Inside the Grassroots Mission to Transform 240 Green Acres into a Shared Housing Community

A handful of nature lovers are putting their all into building a small farm town on 240 acres of fertile farmland an hour outside of Seattle.

Fifteen households have committed to buying a home in the Rooted Northwest community near Arlington, WA.

In 2020, this group of land savers pooled their money, got a loan, and bought a large acreage from an elderly farmer.

“We said, ‘Holy smokes, this is one of the only non-flood farms of this size in Snohomish County,'” project manager and community founder. Dave Boehnlein48, he tells Realtor.com®. “We cannot afford to lose it. We must help preserve it.’

Since the farmland was originally designed for residential use and not agriculture, Boehnlein, an ardent advocate of reforestation and permaculture, knew the land would be taken over by developers.

So he and some of his friends came up with a plan for a community that lives together. It will have 70 firmly established homes, but an incredible 93% of the surrounding area will be set aside for gardens, forests and farms.

“We’re going back to an old-school rural setting,” Boehnlein said. “If you look at how people lived in rural areas throughout history, the model didn’t say, ‘Here’s a house, and you drive five minutes before you see the next house.’

“People think of rural areas as a village: a collection of homes that come together for safety, to share resources, and to help each other,” he says. “And gardens and farms and everything that comes from places where people live. That’s what we create.”

The planning commission and county council liked the idea but had to pass an ordinance allowing it, since the area was zoned for single-family homes on five-acre lots. If a shared housing community operates, the county may allow many of them.

“If they see a bunch of happy people, and productive farms, and we start to pull the needle on food security, I think that would be part of the county’s metrics. [for success],” Boehnlein said.

What is living together?

Inspired by concepts that originated in Denmark, but are found around the world, a shared community is where “people live in private homes built around shared spaces and values,” according to the Rooted Northwest website.

While the houses are privately owned, there are many public spaces such as gardens, common houses, and other meeting places. They will also operate under a form of self-government known as “sociocracy.”

Loosely defined, that means that all citizens will have a say in how society works, but they will also—to some extent—stay in their “lanes.”

Committees—known as “circles”—will form around specific topics relevant to the village and, ideally, members of each circle will have expertise or experience in those topics.

For example, members with forestry skills will be in the “forest management circle” and make decisions on that side of the community. Those who don’t know anything about forests probably won’t get a word about whether a tree is cut down.

“There’s a lot of diversity there,” Boehnlein said. “Everyone can ‘measure’ in whatever they want. If we look at the forest management circle, they get to make forest decisions. However, if their decisions are always an annoying surprise for everyone, then they are not doing it right.”

Neighbors

As planned, there will be 70 homes spread over two sites, with homes designed by sustainable architecture firm Caddis Collaborative, with input from the public, and starting at $875,000. The median listing price in the Seattle metro area is $754,950.

Members will own their home and the lot they live on, but they will also be part of two HOAs, who will own and manage the farm and common areas.

The houses have not yet been built, but everything from floor plans to approved permits are in place, and the community needs 15 more willing homes to begin construction.

Those interested can join an information period ranging from 30 to 90 days, during which potential and current members can contact each other to see if everyone is a good fit.

Kim Mulligan66, a local real estate agent who specializes in “green homes” and will retire from the community, notes that the setup will suit stressed families who need extra support.

Since there will be a voluntary exchange of shared meals, “you might not have to cook dinner for two months,” he said.

“If you’ve had a long day at work, you’ve picked up two kids from after-school activities, and you’re too tired to make dinner, then you pile into the common room and a delicious meal is waiting for you. Then you get to relax and have an adult conversation while your kids escape to the kids’ room to play.”

Standard housing will include a kitchen and dining area, pantry, laundry room, and small shared spaces for movie nights, book group meetings, yoga classes, and the like.

“I can go shopping in an expensive over-55 community, have tennis courts and pickleball and all that, but I’d rather be out in nature and put my money into something I believe in,” he said.

Community farming

Currently, six small farmers rent plots in the area, but eventually, there will be more. Boehnlein says it remains to be seen how many and what they will produce. Farmers who rent land do not need to live in the community, and people who live in the community do not need to farm.

Rented farms come with infrastructure such as a greenhouse, tractor, irrigation system, tool shed and more.

“By sharing [the infrastructure]we get that big hurdle out of the way,” said Boehnlein, adding that there is no profit sharing with farmers.

Farmers do not need to be certified organic, but must follow regenerative farming techniques.

“They won’t spray or add anything that doesn’t pass organic standards,” he says.

Paradise found?

Although a village based on healthy living and shared values ​​sounds good, the members agree that everything may not be rosy forever.

“There’s probably going to be somebody in the area that I don’t like, and that’s fine,” Boehnlein said. “You don’t have to like everyone and still be on the same page with the same values.”

“People tend to make choices,” Mulligan said. “I’m sure some people will just leave if we’re not their people.”

The plan is for the farmland to be preserved forever, and to achieve that, the group is considering what other protections might be needed, such as a compromise or creating a land trust.

“We will do everything we can to protect this place forever,” Boehnlein said.