Sunward Cohousing
Encyclopedia
Sunward redirects here. For the company manufacturing model rockets, a trebuchet, a catapult, and hobby products, see Sunward Aerospace Group Limited
.
Sunward Cohousing is an intentional community
located in Ann Arbor, Michigan
, USA
. Sunward's founders were pioneers in bringing the cohousing
model to Michigan, and they faced a series of challenges, eventually convincing municipal authorities and financial institutions that their experiment in social cooperation could be a viable endeavor.
to Ann Arbor, inspired by successful efforts outside of Michigan. In January 1994, Nick Meima and other key players invited Kathryn McCamant, the architect who popularized the cohousing model in the U.S., to Ann Arbor to conduct a cohousing workshop. Inspired by her workshop, a group began meeting regularly to establish criteria for site selection. The Sunward site was discovered in July 1995 on the edge of Ann Arbor in Scio Township
. An initial purchase offer was refused because the landowners did not like the cooperative living ideas espoused by the group. In December 1995 a new offer was made and accepted. The early members became developers by forming a limited liability corporation
called Ann Arbor Alpha. An architectural firm, Sunstructures Architects, was selected in June 1996. Kathryn McCamant and her partner Charles Durrett conducted two workshops to help members design the site plan and Common House.
The land sale closed in November 1996. The group then began searching for a builder. The core membership group reached 22 households in December 1996. A final site plan was approved in January 1997, and the group grew to 28 households. A builder, Phoenix Contractors, Inc., was selected in February 1997. By May 1997, 36 households were committed, and unit pricing and selections were made. Construction began May 22, 1997. The community was fully subscribed with 40 households by August 1997. By April 1998, the first homes were certified for occupancy, and community members began to move in. Construction was completed in November 1998, a date the community annually celebrates as its anniversary.
The success of Sunward later prompted the creation of two more independent cohousing communities in the area, Great Oak and Touchstone.
Vision:
A residential community in which the members share and work together to create a safe, joyful, and satisfying life. This includes:
Core Values:
These commitments guide actions and decisions.
s (eight hectare
s) of land with diverse features. A 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) mature oak
and hickory
woods contains paths, a nature study area, hidden hammocks, and rolling hills, and it forms a large, common "backyard" to the north of the tightly clustered homes. This area is used for relaxation, recreation, and retreat in all seasons.
Two ponds, part of a tributary system of Honey Creek, with a footbridge and an earthen dam between them, lie to the south of the homes. They are used for skating in the winter. In warmer weather they are home to numerous waterfowl, including great blue herons
. Several acres of prairie
have been tended as a native prairie restoration project. A large playfield hosts kid-league soccer
matches and other recreational activities.
The built and paved area of about five acres (two hectares) in the middle of the site was formerly a backfilled gravel pit. Sunward's founders chose to build tightly clustered homes on this land, conserving green and open space, and leaving the woods and natural features mostly intact.
The design attempts to balance community life and personal privacy. The community layout and homes were designed with the concept of a privacy gradient, where privacy increases as one goes toward the back of the house. For example, sitting on one's front porch is an invitation to socialize, while sitting on the back porch does not. Kitchen windows are in the front of every house.
As a pedestrian
community, Sunward restricts motor vehicles to the eastern periphery of its land, allowing members to visit and children to play in safety on its paths. Shared handcarts for moving material are kept at several locations around the campus.
Sunward's legal structure states that homes are privately owned inside, up to the paint on the interior walls, while the community owns the rest of the structure and everything outside the home.
The Common House includes a large kitchen, a dining room, a living room, children’s play spaces, a game room, a teen room, a meeting room, professional offices, an exercise room, guest rooms, a video theater, a laundry room, and a large workshop. U.S. mailboxes and internal mail "cubbies" are located in the Common House, providing Sunwardians daily opportunities to interact with each other. Outside the Common House are the centers of summer community life: spacious wooden decks and a large brick piazza
. Spontaneity and serendipity
play a major role in building and maintaining community relationships. The common laundry room is available to all Sunwardians. A team of members cleans the Common House.
option is typically available. In addition to the dinner program, a variety of spontaneous breakfasts, potlucks, and cookouts occur. Residents decide for themselves the level at which they wish to participate.
work groups. These fall into five main areas: leadership, community life, Common House operations, buildings and infrastructure, and land management.
