Marsh Commons

Welcome To Marsh Commons Cohousing

We are located in the small coastal town of Arcata, California, in Humboldt County. Shown are photos, taken in January, 1999, of some of our new homes. The grading of the site is complete and landscaping is underway. Look for updated photos soon.

The last four homes in the project are under construction with a completion date of early spring 2000. The homes are all two to four bedrooms and include an optional rental, shop, or office space (with separate entrances) on the lowest floor. Purchase of one of these homes soon would allow the owner to choose finishes and other custom features. All four are currently available.

Homes for Sale

Currently we have one home for sale-- 2 Bedroom, 1 bath 800 sq foot home for sale. $289,900 plus commons share. One-story. Wide-sky view of the Arcata Marsh. Cathedral ceilings and skylights. Large deck. Vinyl windows, energy efficient. Pergo and Berber flooring, Restoration Hardware fixtures and Hunter Douglas shades. Danish Styling. Call Catherine DeSantis at (707) 616-5726 for more information. Pictures

Our Mission and Goals

Marsh Commons

Marsh Commons is a developing community of diverse households living in clustered housing with shared common space, indoors and out. It is our hope, by developing a cohesive community, to enrich each person's life.

Marsh Commons is based on the shared values of respect for each individual and for the land. We are committed to: consensus decision-making; a child-friendly environment; non-violent conflict resolution; and respect for diversity in all aspects.

Our houses are modest in scale, of town-house design, individually owned with private decks facing community-owned open space. The use of appropriate technology to reduce resource consumption has been a serious design consideration.

Although all homes have a full kitchen, we do have a commercial-quality kitchen in our Common House for community dinners several times during the week and occasional rental for charitable events in the community. Other shared spaces include: children's play areas, garden, laundry, shop, guest room, and other work and craft areas. Our long-term plans include a greenhouse, sauna, children's play loft, and a hot tub and garden on the roof of the Common House.

Because our Common House is so large -- more than 7,000 feet -- we are renting commercial space in a separate part of the building. We feel that this type of mixed-use space will bring members of the cohousing group in closer contact with the larger community and afford some of us the opportunity of short commutes.

Building For the Environment

An important goal at Marsh Commons is to tread lightly on the earth. We have made every effort to reduce the impact of our project on the local community and environment.

For instance, rather than convert another piece of northcoast forest or farm into real estate, we chose to reuse a piece of city property. We looked for a smaller town parcel rather than a larger, more rural one. Although many of us would have liked to be in woods and meadows, we choose to beautify a piece of city land and give it back that pastoral spirit. We are fortunate that the founding members of our project had the vision to see beauty in the old, tired industrial site that is now our home. We are located on 2 acres of land, walking distance from the center of town. Our land adjoins the Arcata Marsh, which is owned and protected by the State of California as a wildlife refuge. It too was once distressed industrial land. In fact, the old lumber pond levees and retaining walls are still evident among the rushes, cattails, and watercress. The Marsh has now become a bird-watcher paradise, where peregrine falcons, ospreys, migrating ducks, minks, and river otter live. A recently built nature center in the Marsh, just a short walk from our site, brings in visitors from all over the world and offers unique educational experiences to the community. As part of our renovation of the land, we have planted appropriate native riparian plants along the slough that passes by our land and the sanctuary. Elsewhere, the three "F"s -- fragrance, flowers, and fruit -- guide us in bringing back a piece of paradise.

Rather than tear down the old lumber building on our site, we chose to recycle it. Several in our group joined the professional construction crew demolishing poorly constructed rooms and additions. We were able to save the essential frame -- the main structure and the sturdy old timbers that hold it up. We are pleased that new logs from endangered forests were not sacrificed for our project. Many of our Saturday "work parties" consisted of nail-pulling and lumber sorting. It is good knowing the old plywood and lumber has been given a new life in our new floors, walls, and ceilings.

We were also able to salvage an old barn in the neighborhood. It contained old-growth redwood lumber, a commodity that would be otherwise impossible for us to use. Almost all of the ancient redwood forests that used to run along a narrow strip of the California coast are now gone, leveled at the turn of the century. (Several of the remaining old groves have become the focus of a battle between local citizens and a giant lumber company in the hands of a 1980s take-over king.) From our demolition work, we were able to extract 88 ten-foot 2" by 6" boards from the barn. They were sliced and milled into wainscoting that lines our Common House dining room. The flooring in many of the individual homes also came from other old structures in the area.

We have also used sustainable new materials for the project. For example, the rugs in the Common House and in many of the private homes are made from recycled pop bottles. The paint is recycled. All of the buildings are made from Smart Wood, certified sustainably harvested lumber from ecologically managed forests in the area. We are using linoleum, which is fabricated from flax or linseed, rather than petrochemical-based floor coverings. Our decking is trex, a recycled plastic product that requires no maintainance and will still be serviceable when our children are seniors.

We also wanted to be near to town to be part of the local economy and to reduce our dependency on cars. We are finding that our commercial rental space is a bridge to the economics of our larger community. Some of us work in that space and don't need to drive long distances to work. The money that we all save in travel and car expenses will go toward supporting local stores and our community. By keeping our money near to home, we keep jobs in the neighborhood. Because we are close to downtown and have a relaxed, convenient Common House meeting room, we have become a favorite meeting place for the local Green Party and other local organizations whose modest rent helps us meet expenses.

Marsh Commons