The SolSeedVillage is a planned eco-village to be built around the nucleus of Brandon and Shelley's house in East Portland, Oregon. For now, we're just calling their property the Seed Village, as in "seed of an eventual eco-village." In rough outline, it will be a cohousing community with some dorm-style living for volunteers, substantial food-producing gardens, and workshops including spaces dedicated to one or more space-related industries. Sustainability and green building techniques will be central to its design.
The Seed Pod
A first step we considered is to build a backyard cottage, or "Accessory Dwelling Unit" (ADU), called the Seed Pod.
Accomplishments so far
- August 2010: We developed an ArchitectScorecard to help us choose an architect to design the Seed Pod.
- December 2010: We wrote down some values and a list of Projects for the Main House.
- March 2011: We selected Swift Architecture to do the design.
- We put together a table of Seed Pod Wants and Needs.
- We read Creating a Life Together by Diana Leafe Christian.
Visualizations
These aren't all images of backyard cottages in our price range, but they help get across an idea of the visual style we're looking for.
- Here are Ben's images as a slideshow. (We'll try to replace this with a link that doesn't require you to sign in to Windows Live.)
- Brandon really likes http://www.simondale.net/house/ ... it's kind of a hobbit house :-) The incorporation of actual gnarly trees especially.
- Shelley's ideas:
- http://www.bowtieconstruction.com/2008/07/green-roofs/
- http://www.ia.nrcs.usda.gov/features/images/Gallery/GreenRoofClose1.jpg
- http://www.chinatownconnection.com/japanese-tea-house.htm
- http://www.myjapaneseteahouse.com/
- http://www.hiloliving.com/WalkingLiliuokalaniGardens.html
- Here is a concept sketch by Ben.
- Here is a rough visualization using photos taken at the Longest Day Party.
Other Seed Village visualizations
- We got a bunch of visitors at an Earth Day 2010 event in Portland to participate in painting a mural with ideas for the eco-village. Here is the final result:
- Ben created a few brief shots of one concept for what the SolSeedVillage might one day look like, for use in his video Pick a Future and possibly for banners to be displayed at events. The images were "built" on background photos of a two-block site several blocks west of Brandon and Shelley's house.
Governance Draft
Who owns what?
- Condo model
- EcoVillage owns all property and outside grounds
- Occupants own living space from the inside paint inward
- EcoVillage has the first right of refusal on any sale of a living space
- Upon expulsion, EcoVillage must buy living space back at a fair market value
- In case of disagreement, value is determined by an independent 3rd party agreed to by both EcoVillage and current occupant with cost split between them
How are decisions made?
- By consensus of the community
- If this isn't resolving, then appeal to a vote of the board of directors
- Board is elected by full members according to bylaws
- At first, we'll be so small that everyone can be a board member
- Size should max out at 5-7
Who is eligible to join?
- Offsite trial period (path to membership)?
- Have them live nearby at first, in rental housing?
- Trillium Hollow model
- Onsite: provisional membership for first year, full membership thereafter
- Each family must include 1 SolSeed member in good standing
- Until the eco-village includes 6 family units, all new family units must be accepted by full consensus of all EcoVillage members
Values
- Bang for the Buck
- Safety
- Finish What We Started (Done Done)
- Baby/Child Friendly
- Good for SolSeed
- Gentle on the Earth
- Beautiful
Resources
- http://www.dianaleafechristian.org/
- http://earthharmonyhabitats.org/