Is Cohousing right for you? For the most updated event information , you can visit our blog @ http://westportcohousing.blogspot.com.

We are a group of people from different walks of life who are committed to building a  cohousing community of about 24 units in Central Village, Westport, Massachusetts. Westport is a colonial era seacoast town, on the Rhode Island border, with an ocean beach, abundant farm lands and woods. We are working to create a community that is affordable, inter-generational where all members, children and adults, will be encouraged to grow, both individually and as a group, while participating in the life of the larger community.

The Westport cohousing group will set up a table at the Westport Farmers Market his summer and we also have a meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Macomber Community House in Westport, to explain our plans. We are particularly looking for families with children and people under 40 to join us. Cohousing is a type of collaborative housing, that is arranged in a way to encourage interaction with neighbors. Cohousing often has extensive commonly shared amenities like a common house, workshops, gardens and a greenhouse.

The common house includes a dining room and kitchen where residents have the option of sharing with each other on a rotating basis. It might also include a kids' playroom, guest rooms, craft room, exercise facility and meeting rooms. Cohousing communities are designed and managed by the residents. Most cohousing communities share an environmental ethic with a commitment to"living gently on the land" in terms of building eco-friendly homes, using organic gardening methods, and incorporating community recycling and composting.  This type of housing began in Denmark in the late 1960's and spread to North America in the late 1980's. There are now more than a 150 cohousing communities completed or in development across the United States and Canada. 

If you have further questions, you can contact Elaine Ostroff, by email.