The Land Where We (Will*) Live

River Song Cohousing is currently in the magical moment between Becoming and Being, between Planning and Action, between a Great Idea and Reality. We got the construction site, architectural designs, and permits. In September of 2021 we broke ground and started building paradise: 28 beautiful family units plus a Common House, enclosed walkways, community garden, playscape, shop and parking structures. (Plans are representations, exact details may vary slightly per constriction documents and methods.)

Aerial flyover of the undeveloped property

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Map view

Site Map with Some Additions

Parking is on the west edge of our property, the Common House is in the middle, individually owned homes are close enough to promote interaction, and a garden, playscape, meandering paths, and private backyards complete the site.

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Virtual tour of finished site

Take a tour of how we decided on the layout of the site.

The Houses We (Will*) Live In

The Common House

This is the heart of the community. A vibrant common house really matters so we put a lot of energy into designing something that really works.

Our Homes

We have 5 floor plans for our individual homes. Typical cohousers want to know their neighbors and share resources, but they still want to own their very own homes, complete with kitchens.

Click here for details of
the five unit types

Unit Design

Several years ago we held Private Home Workshop, which progressed along the design process. We chose goals as a group and then designed our individual units by grouping with households with the same unit type. We then produced a program that Charles Durrett used to design the individual units. This is an excerpt from the program.

Interior Spaces

In western terms, house areas come in three types: functional (living room, kitchen, etc.), circulation (hallways) and access (an area, say, in front of a bookshelf). In open floor plans, rooms often have all three characteristics — making them feel more gracious. An open floor plan saves space by creating areas that can have multiple uses. Spaces for circulation may be used for gathering and activities may be expanded to other “rooms”.

Outdoor Spaces

Outdoor spaces, like the front porch and windows between indoor and outdoor space, help small, interior rooms feel larger than they really are. Moveable furniture can be used to create semi-separate open spaces.

All-room concept

The kitchen, dining and living room are to be open and easy to communicate between. It is the ability to “borrow” space from the adjacent room(s) that makes smaller spaces feel more generous. Various methods can then be used to personalize and create hierarchy within the open plan. Rugs provide no physical separation but significant visual differentiation. Furniture will start to separate the space physically. Floor-to-ceiling casework can be used to close off an area almost completely. Custom woodwork can warm up any environment — even an already warm one! The all-room provides maximum flexibility for a diverse range of personal styles and uses.