History

Cohousing was begun in Denmark and introduced in the United States by architects Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett in their landmark 1988 book, Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves.

Cohousing communities are designed, developed, and managed by their residents and no one knows exactly how many there are. Raines Cohen, a cohousing consultant and board member of the Cohousing Association of the United States, reported in 2010 that he believes there are approximately 120 communities built and another 100 forming.

The primary objective of cohousing is to create neighborhoods that are child-friendly, multi-generational, ethnically diverse, and self-managed. Communities include a mix of single and partnered adults, some with young children, some without. Residents are committed to knowing and caring about each other while maintaining a balance between personal privacy and community living.

Each community is a neighborhood of 7-56 individual homes with a central “common house” with a large dining room and kitchen used for 1-6 group meals a week, and for community meetings once or twice a month. Other rooms in the common house vary but generally include children’s play rooms, a laundry, workshop, office, television room, and an exercise room. A community garden is not unusual.

The legal structure of most cohousing communities is a condominium. They are not based on any ideology, political or religious, other than the commitment to a more practical, inclusive, and social neighborhoods.