Community gathering outside Elderberry Cohousing Village homes at sunset.

Elderberry Cohousing Village

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Home-sharing
  • Rural

Founding year

  • 2008

What we do

Elderberry is situated on a 10 acres in scenic, rural Rougemont, North Carolina, approximately 30 minutes north of downtown Durham. Durham, the home of Duke University, provides many cultural and learning experiences. Durham is also known for its many outstanding restaurants, arts and festivals.
Elderberry provides a unique model for adults living simply and supporting one another as we grow older, continuing to enjoy the activities we love, with close neighbors and friends.
A cozy community of 18 individually-owned, energy-efficient, universally-designed homes (duplexes and quadraplexes) where members may interact, work on projects, eat and play together, as we choose, and pursue our unique interests and spiritual paths. A large common house for cooking, group meals, exercise, music, dance, crafts, special events, guests and other activities is situated in the center of the community surrounded by a courtyard with paths connecting homes.
As a rural community would imply, we have created community vegetable gardens and areas for animals with the intention of being mindful of protecting the ecological integrity of the land, with the goal of becoming an ecovillage, and as self reliant as possible.
Elderberry is a self-managed, consensus-based community where all members have equal voice in decisions. The community was founded by three members of a nearby intentional community and is self developed.

Our Mission

To provide a comfortable and affordable home in the country for adults, where we can make independent life choices, pursue activities of interest, follow our spiritual paths, enjoy the benefits of a rural lifestyle (organic gardens, food production, animals) form close and caring relationships, contribute to others, and enjoy life as we age and help one another.

  • Purpose
  • Home-sharing
  • Community type
  • Cohousing
  • Sustainability practices
  • Renewable energy systems
  • Activities
  • Property management

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2008
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2014
  • Started living together
  • 26 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
26

How to join

Membership is required of everyone who lives at Elderberry. The full process is on the website at
https://www.elderberrycohousing.com/uploads/1/0/4/0/104044246/membership_process_20180811.pdf
The process begins with a visit and meeting with the Membership Committee. Prospective members must attend AT LEAST one plenary meeting (the second Saturday afternoon of each month) and work day (second Saturday and fourth Sunday of each month) and at least one social event where many members are present.
Another required step is to become an Associate Member ($300/year) which allows access to internal e-mails and the members-only website. When the Membership Committee and the prospective member agree, a community circle is held where the prospect and community members can learn more about each other.
If everyone is confident with proceeding, there is one final meeting of the prospect with the Membership Committee where prospective members sign that they have read and agree to Elderberry’s policies and covenants.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

We encourage visitors on the second Saturday and/or fourth Sunday of each month which are scheduled for community work days.
Monthly plenary meetings are also on the second Saturday.

Primary decision-making authority

  • All Community Members Together

The whole membership decides collectively.

Decision-making process

  • Modified Consensus

Generally seek agreement, but have backup methods when consensus isn’t reached.

Governance structure

  • Collaborative/Horizontal

Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.

Conflict resolution approach

Some of our members have trained as facilitators and they facilitate the plenary meetings.

Economic model

  • Independent Finances

Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • There is a one-time fee, investment, or share purchase to join the community separate from accessing housing
  • Members need to pay fees, dues, or similar to live there on a per month or per year basis
  • There is a labor obligation
  • Members typically need to have their own job or other personal source of income to cover their expenses while living in the community?

Additional economic information

Join fee: $300
Regular fees: $228
Labor: Yes (3 hrs/week)
We share electricity based on size of home to keep electricity costs low. We have a solar array, two wells and two septic systems. We try to do as much ourselves as we can.

Shared resources and amenities that are accessible to everyone in the community

Common House, Garden(s), Vehicle Share, Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Hot tub or hot springs, Large Scale Kitchen, Tractor & Farm Equipment, Fire pit, Recreational vehicles, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • About once a week

Significant food acquisition practices

  • Locally sourced

Dietary restriction

  • People can cook and eat what they want in their own residence

Community activities and engagement

  • Neighborhood, Community Housing, or Homeowner's Association

Substance use culture

  • Substance use appears in public spaces but no pressure
  • Substance use is prohibited in the community

Gender composition

  • Roughly balanced (no group over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Mixed adults (few or no children)

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

  • By a single individual, couple, or Family Trust

Setting

  • Rural

Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.

Community type

  • Cohousing

    Private homes with shared common facilities, designed for neighborly
    interaction while maintaining independence.

Sustainability approach

  • Renewable energy systems

Self-produced energy

  • Up to 33%

Energy sources used

  • Photovoltaic Solar

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • 33 - 66%

Food systems

  • Community garden

Wastewater management

  • Septic system
  • Land area size
    10 acres

Guest Book

Written reviews are available for plus members. Click here to upgrade.

