General Questions
Q: What is an ecovillage?
Q: What is cohousing?
Q: What is the difference between an ecovillage and cohousing?
Q: How do ecovillages differ from other "intentional communities?"
Q: We'd like to live in a cohousing group just with people that are all… teachers/musicians/older folks/artists/single moms....
Q: What should I do next if I am interested in exploring membership in Three Groves Ecovillage?
Questions Specific to the West Grove site
Q: What is “building green”, and how green will our homes be?
Q: What kind of houses will be built?
Q: What will all this cost me?
Q: Are you doing all this yourselves?
Q: Will the community be near a small town?
Q: How large will the ecovillage be, and what kinds of households will live there?
Social, Safety and Family Aspects
Q: What will the advantages be for children living in a cohousing community or ecovillage?
Q: What about safety and security in general?
Q: Please tell me about common meals.
Q: What is the Common House or Club House for?
Q: How are people selected to be members of Three Groves Ecovillage?
Q: What is “aging in place”?
Ownership and Investment
Q: How is home ownership legally structured in cohousing communities?
Q: What if I want to or have to move out of the community and sell my unit?
Q: Will my initial investment be at risk?
Q: I can't afford to (or don't want to) buy into Three Groves Ecovillage. Are rental units available? What about affordable housing?
Q: What is an ecovillage?
A: Ecovillages are communities of people who strive to live a sustainable lifestyle in harmony with each other, other living beings, and the Earth. Their purpose is to combine a supportive social-cultural environment with a low-impact lifestyle. From Ecovillage Living by Hildur Jackson & Karen Svensson.
Q: What is cohousing?
A: Cohousing communities combine the advantages of private homes with the benefits of more sustainable living, including shared common facilities and ongoing connections with neighbors. These intentional neighborhoods, created and managed by residents, offer an innovative solution to today's environmental and social challenges. From Cohousing.org
Q: What is the difference between an ecovillage and cohousing? 
A: The terms often overlap, and we tend to use the terms interchangeably. Not all ecovillages are cohousing communities, and vice versa. However, many are both, including ours. Ecovillages tend to primarily emphasize on environmental sustainability and cohousing communities tend to primarily emphasize social sustainability.
Q: How do ecovillages differ from other "intentional communities?"
A: Some people involved with ecovillages or cohousing like to describe their communities as "intentional neighborhoods," rather than "intentional communities." This is probably because the term "intentional community" frequently connotes a shared religious, political or social ideology rather than simply the desire to have much more of a sense of community with their neighbors, some of whom might be quite different from themselves. Three Groves Ecovillage espouses no particular ideology.
Q: We'd like to live in a cohousing group just with people that are all… teachers/musicians/older folks/artists/single moms....
A: We are actively seeking diversity of all kinds in Three Groves Ecovillage; we want to live in a community with others who are not just like ourselves.
Q: What should I do next if I am interested in exploring membership in Three Groves Ecovillage?
A: Make sure we have contact information for you. Come to meetings and get to know our group. Check our calendar for the next meeting or event where you can find us. Explore cohousing groups on the Web and as soon as you can, visit some completed communities. We can also suggest several books on cohousing that would be very informative, and we have a video that you can borrow which interviews people living in cohousing around the country. If you are ready for the next step after that, ask for a copy of our LLC Operating Agreement.
Questions Specific to the site
Q: What is “building green”, and how green will our homes be?
A: Our goal is to build "net-zero-energy" homes that use on-site solar thermal and solar electric energy generation for all lighting/heating/cooling needs. Homes will be hyperinsulated and employ hyper-efficient ground-coupled "geothermal" heat pumps for heating and cooling. We will also fulfill other sustainability criteria to become LEEDS-platinum certified.
Q: What kind of houses will be built?
A: We will have smaller than average homes so we can live more lightly on the land, and because some of our needs (for example, guest rooms) will be met by the Club House. Houses will include plans with 1, 2, 3 or 4 bedrooms. All units will have the typical rooms and amenities you would expect in any other home. We plan to build homes that are highly energy efficient, using durable quality materials, and probably using geothermal heating and cooling. We plan to embrace the concept of "Simple but Quality" to help keep construction costs down, and have a community solar array. The kitchens will probably be at the front of the houses, looking out on the common walkway. Homes will be attached, again to keep costs down and improve energy efficiency.
Q: What will all this cost me?
A: We will be competitive with the local non-green market. The important thing to remember though, is that you get much more than just your own home, and you have to be careful when comparing a typical tract house to ours. You would own a share of the Club House, the solar array, and the grounds. We will be Net Zero Energy, meaning we will use solar panels to generate as much energy as we
consume, feeding it the grid during peak cost periods and drawing it
out at night during periods of lower cost. We anticipate getting checks
back from the power company. In fact, banks are beginning to realize the benefits to green homes, and some are offering “green mortgages” that are based on the idea that the monthly cost of living in a green home is lower than in a conventional home. That means that a homeowner can afford to spend more on a mortgage payment each month because things like power and water bills are lower.
The developer has done a Time Value of Money calculation to demonstrate that the costs of the homes up front is an investment in savings in the future. That said, we know you are looking for the bottom line. Here are the current estimates. Bear in mind that these numbers will shift a little bit based on the realities of the market. Obviously, we hope to bring them down.
Estimated Base Purchase Prices as of February 2010:
1 Bedroom : $199,000
2 Bedroom: $332,000
3 Bedroom: $372,000
4 Bedroom: $409,000
In addition, we anticipate approximate monthly fees:
$65 for operation and maintenance of solar panels and the constructed wetland. This is in lieu of electric bills and sewer bills.
