Cohousing is a form of community in which residents have their own private homes while sharing in many aspects of life. Cohousing communities typically feature:

Common meals: imagine a group of friendly neighbors providing a home cooked meal for you and your family a few times per week, which you get to eat in the company of other neighbors. While you eat, your kids get to play with other neighbor kids, you get to enjoy some adult conversation, and your home kitchen isn’t a mess. Once a month you return the favor by cooking and cleaning for your neighbors.

Common house: a large community building that usually features amenities like a large kitchen and dining room for common meals; a laundry room so you don’t have to have your own at home; guest rooms that you can check out for your guests; outdoor BBQs; etc.

Shared equipment: Why have dozens of lawnmowers when you can have one lawnmower for everyone?

Purposeful interaction: Running into neighbors on the path, in the mailroom, at meals, or work days increase neighbor interactions and build relationships that make the community work.

At Nevada City Cohousing, your monthly dues cover a lot more than at your typical Homeowners Association. They include: fiber high-speed Internet service, heat, hot water, water, sewer, trash, upkeep of the exterior of the buildings, building insurance, upkeep of the common house, pool, parking lot, landscaping materials, professional tree workers, solar panels, and more.
For 2023, depending on the size of your house and whether you have a garage, dues range from $595 to $793 per month.

The easy answer is that we don’t. Each home is privately owned and when a resident is ready to sell, they can sell to whomever they like.

The long answer is that we are a very tight-knit community. Our neighbors are our friends and chosen family. That means that when someone is leaving, they’ll consider the needs of the community rather than just choosing the highest bidder in all cases.

Some owners may also choose to rent their houses out from time to time for a short period or a long period.

Transactions over the past few years have ranged from around $350,000 to $650,000. The house sizes range from a two-bedroom flat to a four-bedroom house.

Residents handle most of the indoor, outdoor, and administrative work. This includes serving on committees, such as a maintenance committee and an administrative committee, and participating in regular community work days.

Our homes have a combination of whole house fans and really good insulation. On hot days, we open our windows at night and turn on the whole house fan. Before the heat hits, we close our windows which seals the cool in. The common house does have A/C for when it’s really needed.

Jobs that some of our residents have:

• public school teacher

• healthcare

• remote and in-person tech worker

• architect

• landscape architect

• engineer

Recent kid counts have been around 18, pretty evenly spread out between baby and older teens.