Location

  • North Carolina, United States

Promoted Needs and Offers

Offer
  • Real Estate For Sale
6 months ago

House for Sale at Valley Oaks Village Chico, CA

Welcome to 1997 Wild Oak Lane in Chico, CA— a beautifully maintained 4 bedroom/3 bathroom 1,620 SqFt home nestled in an established Cohousing community. Step inside to discover a spacious open floor plan, which bamboo flooring, and generous natural lighting. The downstairs offers a bedroom, and bathroom off the main living room. The spacious dining room and kitchen has quartz countertop overlay and will lead you out to a bonus 11×12 fully enclosed porch. The upstairs provides laundry hookups, 2 additional bedrooms, including a large loft, and a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub.. The spacious main bedroom features an en suite bathroom and ample closet space. The back patio has low maintenance patio pavers, a new 6’x8′ shed along with a 220V Level 2 EV charger. See listing on Zillow.com COHOUSING DESCRIPTION – chicocohousing.org Valley Oaks Village was designed using the Cohousing model, built in 1996 with 28 homes on about 5 acres. We have numerous shared amenities, such as a large community building (“Common House”) with a kitchen, multipurpose dining room, lounge with wood stove, guest rooms, rec room, laundry, as well as a pool and sauna. Other shared amenities include a workshop/arts and crafts room, bike sheds, large grassy lawn, playground, pond, gardens and orchards. The neighborhood was designed to promote interactions between residents with picturesque pathways, benches and gathering areas. Valley Oaks Village is right next to Bidwell Park and Big Chico Creek with its running, hiking, horseback riding and park trails with a bike path to either downtown and Chico State University or upper Bidwell Park. Price- $470,000
Offer
  • Forming Communities
4 months ago

Join us in Our Adventure of Co-Creating a Life of Peace, Love, and Abundance Together!

LOOKING FOR OUR NEW FAMILY OF CO CREATORS TO JOIN OUR ADVENTURE! Message us to schedule a visit! More about us and our vision below! Read on and we look forward to hearing from you soon if you feel in alignment with our vision! A forming and co-created spiritually-oriented intentional community and homestead nestled in the beautiful woods of Northern Michigan. We are focused on self-awareness, free and open spiritual/consciousness development, sustainable living, self sufficiency, growing organic food, building small energy efficient homes/dwellings, peace, and freedom in all things. We are looking to build a community of like minded souls that share in our vision of creating a harmonious and sustainable way of life that is close to nature and focused on living from the heart/soul. Seeking kind, compassionate, caring, and emotionally mature souls who are good at non violent communication, resolving conflict peacefully, and working together. The community property is well on its way to sustainability already with a fruit orchard with over 18 apple trees and a variety of plum and pear trees. The property also has 2 very large organic gardens covering around 3 acres in total combined size filled with organic healthy vegetables for community self sufficiency, farm market selling, and food preserving (canning). We have plans to build a couple energy efficient green houses in the near future! We are also getting 30-40 chickens for egg production within the next month. Also considering a couple cows or goats for milk. We currently have 3 houses on the homestead property that are available to new community members for rent or work trade or a combination of both! The main community house has potentially 6 bedrooms available as well. We have plans to build multiple small/tiny homes and cabins in the beautiful woods here for members that are energy efficient and off grid with renewable clean energy/electricity and rainwater harvesting. We are working on a community in
Offer
  • Real Estate For Sale
4 months ago

3000sf House+Apartment, Rosewind Cohousing, Port Townsend WA

We are a retired couple who are downsizing, still living within the community. We are selling our large, flexible, comfortably rustic house, perfect for a multigenerational household, a family with kids or for 2 separate households. It’s 3000 square feet on 3 levels. The house is on a slope, with 2 main entrances. At one time it housed a large blended family. The current setup is a 2250 square foot, 2 bath main house with a 700 square foot rental apartment, also called an auxiliary dwelling unit (ADU). There is a staircase between the main and lower floor, with a lockable door. If desired, the ADU kitchen can be removed. The main floor has a very large kitchen/dining area, large living room, two small bedrooms, a bathroom with 2 sinks and a shower, a laundry room and a large mudroom. The non-bearing wall between the 2 bedrooms can be removed to turn it back to a single primary bedroom. The top floor has two bedrooms, one of which is primary with a large bright sitting area, and a large open middle area between them (game room, TV room, kids sleeping area, etc.). There is a bathroom with a claw-foot tub, no shower. The lower floor is the ADU, a finished storage area and a stand-up “crawl space“ which is used as a second pantry and storage. Attached to the house there is also a 150 sq ft wood paneled office/hobby space with its own electric and propane lines. Features: – straw bale construction, which is energy-efficient, great sound insulation, and provides a warm, soft, feeling. -very large functional kitchen with a long granite countertop. The dining area fits 10 people. -natural construction, with solid maple floors in the middle and upper level, marmoleum floor in kitchen and oak floor in the lower level. The two small bedrooms have painted wood floors. The doors are all solid wood. -large, functional, low maintenance patio area. Room for a table for eight and an additional sitting area. Propane hook ups for grills and smokers. -min

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