$150 for a Home Owners Associate Fee to cover insurance, snow removal, grounds maintenance, clubhouse maintenance, etc.
Q: Are you doing all this yourselves?
A: No, we are in frequent consultation with experts in cohousing from all over the country by phone, email, and in person. We have attended National Conferences and are a member of Mid Atlantic Cohousing, a consortium of cohousing communities in the Washington, D.C. area. Additionally, we are partnering with a developer to further ensure success. See our Project Team page to meet all the wonderful people who are helping us on this journey.
Q: Will the community be near a small town?
A: Walkability is one of our core values, and the property is only a half mile from downtown West Grove, PA. In addition, we will be right across the street from an 85+ acre community park.
Q: How large will the ecovillage be, and what kinds of households will live there?
A: We hope to build about 35 units, ranging from 1 to 4 bedrooms so that we can attract a variety of families. The norm for a cohousing community is 20-40 units. Because we will have both larger and smaller units, we anticipate a less-than-average child-per-household rate even though we love kids.
Social, Safety and Family Aspects
Q: What will the advantages be for children living in a cohousing community or ecovillage?
A: Many! Communities like ours are very safe because of their design with many homes facing the central green walkway. No cars are allowed there, so it’s a safe place to play, and there are many eyes on the children. Strangers are immediately noticed. Many co-housers let their children roam freely around the neighborhood because most people in the community interact with and watch out for the children. The variety of skills and interest in one’s neighbors means that there are many adults to teach skills that the parents might not have. Some communities have home schooling opportunities, also.
Q: What about safety and security in general?
A: Because we know all our neighbors, we will have an excellent neighborhood watch system as a natural part of our community. Cohousing communities, by their nature and design, are probably among the safest kinds of communities in the country.
Q: Please tell me about common meals.
A: Cohousing communities usually prepare between two and four meals per week in their Common House. The meals are prepared by a team of 2-4 persons for however many diners sign up in advance for the meal. Eating common meals is always voluntary. In a few communities cooking is also voluntary, but in some cases it is not. There is a good deal of variation in the way the cooking and cleanup responsibilities are structured. Typically, each adult is involved in meal preparation and/or cleanup once every 4 or 5 weeks. There is also variation in how the common meals are paid for, but one only pays for the meals one eats. Many communities encourage their cooks to provide a vegetarian option at most meals, and special food requirements are respected, although not every one of them will necessarily be accommodated at every meal.
We feel that common meals are one of the “glues” that hold cohousing communities together. A common meal may be the only time in a busy week when we get to have a real conversation with our neighbors. And if we are lucky enough to have a little extra time for some after-dinner coffee or tea and conversation, while the kids romp around, so much the better.
Q: What is the Common House or Club House for?
A: Besides preparing and sharing common meals, we envision areas to gather for spontaneous musical events or planned parties, guest rooms, a play area for children, space for discussion groups, a game room, possibly a workshop and a greenhouse, and so forth. Maybe there will even be a hot tub or a community swimming pool.
Q: How are people selected to be members of Three Groves Ecovillage?
A: People select themselves. We presently require attendance at several regular meetings, and ask for some involvement before a household can apply for membership. A membership requires an equity investment, which will eventually credited toward the final price of your house. These equity investments are, in a sense, a way of making your downpayment on your unit and getting operating capital during the early phases of development.
Q: What is “aging in place”?
A: At least some of the homes will use universal design, which will mean that as we age, we will be able to stay in our homes as long as possible. Also, people in completed cohousing communities tell us that older residents enjoy enthusiastic support and care from the younger residents. Many of us hope to never have to move to a retirement community or nursing home.
Q: How is home ownership legally structured in cohousing communities?
A: Most cohousing communities are either structured as condominiums (meaning the legal concept, not a physical design) or planned unit developments. In what is called the "lot development model," members jointly own the common property and facilities and are the sole owners of the lot on which they build their own single family house. Sometimes they own just the land directly under their homes (the footprint) or that plus a small back or front "private" yard. We haven’t decided on our home ownership structure yet, but are leaning towards Condominiums.
Q: What if I want to or have to move out of the community and sell my unit?
A: Any household leaving the community can legally sell their property to anyone they choose. Some communities maintain a waiting list of people interested in being informed if a unit becomes available, and it is to the benefit of the seller and to the rest of the community if everyone lends a hand in finding new owners. When it comes to resales, experience has shown that homes in cohousing have held their value or have appreciated faster than the market as a whole.
Q: Will my initial investment be at risk?
A: Early money is more at risk than money put in later. We have designed a Rebate Program to help compensate for that risk.
Q: I can't afford to (or don't want to) buy into Three Groves Ecovillage. Are rental units available? What about affordable housing?
A: There are several possibilities here. If some people want to own a home and rent it back out, that is certainly an option. Another option would be that one family might help another with a down payment. In this situation the unit might be held by these families as joint tenants or tenants-in-common. A third option would be that one person or household could own the unit and others sharing the home would be renters. There is no community that we know of in which the homeowner's association owns a unit and rents it out, though some communities have an apartment or two as part of the common house. In Three Groves Ecovillage we plan that some units will be smaller than others and therefore more affordable.
Renting residents usually have all the same rights and responsibilities as owners except in matters relating to expenditure of large amounts of money. Typically, renters are welcome to attend meetings and participate fully in discussions of community matters, but usually they cannot block consensus.
