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Living on Blueberry Hill
Not utopia or a
commune; cohousing requires work and compromise for 19
households
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| By Jerry
Schanke |
July 02,
2002 |
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 The
Common House at Blueberry Hill Cohousing along Route 7 opened,
marking a major step in the life of a community that is still very
much a work in progress. |
Does it mean we hug each other every day?
No.
Jack Wilbern
Blueberry Hill
resident
Committee meetings also can get pretty
spirited.
Jackie Kramer
People may make
it known that they have a tool, or some particular skill, but
there's no expectation to share.
Bob
Greene | With its large kitchen and
room for neighbors to gather for a meal or a meeting or to simply
hang out, the Common House is clearly functional.
But to
those who are building the community from the ground up, it is also
symbolic.
Anna Bradford, a resident and one of the
visionaries behind the Blueberry Hill Cohousing project, described
the Common House as "a focal point--it takes the community to a new
level. It's the glue that will hold the neighborhood
together."
The terms "neighborhood" and "community" pervade
discussions with residents of the community that was built on the
site of Potomac Vegetable Farm, west of Beulah Road.
History
provides examples of people in search of ideal communities. Brook
Farm in 19th-century Massachusetts comes to mind as one such utopian
experiment, albeit unsuccessful, in pursuit of the ideal.
The
19 families that make up Blueberry Hill Cohousing, however, said
they don't think of their community as utopian.
Cohousing,
residents said, is neither utopian nor is it the communal living
lifestyle embraced by some so-called flower children in the
1960s.
Cohousing has its roots in Denmark, arriving in the
U.S. some 40 years ago. It is defined, essentially, as
"neighborhoods that combine the autonomy of private dwellings with
the advantages of shared resources and community living."
"As
of May there were 59 cohousing communities in the U.S.," Blueberry
Hill resident Dee Dishon said, adding that Takoma Village in
Maryland opened in 2000, a year ahead of Blueberry
Hill.
There is a good deal of networking between cohousing
communities, Dishon said.
What is it like to live in a
cohousing community?
"Does it mean we hug each other every
day? No," said Blueberry Hill resident Jack Wilbern, both posing and
answering his question.
Wilbern, a McLean-based architect,
did most of the design work on the community's 19 homes and home
sites.
But, as with most aspects of Blueberry Hill, Wilbern
had plenty of input from others in the community.
The houses
at Blueberry Hill dot the hillside behind the farm, a Route 7
landmark for decades. They are clustered on five acres with an
additional 2.5 acres devoted to open space, play areas and natural
vegetation.
Anna Bradford's family--her maiden name was
Newcomb--owned the property that has become Blueberry Hill
Cohousing. The family, including Bradford, her mother, two sisters
and a brother, owns five of the 19 houses there.
The houses
feature three models with a number of options available. Front
porches on the single-family homes set the tone for the community.
Prices, like other Fairfax County properties, have probably risen
into the $400,000 range, residents say. Those prices also cover a
share in the amenities, including the Common House.
There
will be no more houses built on Blueberry Hill. The community is
built out.
The houses don't have garages. There is a communal
parking lot and a single bank of mailboxes. Residents must walk to
their houses from their vehicles or to pick up their mail. That's by
design.
Residents said garages, especially, tend to work
against being neighborly; it's too easy to drive into one's garage
and shut the door without seeing anyone.
"It takes me three
beers to get from the parking lot to my house," said one
resident--who will go unnamed.
The reference, although
tongue in cheek, illustrates how the community promotes neighbors
stopping to talk with one another.
Even so, at a recent
Sunday afternoon meeting where the subject of parking came up,
residents sounded suspiciously like members of any other homeowners
association. The discussion drifted back and forth over how many
spaces per family, recreation vehicles, parking for parties,
etc.
"We addressed this issue so many times before we moved
in," one resident lamented.
The
families
Blueberry Hill families include a range of ages and
circumstances. There are young couples with children, some without;
a few residents are retired. Most work outside the home. There are
24 children from 6 months to age 18.
Although the
demographics would appear to be much like those found in any number
of Northern Virginia subdivisions, Blueberry Hill has other very
distinct characteristics.
Bob Greene, who moved there with
his wife and children from California, said what residents share "is
a commitment to cohousing."
Greene said residents also are
trying to ensure that future residents have the same commitment,
even though they admit there's no way to prevent neighbors from
selling to buyers who do not share their views of
cohousing.
One way to deal with that issue, residents said,
is to spread the gospel of cohousing and create a pool of potential
future residents.
To that end, Blueberry Hill maintains a
group of associate members who pay $100 a year to be listed as
future renters or homeowners. Associates also participate in general
meetings and committee work.
With all residents on an equal
footing, most decisions are made by consensus.
Indeed,
Blueberry Hill's Mission Statement says, in part, " ... members make
decisions by consensus regarding design, management and use of
common space."
Decisions by committee
If
consensus is the over-arching principle, day-to-day operational
decisions rest with committees. There is a management committee,
outreach committee, financial committee, common meals committee,
landscape committee and even a group dynamics committee. There also
are numerous subcommittees created as necessary.
Committees
"take advantage of the talents of the residents," resident Jackie
Kramer explained. "Committee meetings also can get pretty
spirited."
Residents are expected to spend at least two hours
each month on community work. There is no restriction in the choice
of tasks; it could be landscaping or painting or maintenance on the
community's riding lawn mower.
Some residents, of course,
perform many more hours than requested, Anna Bradford
said.
Some don't, she admitted, noting that the community has
not quite figured out how to get minimum participation without
imposing sanctions.
She said she favors a soft, conciliatory
approach in addressing the issue.
Sharing, residents said, is
part of being a good neighbor, but it is not a
requirement.
"People may make it known that they have a tool,
or some particular skill," Greene explained, "but there's no
expectation to share."
Building
community
Talking with residents over a period of weeks at
outreach sessions, potluck and team dinners, meetings and an ice
cream social, there seemed to be a consensus that the community is
coming together as a neighborhood.
Children, especially, seem
to have caught on to the idea of an old-fashioned neighborhood,
drifting in and out of each other's houses.
"There's no
concern about where my kids are," one resident said, "just a lack of
information."
Dee Dishon, a former teacher, said it is
unusual for older children to play well with younger children, but
that is the norm on Blueberry Hill.
Asked if life on
Blueberry Hill is in line with her expectations, Anna Bradford
looked over the porch rail at the new Common House at a group of
children playing nearby.
"It's so much more than we could
have conceptualized," she said.
To learn more about Blueberry
Hill Cohousing, call 703-759-9501 or visit http://www.blueberryhill.org/
.
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| ©Arcom
Publishing Inc. - Great Falls/McLean/Vienna
Times 2002 |
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