What is cohousing?

Click above to learn about the Cohousing Association of the United States.

Cohousing is a type of collaborative housing that attempts to overcome the alienation of modern subdivisions where few people really get to know their neighbors.  It began in Denmark in the late 1960s, and spread to North America in the late 1980s. There are now more than one hundred cohousing communities completed or in development across the United States and Canada.
​
Cohousing residents are united by a mutual desire to live a cooperative, inter-generational neighborhood and to enjoy an environmentally-sound lifestyle. They value energy-efficient and resource-conserving design, good architecture, and natural beauty.

---

Cohousing residents do not share finances, and they do not necessarily have a common political or religious philosophy.
​
Governance in cohousing communities—how decisions are made—is almost always by consensus. Consensus decision-making is both for making community agreements and the process for doing so.

Nubanusit Neighborhood & Farm is the first eco-friendly cohousing community in New Hampshire and is regionally recognized for its vision.

Would cohousing work for you and vice versa? Read "Are We a Match" to begin to find out. 

Neighborhoods are among the most promising solutions to many of today's most challenging social and environmental concerns.

Communities balance the traditional advantages of home ownership with the benefits of shared common facilities and ongoing connections with neighbors.

Homes are smaller, attached and/or clustered, taking up less land, reducing the negative environmental impact of development, and preserving more land for natural vegetation, wildlife, and recreation.

Neighbors gather at a Common House for some meals and activities, which helps make houses have a smaller carbon footprint by sharing space, thus using fewer resources to build, maintain, and heat.

---

Further reading: 

• "Modern Housing with Village Virtues" (New York Times, 2016)
• "Finding a Healthy, Happy Cohousing Community that Fits Your Values" (Fellowship for Intentional Community, 2016)
• "There’s Community and Consensus. But It’s No Commune." (New York Times, 2018)