Sunward Aerospace Group Limited
Sunward Aerospace is the short name of an incorporated company started in early 2000 producing a line of model rockets. Originally called Sunward Model Aerospace, the name is now Sunward Aerospace Group Limited...
.
Sunward Cohousing is an intentional community
Intentional community
An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and often follow an alternative lifestyle. They...
located in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Sunward's founders were pioneers in bringing the cohousing
Cohousing
A cohousing community is a type of intentional community composed of private homes supplemented by shared facilities. The community is planned, owned and managed by the residents – who also share activities which may include cooking, dining, child care, gardening, and governance of the...
model to Michigan, and they faced a series of challenges, eventually convincing municipal authorities and financial institutions that their experiment in social cooperation could be a viable endeavor.
Demographics
The community is made up of 40 individual households including single individuals, couples, single parents, young families with children, empty nesters, and unrelated adults, ranging in age from infants to octogenarians. Sunward's members, around 65 adults and 25 children, have a variety of cultures, races, religious and spiritual preferences, sexual orientations, and educational and occupational backgrounds. Being an intergenerational village is an important design goal of the community. Members are known as Sunwardians.History
Sunward has its origins in 1993 when Susan Cameron, Donna White and other founders began to discuss how to bring cohousingCohousing
A cohousing community is a type of intentional community composed of private homes supplemented by shared facilities. The community is planned, owned and managed by the residents – who also share activities which may include cooking, dining, child care, gardening, and governance of the...
to Ann Arbor, inspired by successful efforts outside of Michigan. In January 1994, Nick Meima and other key players invited Kathryn McCamant, the architect who popularized the cohousing model in the U.S., to Ann Arbor to conduct a cohousing workshop. Inspired by her workshop, a group began meeting regularly to establish criteria for site selection. The Sunward site was discovered in July 1995 on the edge of Ann Arbor in Scio Township
Scio Township, Michigan
Scio Township is a civil township of Washtenaw County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the township's population was 15,759...
. An initial purchase offer was refused because the landowners did not like the cooperative living ideas espoused by the group. In December 1995 a new offer was made and accepted. The early members became developers by forming a limited liability corporation
Limited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
called Ann Arbor Alpha. An architectural firm, Sunstructures Architects, was selected in June 1996. Kathryn McCamant and her partner Charles Durrett conducted two workshops to help members design the site plan and Common House.
The land sale closed in November 1996. The group then began searching for a builder. The core membership group reached 22 households in December 1996. A final site plan was approved in January 1997, and the group grew to 28 households. A builder, Phoenix Contractors, Inc., was selected in February 1997. By May 1997, 36 households were committed, and unit pricing and selections were made. Construction began May 22, 1997. The community was fully subscribed with 40 households by August 1997. By April 1998, the first homes were certified for occupancy, and community members began to move in. Construction was completed in November 1998, a date the community annually celebrates as its anniversary.
The success of Sunward later prompted the creation of two more independent cohousing communities in the area, Great Oak and Touchstone.
Vision and Values
The following published statements describe the foundation around which the community operates.Vision:
A residential community in which the members share and work together to create a safe, joyful, and satisfying life. This includes:
- Dealing with diversity of opinions, expectations and life experience
- Learning to discern, respect and balance the differences between individual desires and collective good
- Creating a beautiful legacy for future generations
Core Values:
These commitments guide actions and decisions.
- Care for each other and our environment
- Engage in dialogue to seek clarity and build connections
- Collaborate to find solutions
Land
Sunward is situated on 20 acreAcre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s (eight hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s) of land with diverse features. A 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) mature oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
and hickory
Hickory
Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts...
woods contains paths, a nature study area, hidden hammocks, and rolling hills, and it forms a large, common "backyard" to the north of the tightly clustered homes. This area is used for relaxation, recreation, and retreat in all seasons.
