The Homestead at Denison University
Encyclopedia
The Homestead at Denison University (Granville, Ohio) is a student-run intentional community
with a focus on environmental
sustainability
and voluntary simplicity. Founded in 1977 under the guiding vision of biology professor Dr. Robert W. Alrutz, it is an evolving experiment in learning through living. Membership is limited to twelve full-time students of Denison University
per semester. These students (referred to as “Homesteaders” or “Homies”) represent a variety of ages, backgrounds, and academic majors.
In its core values and activities, The Homestead has much in common with intentional communities like Dancing Rabbit
(Missouri), Sandhill Farm (Missouri), and Cobb Hill CoHousing (Vermont). It differs from these communities in its direct connection to a liberal arts college
, and its lack of long-term residents. As all Homesteaders are students, their residencies last from one semester to three years.
The Homestead differs dramatically from typical college housing arrangements. It has no television, and no internet access (Homesteaders visit the Denison main campus to use the internet). Its structures and utilities are designed, built or installed, maintained, and improved by students (as feasible.) It relies heavily on alternative
and renewable
sources of energy. Technologies include an off-the-grid
photovoltaic system for limited electricity, wood stoves
for heat and cooking, and passive solar design as another source of building heat.
The Homestead is located on about 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) in a wooded valley; students typically walk or bike the one mile (1.6 km) to the Denison main campus. At present, two wooden cabins (built in 1977-78) serve as residential spaces for the twelve Homesteaders. A strawbale cabin
(named Cabin Bob in honor of Robert Alrutz, built in 1999-2001) serves as a kitchen and community center. The Homesteaders are building a new residential cabin—an earthship
named Cabin Phoenix—which they plan to have under roof by fall 2009.
Homesteaders grow some of their own food, using organic gardens, orchard
s, beehives
, and chicken
s (for eggs). Manual labor is an integral part of life at The Homestead, as residents must haul and split wood, tend gardens and livestock, maintain and repair buildings, and cook.
Each resident must balance the responsibilities of being a Homesteader with those of being a student. Homesteaders receive academic credit only for the annual Homestead Seminar (usually on sustainability issues) and for the summer internship program.
The Homestead Coordinator, a Denison employee, advises The Homestead on some of its decisions, and supervises some of its projects. The Homestead Advisory Board (HAB) is composed of Homesteaders, The Homestead Coordinator, and university administration, faculty, and staff. It oversees The Homestead’s major decisions, and helps to integrate The Homestead with its parent university. HAB helped to establish The Homestead May Term as an internship open to all Denison students.
The Homestead was the brainchild of Dr. Robert Alrtuz. At a symposium in January 1976, Alrutz raised the idea of a student-run Homestead. Afterwards, nine students approached Alrutz and expressed a desire to make the homestead dream a reality. Alrutz and the students jointly prepared a formal proposal, and won approval (including a startup loan) from the board of trustees.
In the summer of 1977, students began construction of The Homestead. They started building three wooden cabins, established a water-well, and grew a sizeable garden. Alrutz supervised the project; the university physical plant and outside volunteers helped. By late September 1977, all of the original eleven Homesteaders had moved in to the first two still-unfinished cabins. They installed insulation and wood stoves later that fall.
Homesteaders used oil lamps for interior lighting until 1982, when they installed a photovoltaic system.
The Homestead has remained an active community since its founding, although membership has varied from four residents to twelve. The extent of on-site gardening and livestock-raising has varied with the interest of the students. In the past ten years, The Homestead has undertaken two ambitious building projects: the strawbale Cabin Bob, and the earthship Cabin Phoenix.
Dr. Alrutz died in 1997, but the community he founded lives on.
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...
with a focus on environmental
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
and voluntary simplicity. Founded in 1977 under the guiding vision of biology professor Dr. Robert W. Alrutz, it is an evolving experiment in learning through living. Membership is limited to twelve full-time students of Denison University
Denison University
Denison University is private, coeducational, and residential college of liberal arts and sciences founded in 1831. It is located in Granville, Ohio, United States, approximately 30 miles east of Columbus, the state capital...
per semester. These students (referred to as “Homesteaders” or “Homies”) represent a variety of ages, backgrounds, and academic majors.
