Rocky Corner Cohousing

A neighborhood with a farm

July 2020 Newsletter

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COHOUSING: Creating Balance Between Independence and Interdependence

We’re almost there…really!

Construction Update

Electricity is on, water is about to be turned on (Thank you, Regional Water Authority!) and we are ready to go.

Our gorgeous 4,500 square-foot Common House is looking good – awaiting bathroom tiles and commercial kitchen installation, but all the needed elements are there, including our pizza-making masonry stove that can’t get installed until the Canadian vendor is allowed back in! (Good thing we don’t need heat in August…but we might need pizza…)

And thank you to the Acoustical Engineering students for all your hard work – we just beat the pandemic by a week or two to complete a formal acoustical survey of the multi-purpose dining room and whether it will need adjustments for dining, dancing, music, game night or whatever else we dream up…we’ll have the “baffles”! (Or at least we’ll have the measurements for the sound-proofing baffles).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Solstice 2020

We had to take time out to celebrate – because that’s what we do best. The longest day of the year prompts the longest celebration we can manage.

 

And speaking of celebrations – we are delighted to introduce you to our newest members: Kyla & Kevin

Kyla and Kevin found out about Rocky Corner through Kyla’s parents, who thought it would be a great fit for them. So they came for the ride and decided that THIS is what they’ve been looking for.

An adventurous duo, they love to travel (when they’re not locked down), so for now Rocky Corner is going to be the adventure of a lifetime. Kyla & Kevin met when both were doing interdisciplinary undergraduate work (so millennial): he in library science, computers and theater and she in English literature and educational leadership.

When Kevin isn’t studying or working, he is most likely reading, playing video games, hiking, making kombucha and hot sauce, or planning the next adventure for his Dungeons and Dragons group.

Kyla is a life-long Nutmegger & creative writing aficionado. She likes hiking, experimental baking (yay – experimental pizza in our masonry stove!), working on her fantasy novel, and browsing Petfinder.com (so SO millennial) with Kevin in hopes of one day getting a dog who will be oh-so-happy on the farm.

Dreamers & Doers – they fit right in!!

Original artwork by our very own Amika Gair McMichael in honor of the peaceful protestors and the values, ideals & dreams that we all cherish.

Poem by Richard Wright, 1945
Black Boy

I was leaving the South
to fling myself into the unknown…
I was taking a part of the South
to transplant in alien soil,
to see if it could grow differently,
if it could drink of new and cool rains,
bend in strange winds,
respond to the warmth of other suns
and, perhaps, to bloom.

It’s that time again…to be thinking about our favorite friends, the two-legged, the four-legged and the thousand-legged

Pollinator Pathways started on the East coast in Connecticut to deal with the dramatic decline in insects & bees that has happened worldwide. The goal is to re-plant many native species in swaths throughout the town. Rocky Corner folks will survey our land and decide where to plant more natives.

It so happens that Rocky Corner was a chestnut forest before it was a dairy farm. (Who knew?!) The old farmhouse was largely made of native chestnut. We couldn’t save the c. 1740 house, but Urban Miners (run by Kyla’s dad, Joe) deconstructed the building and saved beautiful chestnut boards boards that we can use again.

As Rocky Corner reinvigorates native species, we’ll welcome the return of diverse plants and pollinators to live amongst us farm-happy folks. Hello milkweed, monarch butterflies, native bees and all their friends.

Find out more at http://www.bethanylibrary.org/?page_id=2293

And speaking of all our friends – furry and otherwise – we want to invite everyone to come see our staged home. Please share our Virtual Open House Presentations every Monday evening on your social media. And don’t forget to mention that – in the spirit of diversity, creativity and community – we are proud to be participating with the State of Connecticut’s Neighborhood Housing Service (NHS) to make some homes at Rocky Corner part of the affordable housing network of CT. A few of these homes are still available (see photos here and the pink box below for details), as well as several of our other 1, 2 & 3 bedroom homes.

All of the homes at Rocky Corner are ADA-accessible with at least one bedroom & bath on the main floor, solid wood cabinetry, maple stairs leading to an upstairs loft, and large south-facing double-glazed windows to maximize solar gain in winter. All have energy-efficient air-sourced heat pumps that provide ductless heating and cooling throughout. You can add optional upstairs dormers, bay windows and porches to maximize your potential in community, overlooking our edible landscapes, orchard, community gardens and pond.
Share us on your social media and call us to arrange an in-person (socially-distanced, of course) or virtual (online) tour of the site and the homes.

Rocky Corner amenities:

  • 4,500 sq. ft. common house with large commercial kitchen and dining room for community meals; a massive lounge highlighted by a hand-built masonry stove with bread oven. We have wonderful maker spaces including a woodworking shop, arts and crafts room and future greenhouse.
  • Convenient location near New Haven, accessible to Hartford, Waterbury, and other Connecticut locations
  • Top-rated school district – Bethany Community School and Amity Regional High School
  • Community garden with individual parcels for those looking to grow their own vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers.
  • Ponds, rain gardens, and other permaculture features that we’ll develop over time on this organic 33-acre former dairy farm
  • Opportunity to participate in the community organic farm, or create your own farm enterprise.
  • Pet friendly (chickens are a must in the farm core)
  • Fiber optic Internet service (500 Mbps download and upload speed) to each home, upgradable to 1 gig per second.
  • Direct access to Land Trust trails

A few homes (all sizes, market rate and affordable) are available for sale. If you are interested in finding out more, send an email to
welcome@rockycorner.com or call us at 203-903-COHO (-2646). We will have you attend a Zoom info session.

