

  • 2018

What we do

Template House is an intentional community space in Lower Haight of San Francisco. We inhabit a mixed use building, which is both a home and also a semi public community living room and reading room that are set in street facing commercial spaces on the ground floor. We are five residents (so far) exploring co-creation, commoning, fluid use of space, and new ways of being in solidarity with one another.
Template is home to our Second Life community – an autonomous, self-determined intentional community, built around transformation and empowerment, with and for the formerly incarcerated community, manifesting alternative justices approaches and values.

Our Mission

The commons, which is our shared world, and all that it offers must be open to all who wish to participate, care for, and contribute to them. It is our hope that returning citizens are not returning to the same systems that led them into a difficult trajectory, but into a different social fabric, centered around solidarity, mutual emancipation, and collective power. For us, the goal is not just to re-enter an existing society, but to reshape society using the unique skills, critical reflections of the world, and emotional intelligence gained through incarceration. Our commons and communities support returning lifers to find meaningful work, heal from their traumatic experiences, and build independent community life-lines and help all of us move beyond the themes of domination, competition, extraction, and individualism that often dominate our worlds.

  • Purpose
  • Social
  • Community type
  • Coliving
  • Commune
  • Activities
  • Property management
  • Education
  • Experiences
  • Networking
  • Services Business

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2018
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2019
  • Started living together

Video

  • 4 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
6

How to join

You can apply here and we will arrange a call with you!
https://embassynetwork.com/locations/template/apply%20for%20residency/

Basic expectations or agreements for members

please email us at hu****************@***il.com! We’d love to show you around or have you come and stay :)

Primary decision-making authority

  • All Community Members Together

The whole membership decides collectively.

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.

Economic model

  • Partial Income-Sharing

Members contribute a percentage of income to community funds.

Economic scenarios for this community

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

Additional economic information

Regular fees: $350
Labor: Yes (2 hrs/week)
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed

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

Common House, Garden(s), Vehicle Share, Library, Workshop, Hot tub or hot springs, Stage or Auditorium, Fire pit, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • About once a week

Dietary restriction

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

Community activities and engagement

  • School, Educational Institute or Experience
  • Volunteer, Internship, or Apprenticeship, or WWOOF’ing
  • Neighborhood, Community Housing, or Homeowner's Association
  • Ethical Business, Investment Group, or Alternative Currency
  • Organization, Resource, or Network
  • Festivals, Conferences, Events

Substance use culture

  • Substance use occurs primarily at celebrations or ceremonies
  • Substance use is prohibited in the community

Gender composition

  • Majority cis (over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Mixed adults (few or no children)

Guest Book

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Location

  • California, United States

Needs and Offers

Offer
Offer
  • Marketplace
6 years ago

Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves Books for Sale

Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves, Charles Durrett and Kathryn McCamant introduce Cohousing with stories and pictures of both Danish and American communities. Beautiful photographs and line drawings illustrate the warmly written account of how these communities came to be. Specific information on legal and financial aspects of working with developers, group process, and design issues make this book informative as well as inspiring. This is the book which brought Cohousing to North America. This book is the much prized second edition which has become a rarer and somewhat of a collectors item. Its community case studies were not included in the more recent publication. It preceded Creating Cohousing which is widely available. I acquired 25 cases from a local distributor who closed down. If you would like three or more copies for yourself, to share with your friends or to market your group, please let me know. I would love for them to be made useful and find great homes. Books are paperback (hard copy was not an option at the time from the publisher) all brand new, in Oakland (CA) so could be picked in Oakland or mailed to you. I would very much like to recuperate what I paid which is $10 per book. So, If you would like three or more shipped, I will add the postage, packing and handling fees. I have sold several cases (18 books per case) for $150 per case ($8 per book). I have a little wiggle room on the pricing. Please let me know if you are interested. Use the Send Message button on this page.

Information

Communities

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

Organizations

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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