In its core values and activities, The Homestead has much in common with intentional communities like Dancing Rabbit
Dancing Rabbit
Dancing Rabbit is an ecovillage near Rutledge, Missouri, USA.Dancing Rabbit is an intentional community in the pioneering stage. The community was formed in 1997 with the purchase of of land in North East Missouri by the Dancing Rabbit Land Trust. Its current population is around 45 people with...
(Missouri), Sandhill Farm (Missouri), and Cobb Hill CoHousing (Vermont). It differs from these communities in its direct connection to a liberal arts college
Liberal arts college
A liberal arts college is one with a primary emphasis on undergraduate study in the liberal arts and sciences.Students in the liberal arts generally major in a particular discipline while receiving exposure to a wide range of academic subjects, including sciences as well as the traditional...
, and its lack of long-term residents. As all Homesteaders are students, their residencies last from one semester to three years.
The Homestead differs dramatically from typical college housing arrangements. It has no television, and no internet access (Homesteaders visit the Denison main campus to use the internet). Its structures and utilities are designed, built or installed, maintained, and improved by students (as feasible.) It relies heavily on alternative
Alternative energy
Alternative energy is an umbrella term that refers to any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel sources without the undesired consequences of the replaced fuels....
and renewable
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
sources of energy. Technologies include an off-the-grid
Off-the-grid
The term off-the-grid or off-grid refers to living in a self-sufficient manner without reliance on one or more public utilities....
photovoltaic system for limited electricity, wood stoves
Stove
A stove is an enclosed heated space. The term is commonly taken to mean an enclosed space in which fuel is burned to provide heating, either to heat the space in which the stove is situated or to heat the stove itself, and items placed on it...
for heat and cooking, and passive solar design as another source of building heat.
The Homestead is located on about 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) in a wooded valley; students typically walk or bike the one mile (1.6 km) to the Denison main campus. At present, two wooden cabins (built in 1977-78) serve as residential spaces for the twelve Homesteaders. A strawbale cabin
Straw-bale construction
Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses bales of straw as structural elements, building insulation, or both...
(named Cabin Bob in honor of Robert Alrutz, built in 1999-2001) serves as a kitchen and community center. The Homesteaders are building a new residential cabin—an earthship
Earthship
An earthship is a type of passive solar house made of natural and recycled materials. Designed and marketed by Earthship Biotecture of Taos, New Mexico, the homes are primarily constructed to work as autonomous buildings and are generally made of earth-filled tires, using thermal mass...
named Cabin Phoenix—which they plan to have under roof by fall 2009.
Homesteaders grow some of their own food, using organic gardens, orchard
Orchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
s, beehives
Beekeeping
Beekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and other products of the hive , to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers...
, and chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
s (for eggs). Manual labor is an integral part of life at The Homestead, as residents must haul and split wood, tend gardens and livestock, maintain and repair buildings, and cook.
Each resident must balance the responsibilities of being a Homesteader with those of being a student. Homesteaders receive academic credit only for the annual Homestead Seminar (usually on sustainability issues) and for the summer internship program.
The Homestead Coordinator, a Denison employee, advises The Homestead on some of its decisions, and supervises some of its projects. The Homestead Advisory Board (HAB) is composed of Homesteaders, The Homestead Coordinator, and university administration, faculty, and staff. It oversees The Homestead’s major decisions, and helps to integrate The Homestead with its parent university. HAB helped to establish The Homestead May Term as an internship open to all Denison students.
The Homestead was the brainchild of Dr. Robert Alrtuz. At a symposium in January 1976, Alrutz raised the idea of a student-run Homestead. Afterwards, nine students approached Alrutz and expressed a desire to make the homestead dream a reality. Alrutz and the students jointly prepared a formal proposal, and won approval (including a startup loan) from the board of trustees.
In the summer of 1977, students began construction of The Homestead. They started building three wooden cabins, established a water-well, and grew a sizeable garden. Alrutz supervised the project; the university physical plant and outside volunteers helped. By late September 1977, all of the original eleven Homesteaders had moved in to the first two still-unfinished cabins. They installed insulation and wood stoves later that fall.
Homesteaders used oil lamps for interior lighting until 1982, when they installed a photovoltaic system.
The Homestead has remained an active community since its founding, although membership has varied from four residents to twelve. The extent of on-site gardening and livestock-raising has varied with the interest of the students. In the past ten years, The Homestead has undertaken two ambitious building projects: the strawbale Cabin Bob, and the earthship Cabin Phoenix.
Dr. Alrutz died in 1997, but the community he founded lives on.