What even is cooperative coliving, and why is it so great?
Cooperative coliving is a combination of two housing philosophies: Coliving and Housing Cooperatives.
Coliving is a style of communal housing where individuals have a private bedroom and share common spaces such as kitchens, bathrooms, laundry facilities, living rooms, etc. It is similar to living with roommates but provides a more structured approach. Typically there is leadership involved in facilitating shared living responsibilities and it offers individuals a more amenity rich experience with all costs of housing included in your rent payment. Coliving is very popular among nomads and students, but people from all walks of life practice coliving. Most coliving communities have a shared interest among residents, such as content creators, religious or cultural affiliation, career industry, etc. In the case of Garnet Villages, we are all artist and creatives in different disciplines.
Cooperative housing is a form of housing that emphasizes collective stewardship, management, and ownership of the home. Cooperative housing communities are member owned and operated. At Garnet Villages rental contributions and non-monetary labor contributions (through work trade opportunities) are converted into a proportional stake in the Garnet Villages enterprise, allowing for all residents to be partial owners of the community. Garnet Villages is fully democratically run, with residents being expected to attend twice monthly meetings, vote on important issues, share cleaning, cooking, and house grocery responsibilities, event coordination, and all other aspects of communal living. We live together, learn together, and grow together.
Cooperative coliving housing is not an “easy” form of living. It will challenge you in ways you will not expect, but you will also grow in ways you will not expect. Residents learn how to manage conflict in a constructive way, communicate their boundaries and needs, be flexible, participate in community care, and learn from individuals that have a different mindset or perspective than their own, among many other important skills. All of our residents are deeply committed to the ethic and lifestyle of collective stewardship, and willing to problem solve & adapt when needed, and that is what creates a healthy and thriving community at Garnet Villages.
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All prospective residents first submit a paper form that provides some basic information about themselves.
The next step is a phone call. This isn’t a formal “interview” but rather an organic conversation for both parties to get to know each other. If after the phone conversation we mutually feel like the prospective resident has the potential to be a good fit, the next step is a trial stay.
Trial stays vary in length but can be anywhere from one night to a week. At the trial stay the prospective resident will get a full tour of the house, meet all of the current residents and pets, and get to see the available room.
Finally, if both parties still wish to proceed, at the end of the trial stay the prospective resident will sign their housing agreements, complete the onboarding process, and coordinate an official move in date.
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In the spirit of equity and communal support, each resident works with our team to create a unique rental contribution plan that fits their specific needs, as well as the needs of the community.
This can be strictly monetary or can include work-trade contributions. In the past residents have provided carpentry and contract work, administrative support, and event staffing for the community in their work-trade agreement.
Most residents pay $550 a month in rental contributions. This is all inclusive and includes all of your utilities, access to our laundry facilities, and other shared resources.
Your unique rental contribution agreement will be created in the interview process.
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We recognize that “artist” can be a loaded term for some. At Garnet Villages, we value creativity in all forms. Our residents have greatly varied interests. We have woodworkers, graphic designers, creative writers, balloon artists, visual artists, musicians, thespians, drag artists, fiber artists, and more. What unties us is a love for creating. We encourage each other to take risks, try new things, and create “bad art”. You do not have to have any formal training or specific credentials to be a villager!
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We don’t publicly share our address to respect the privacy of our residents. We are located directly next to the UMF campus and we are about a five minute walk from downtown. We are happy to share our full address privately if you email molly@garnetvillages.com.