We Built a Village: Cohousing and the Commons

by Diane Rothbard Margolis, David Bollier (Foreword by)

Overview

Describes the development of one of the first cohousing communities in the U.S. offering a social understanding of its commons.

Cohousing, a form of communal living that clusters around shared common space, began about a half century ago in Denmark. We Built a Village describes the process of planning and building of an early cohousing community in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the way the people involved simultaneously built their homes and their social structure.

As both a memoir and a sociological analysis that probes the differences between commons and markets, it is unique among books about cohousing. When this group of people began in the late 1990s to construct their cohousing community, they set in motion a counterpoint between the physical spaces and the social configurations that would guide their lives together, even up to creative responses to the recent pandemic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613321799
Publisher:	New Village Press
Publication date:	08/23/2022
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Diana Margolis (Author)
Diane Margolis is a founding member of Cambridge Cohousing where she has lived for more than twenty years. She is a former member of the Coho/US Board of Directors and co-founder and Director Emeritus of the Cohousing Research Network. She was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study 1980–1981. She has published many research articles, and her books include The Fabric of Self, which won Honorable Mention at the First Annual Book Award of the Eastern Sociological Society. She is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Foreword David Bollier ix

Preface We're All in This Together: The Call of the Commons xiii

Introduction 1

1 I Look for a Cohousing Community 9

2 Cambridge Cohousing Is Born: 1995 17

3 Our Homes and Our Commons 37

4 Blind Visionaries: Summer 1996 43

5 The Developers Take Over-Full Steam Ahead: Fall 1996 59

Photo Gallery I 75

6 We Choose Our Units: January 1997 81

7 Private Gardens and the Commons: Spring 1997 95

8 Moving Out and Moving In-My Year Without a Home 107

9 We're All In: 1998 133

Photo Gallery II 155

10 Settling in, Commoning, and Complaining 161

11 A Time to Weep and a Time to Cheer 173

Photo Gallery III 191

12 A Renaissance and a Pandemic 197

Bibliography 217

Acknowledgments 221

About the Author 223

Editorial Reviews

"“The Diane Margolis’ rendition of cohousing is a very human one, and overdue. Putting together a custom high-functioning neighborhood is never simple, and this book does not shy away from the complexities. But getting these communities together is getting easier—the foibles are fewer because of stories like this—and one day cohousing will be the norm, not the exception.”

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architect, AIA, and cofounder of cohousing in North America - Charles Durrett

"“With a background as an author and sociologist, Diane Margolis has been an early pioneer and leader in the cohousing movement in America. She has a deep understanding of the social process critical to the creative and successful development and evolution of cohousing communities. I definitely recommend We Built a Village.”

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President, Wonderland Hill Development Company - James W Leach

"“This book takes us back to the formation of the first cohousing communities in the United
States, when ordinary people (not just architects, developers, and planners) decided they wanted a different kind of neighborhood where they collaborate with their neighbors on a daily basis.
That Cambridge Cohousing, along with hundreds of other communities, is still thriving shows that Americans are looking for something the housing market is still not providing—authentic community. The book illustrates how people without “a leader” or shared spiritual practice can create strong enduring communities that attract their next generations of residents and stand the test of time. I am particularly intrigued by Diane’s discussions of how Americans struggle with private property rights vs the commons, conflicting values deeply embedded in most of us.”

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President, CoHousing Solutions; cofounder of cohousing in North America - Kathryn McCamant