Stowe Farm Community

  • Community
  • 0 followers

About the Community

  • Established
  • Rural

What we do

STOWE FARM COMMUNITY. We are a multi-generational rural co-housing community in Colrain, Massachusetts tucked into the beautiful hills of western Mass. There are currently 9 houses built, 1 house being built, and the last lot is available to complete our maximum capacity of eleven households. We also have many neighbors who are ‘social’ members (participate in gatherings, play dates, and other social activities).

Stowe Farm Community is rural with urban & university centers nearby. We have single family homes, which afford privacy within a supportive community. We are neighbors working together to improve the quality of our lives. Helping each other succeed makes our community thrive.

We help each other with child, pet, and farm animal care. Some of us work from home and some drive to our jobs. We currently raise chickens, ducks, pigs, turkeys, and goats. Many of us are enthusiastic about baking, cooking, brining, smoking, and fermenting food, especially food we grow and raise ourselves. We make bread, cheese, and charcuterie (specialty meats), and have plans to grow some ingredients to support our neighbor’s brewery.

We have a community truck, greenhouse, tractor, tree house, gardens, orchards, outbuildings, and other shared equipment and tools. Our common structure plans are evolving. We own individual lots in a 10 acre village, build our own homes and share the rest of the 80 acres which include play areas, arable farmland, a sparkling clean brook & river for swimming, pasture to raise animals, and conserved forest.

Stowe Farm Community provides a magnificent view down the North River valley to the Catamount Mountains. The views are spectacularly beautiful year round. Houses are clustered on a south-facing slope overlooking the West Branch of the North River and Stone Mountain.

We are 15 minutes from Shelburne Falls, MA; 20 minutes from Greenfield, MA; 45 minutes from Amherst and Northampton, MA as well as Brattleboro, VT. We are 20 minutes from Rte. 91; 3.5 hours from NYC. Small organic farms are taken seriously in western Mass, as well as music, art, social activism, and academics.

Our Vision

We are a cooperative community of families who want to improve our lives by living in an ecovillage based on the principles and values of cooperation.
We share land, equipment, and other resources and creatively navigate future challenges and opportunities together.
Our small community has embarked on a long term journey toward sustainable living. We feel that a small scale is necessary for learning, building on our diverse strengths, and practicing the skills of cooperation, tolerance, and respect.

Our Mission

We are a cooperative community of families who want to improve our lives by living in an ecovillage based on the principles and values of cooperation.
We share land, equipment, and other resources and creatively navigate future challenges and opportunities together.
Our small community has embarked on a long term journey toward sustainable living. We feel that a small scale is necessary for learning, building on our diverse strengths, and practicing the skills of cooperation, tolerance, and respect.

  • Community type
  • Cohousing
  • Ecovillage
  • 24 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
  • Open to volunteers
Total
24

How to join

Phone visit first, then schedule a visit or Zoom as much as possible, attend work parties, meetings, potlucks.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

contact Nancy at [email protected]. Send your phone number and a good time to reach you, and Nancy will call to answer questions about Stowe Farm, hear about what you’re looking for, and schedule a visit. To contact Joanie Schwartz, the realtor for the available house:  [email protected].

Primary decision-making authority

  • Small Leadership Group

A few people (not elected by the broader community) make the major decisions.

Economic model

  • Independent Finances

Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • There is a one-time fee, investment, or share purchase to join the community separate from accessing housing
  • Members need to pay fees, dues, or similar to live there on a per month or per year basis
  • There is a labor obligation
  • Members typically need to have their own job or other personal source of income to cover their expenses while living in the community?

Additional economic information

Join fee: Yes (amount not specified)
Monthly fees/dues: $190
Labor required: Yes
Members with pre-existing debt: Yes (some debt)
Membership includes house lot price, common land, equipment, and infrastructure

Monthly/annual maintenance fee

Shared resources and amenities that are accessible to everyone in the community

Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Vehicle Share, Outbuilding(s), Swimming pond or pool, Tractor & Farm Equipment, Fire pit, Swingsets & play areas

Frequency of communal meals

  • 1-3 times per month

Substance use culture

  • Substance use appears in public spaces but no pressure

Property status

  • Privately owned

Setting

  • Rural

Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.

Self-produced energy

  • Over 66%

Energy sources used

  • Photovoltaic Solar

Self-produced food

  • 33 - 66%
  • Land area size
    92 acres acres

Reviews

Location

  • Massachusetts, United States

Stowe Farm Community

Promoted Needs and Offers

Need
  • Communities with Openings
6 months ago

Join us in the mountains of Western North Carolina

Coweeta Heritage Center/Talking Rock Farm is located in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Coweeta is located in a beautiful and diverse temperate rain forest. It feels very remote here yet we are just 12 miles from Franklin, NC. Winters can be mild. Coweeta is blessed with springs and a stream, pristine forests, and abundant wildlife. Power is provided by a hydro-electric system which is not connected to the grid. An organic garden and trout pond provide healthy food that is also shared with the local community. Hiking, kayaking, and other outdoor activities are just out the back door. Coweeta is looking for others who would like to join together to form an Intentional Community embracing the principles of Voluntary Simplicity. Simply put (no pun intended): We wish “to live simply so that others may simply live.” It is a recognition that nature provides us with valuable services and resources that we can use to enrich our lives. Utilizing local resources, appropriate technology, and working cooperatively, we can discover creative ways to meet our needs as “directly and simply as possible.”. An example of this, in the tradition of many Indigenous People”, is to gather, and use wildcrafted foods as part of our diet. There is great joy in going to nature’s grocery for our sustenance. Voluntary Simplicity is based on the recognition that “very little is needed to live well” and that “abundance is a state of mind.” Living lower on the economic ladder allows us more time and freedom to pursue other life goals: community and social engagement, family time, artistic or intellectual projects, more fulfilling employment, political participation, sustainable living, spiritual exploration, and more. According to the Voluntary Collective, “The grounding assumption of Voluntary Simplicity is that all human beings have the potential to live meaningful, free, happy and infinitely diverse lives while consuming no more than an equitable share of (the world’s) resources.” We affirm the need for a work/life balance, the right to a healthy environment and healthy food, and healthy community relationships supporting a diverse population. It is our responsibility as engineers of a new generation to make the changes that we want to see happen and pass this on to the next generations. We can’t wait for someone else to do this important work. Voluntary Simplicity is a quiet revolution that can change the world. As one person said, “we must be poets of our own lives and of a new generation.” We hope you will join us here at Coweeta or elsewhere on our journey to a healthier and more sustainable future! Temporary housing is available in a 27 foot trailer trailer with attached deck next to a creek while we build additional housing. Your basic living expenses (shelter, basic food items, power and water) are met through our market garden or other fundraising projects that you will participate in. You are expected to contribute a given amount of your time and energy to help grow our community and meet our financial obligations. Possible future plans include establishing a retreat center for healing our earth and each other. Work includes organic gardening, construction projects and other community building activities. Come join Coweeta and learn how to live lightly on the land and enjoy the Earth’s bounty! For more information, visit www.coweetaheritagecenter.com Contact [email protected] for a visit or more info.  Paul
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