Cohousing guidelines, sources

The book that introduced North America to this community concept is Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves by Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett, available in a second edition from Ten Speed Press ($29.95). The authors tell how cohousing developed in Denmark as a grassroots movement and explain how it works in the US using profiles of cohousing communities. “Anywhere from 12 to up to 36 households seems to work best” as a size for a cohousing development, say McCamant and Durrett. The pivot point of the development is the common house, which the authors describe as “a place for common dinners, afternoon tea, children’s games on rainy days, a Friday night bar, crafts workshops, laundry facilities, and numerous other organized and informal activities.” Cohousing is managed by the residents, not paid staff. Information about cohousing is available at www.cohousingco.com/reso.htm and www.cohousing.org.