A Real Sense of Community

Françoise E. Paradis grew tired of living in a big house surrounded by people she barely knew in an area where the pace of life was too fast.

She wanted, instead, to live in a more serene place where she could be part of a real community. She wanted to know her neighbors well and to live in harmony with the environment.

She couldn’t find a place that suited her so she decided to create one.

Paradis, a psychologist, opted to create a co-housing development on the 39-acre plot she owns in Buxton, Maine. She sold the idea of the cozy 19-home co-housing community to 10 like-minded individuals before she even got the required permits to build the development.

“People want to go back to the way life used to be with old-fashioned neighborhoods where everyone knows each other, looks out for each other and takes care of our planet,” says Paradis, who expects to start construction in the fall.

Co-housing communities allow the owners of individual homes or townhouses to share extensive common amenities including a large house and recreation areas. The concept, which began in Denmark, took root in the United States in the early 1980s but didn’t become popular until around 2000. Since then the number of co-housing communities has grown rapidly to around 108 developments spread out across the United States.

Their structure gives people what might be described as an instant extended family. They share meals and communal activities while emphasizing environmentally friendly practices. A recent study of U.S. co-housing communities by University College in London found that people living in them consume nearly 60 percent less energy in their homes, car pool more often and are more inclined to recycle.

The large house that the community shares with all its residents typically includes a kitchen, dining area, sitting area, children's playroom and laundry. Some also have a workshop, library, exercise room, crafts room and/or one or two guest rooms.

Kathryn McCamant, a Nevada City, Calif., architect who is widely recognized as one of the co-housing pioneers in the United States, says that despite growing interest in this type of community members of the general public still have many misconceptions about it.

“The most common question is whether each home has its own kitchen, and yes, they do,” she says.

That question arises because in most communities residents share a common kitchen and take turns making meals for their neighbors as well, as themselves.

Individual homeowners also have the right to sell their properties. In fact, when it comes to resales, homes in co-housing communities tend to hold their value or appreciate faster than the market as a whole.

People who prefer more private lives wouldn’t enjoy this type of community, McCamant says, but it appeals to many people looking for more meaning in their lives.

The concept has become so appealing that commercial builders are now drawn to co-housing communities, she says.

Those interested in buying into one of these developments should know that future residents must be involved in its planning the physical layout for it to truly be considered a co-housing community. If the builder doesn’t include residents in the planning stages, the development might resemble a co-housing community but really isn’t.

According to the California-based Co-Housing Association, other defining characteristics of a co-housing community include:

• The neighborhood design encourages a sense of community.

• Residents manage their own co-housing communities.

• Residents perform much of the work required to maintain the property.

• A non-hierarchical social structure and decision-making process exists along with leadership roles.

• There is no shared community economy (unlike communes).

Paradis, the psychologist developing a community in Maine, says co-housing encourages individuals to rethink home ownership.

“With co-housing you create a better life for yourself and for everyone around you,” she says.

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