Two ponds, part of a tributary system of Honey Creek, with a footbridge and an earthen dam between them, lie to the south of the homes. They are used for skating in the winter. In warmer weather they are home to numerous waterfowl, including great blue herons
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England...
. Several acres of prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
have been tended as a native prairie restoration project. A large playfield hosts kid-league soccer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
matches and other recreational activities.
The built and paved area of about five acres (two hectares) in the middle of the site was formerly a backfilled gravel pit. Sunward's founders chose to build tightly clustered homes on this land, conserving green and open space, and leaving the woods and natural features mostly intact.
Built Environment
Sunward's architecture was designed to encourage spontaneous interactions and strengthen the interpersonal connections that are the lifeblood of the community. The structures, in addition to the Common House, include 40 individually-owned housing units in a range of sizes and layouts spread across nine buildings, several garages individually owned by some households, a large barn built in the woods during the 1910s, and assorted sheds.The design attempts to balance community life and personal privacy. The community layout and homes were designed with the concept of a privacy gradient, where privacy increases as one goes toward the back of the house. For example, sitting on one's front porch is an invitation to socialize, while sitting on the back porch does not. Kitchen windows are in the front of every house.
As a pedestrian
Pedestrian
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using roller skates or skateboards are also considered to be pedestrians. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was not the case...
community, Sunward restricts motor vehicles to the eastern periphery of its land, allowing members to visit and children to play in safety on its paths. Shared handcarts for moving material are kept at several locations around the campus.
Sunward's legal structure states that homes are privately owned inside, up to the paint on the interior walls, while the community owns the rest of the structure and everything outside the home.
The Common House
The Common House is the heart of Sunward community life, where members cook, eat, play, hang out, celebrate, meet, host events, and work together. It is an extension of their individual homes, and it allows residents to live in smaller private homes than they otherwise might need.The Common House includes a large kitchen, a dining room, a living room, children’s play spaces, a game room, a teen room, a meeting room, professional offices, an exercise room, guest rooms, a video theater, a laundry room, and a large workshop. U.S. mailboxes and internal mail "cubbies" are located in the Common House, providing Sunwardians daily opportunities to interact with each other. Outside the Common House are the centers of summer community life: spacious wooden decks and a large brick piazza
Piazza
A piazza is a city square in Italy, Malta, along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. The term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza...
. Spontaneity and serendipity
Serendipity
Serendipity means a "happy accident" or "pleasant surprise"; specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful without looking for it. The word has been voted as one of the ten English words hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company. However, due to its...
play a major role in building and maintaining community relationships. The common laundry room is available to all Sunwardians. A team of members cleans the Common House.
Shared Meals
Shared Common House meals are a central and defining aspect of the community. They provide a regular opportunity to keep in touch with one's neighbors, deepen relationships, and work together while making the meal and cleaning up afterwards. Dinners take place 3-4 times a week. Each month every member does roughly two shifts as assistant cook or cleanup crew, or one shift as head chef. The head chef determines the menu and overall cost of the dinner. A vegetarianVegetarianism
Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
option is typically available. In addition to the dinner program, a variety of spontaneous breakfasts, potlucks, and cookouts occur. Residents decide for themselves the level at which they wish to participate.
Governance
The Sunward community is managed by its members, who collectively hold decision-making authority. Community decisions are made by consensus, which requires the active and responsible participation of members. Community Meetings take place monthly in the Common House. A quorum of at least 21 households must be present to make decisions. The Sunward Book of Agreements is the official collection of all standing agreements that the community has made. Although the entire community retains the authority to make major decisions, much of the day-to-day business is delegated to standing committees and ad hocAd hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
work groups. These fall into five main areas: leadership, community life, Common House operations, buildings and infrastructure, and land management.