Common Ground (VA)

Common Ground, a homesteading intentional cooperative community, holds a perpetual lease on 77 acres of land owned by the School of Living--a regional community land trust. Members hold lifetime subleases. Each household has use rights to about two plus acres. The community exists and operates for the mutual benefit of its members, to help one another become established on the land while conserving, protecting, and improving the environment and its resources.

Members follow their own spiritual and dietary leanings. Currently we have six households. Many of our children have been homeschooled cooperatively in our schoolhouse facility. We would like to continue our tradition of offering an enjoyable and natural learning environment to our kids.

Members work together in our organic gardens and on community building or maintenance projects. We build shared facilities through group planning and joint and individual labor. We continue to pursue the goal of becoming an educational center open to the larger community and public. We have recently completed a large pavilion with attached stage area and open-air canning kitchen. We have celebrated birthdays, holidays, and special occasions. Intergenerational play includes potlucks, songfests, swimming in the pond, and hiking. Neighborhood events include sweat lodges, the Fourth of July, and the local ice cream social. Neighbors and area organizations use our land for approved activities.

A yearly community budget is adopted; each household is assessed a monthly fee to cover operating expenses. Income is not shared. However, cottage industries can be practical for our location. We seek members with homesteading skills, a commitment to ecological land use, those of goodwill and initiative, good communication skills, and the ability to work cooperatively and to enthusiastically share their lives with others.

Our membership process can last from 6 - 21 months. Our decision making strives for consensus. The membership fee is $1,500 per adult member. Members finance, own, and maintain their "improvements." Each household is responsible for their own income.

Visitors are welcome on weekends, upon prearrangement. Tenting, camping spaces, and a few rooms are available. Learn more about us at the School of Living website: http://www.schoolofliving.org.