Sharingwood is an established cohousing community with 26 individual homes (so far) and about 55 adults and 45 children. We live on 40 forested acres about 9 miles east of Woodinville and 25 miles northeast of downtown Seattle. Members buy lots and design and build their own homes. Each family is responsible for its own income.
Community meals are scheduled for monday through thursday dinners and saturday breakfast. While the meal system is voluntary, each meal is planned, purchased, prepared, and cleaned up by a team of four. If no one signs up, the meal doesn't happen. We have some excellent cooks, and eating home-cooked meals lovingly prepared is very nice, don't you think?
The meals are generally healthy, nutritious, and delicious, but most of us keep some ice cream at home in the fridge, just in case. If you participate in the meal system, you'll be expected to cook, help, or clean about once every ten meals. If you've never cooked for a group of thirty or so, you can start as a cleaner or cook's helper and work up to it. It's really not that hard, and there are plenty of neighbors to give you advice.
We built a large central building together, which we use mostly for meals and community activities. The common house seats about fifty people comfortably, and has a large commercial kitchen and scullery off to one side, which makes cooking and cleaning big meals pretty easy. There's also a mail slot for each family, a children's play area, and a bulk food storage area. You can buy food at bulk rates, too.
It's a five minute drive to the country store, and a fifteen minute drive to your choice of supermarkets and shops. Downtown Seattle is a fifty minute drive on most days. You'd probably go to nearby Woodinville, Redmond, or Kirkland on your nights out. We have a back road to Redmond which travels south through a truly beautiful valley.
It means you intend to protect and enjoy the surrounding greenbelt, and to get along with, respect, and eventually trust your neighbors. It means you'll get expert advice on almost any subject, whether you want it or not. It means that when you come home, someone may have been in your fridge to borrow the butter. And when you go to use your ladder, you may have to walk around a bit to find out who had it last.
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