We are also happy to set up private tours of the land and homes, using masks and keeping 6 ft distance, of course.

If you think you qualify for an affordable home, we will help you with the application process through Neighborhood Housing Services in New Haven.

Data sheets for the different size homes are on our website at http://rockycorner.org/new-homes-for-sale/.

*Due to Covid-19 all state and local guidelines are being implemented.

“Clearing the Land, Creating the Vision” by Janis Stahlhut

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On a 33-acre 270-year-old former dairy farm in Bethany, Connecticut, much of that land is doing what Connecticut does: growing trees. It might be hard for some to envision a different future. Over the years, the woodlands have become choked with invasive and native “climbers,” like bittersweet and multiflora rose.

But at Rocky Corner we envision enjoying sunny summer days in a clover meadow under a towering ancient oak tree, trail hiking to a nearby pond, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing through a wintry landscape, or picking apples and pears from our orchards. But first we have to clear much of this invasive brush away!

Social Distancing is easy on 33 acres of land. There is ample space to relax outdoors or work together on the land while staying six feet apart.

Regular work parties have tackled patches of scrub with loppers, snippers, root-digger-outer thingies, and limb saws wielded by a small devoted, army of Rocky Corner community members. Brenda deftly maneuvers the loader on her tractor for the heavy lifting of dead tree trunks and piles of prickly vines. Others select from an array of tools gathered from the NEW barn for the day’s work.

In one area, a foot and horse path is being revived for an easement from our property along an old stonewall (aplenty in Connecticut – it’s the “rock” in Rocky Corner!). The path continues across a conservation and land management stretch known as the Spykman Preserve, along a creek bed, running fast from the spring melt and rains. Further on, the path reaches a small wetland where the creek feeds Lake Chamberlain, which is under the jurisdiction of the Regional Water Authority. Fishing anyone?

We’ve worked on a patch of ground that when cleared will provide a lovely meadow at the base of a towering white oak. Visions of Sunday picnics here! And yet another day’s work reveals a gargantuan rhododendron in full spring bloom, among a small grove of maples (sugar?!) and shagbark hickories. A weathered wall and crumbling stone foundation of the original owner’s house, with a small, mysterious ground covering patchwork of old bricks are windows into the history of this land.

Nature’s stunning beauty, speckled with hints of American history and lore, is all around us! There is always something new to observe and enjoy – any time of the year.

June 2020 Newsletter

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Cohousing is the Future of Community and Human Connection

Cohousing as antidote to the loneliness epidemic

Living arrangements and relationship patterns have changed in our lifetime; greater numbers of adults are single, childless, or live great distances from adult children. For many baby boomers, the most important question is “where do I want to live as I age?” Until now, many of us planned to stay in our homes and apartments as long as physically possible and then go to the best nursing home we can afford. We thought a nursing home was the only safe option, but the current pandemic shows that a nursing home can be the most dangerous place for an aging population.

A caring and supportive community with accessible and energy-efficient homes is a far better option for aging in place! And, there are always neighbors willing to lend a hand when needed.

It takes a village to raise a child – a cohousing community is a village

Not only the older population, but increasingly also young families realize that having an entire community that provides a safe environment for children where they can play outdoors, and where they have a common house for arts and crafts or for story telling on rainy days, is a tremendous help for a young family.

A pesticide free garden and a small farm are sure to prevent boredom in any child!

Cohousing communities share resources

In a supportive community, neighbors help neighbors, and neighbors share resources as much as they are able or want to share. Imagine the money we can save by sharing vehicles, lawnmowers, snowblowers, tools, and other things.The list of things we share can be as long or as short as we want it to be.

Imagine coming home from work and sitting down to a meal in the Common House, a meal prepared by your neighbors!

Full speed ahead!

The Blueberry cluster duplex is being built and is expected to be move-in ready in August 2020.

 

We are all pitching in to get ready for our first closings:
• the water system must be commissioned
• the offering documents are being reviewed and updated
• Certificates of occupancy have to be issued
• our two condo associations, Rocky Corner North and Rocky Corner South, will be declared with the first closing in each group

Rocky Corner is an ecovillage, with thirty energy-efficient homes clustered in the center of a thirty-three acre organic farm. Conserving most of our land, sharing the food we grow, sharing the common house, sharing vehicles and using sociocracy as our governance model defines who we are.

Bethany, Connecticut, is five miles from New Haven, a lively cultural hub. We have recreational hiking trails just outside our doors and cultural events just down the road. As the first cohousing neighborhood in Connecticut, Rocky Corner is attracting people from within the state as well as from New York, Massachusetts, and as far away as California.

 

Would you like to…

own a share of 33 acres of organic pesticide free farm land?

grow your own food?

work with your neighbors to create a sustainable community?

share resources with others?

raise your children in a supportive community?

 

 

This month, we are introducing future resident LESLIE ARDEN:

Born in Manhattan, first generation American on my mother’s side, the youngest of three, with two older brothers, we moved cross country at age three to Tucson AZ followed by Knoxville TN, then on to San Antonio TX and eventually to East Paterson NJ—where I lived until age 19. Moving to NYC, I completed my undergrad degree at St. John’s University with a major in Art Ed but as timing would have it, NYC schools closed most of their music and art programs citywide that year. I applied to McGraw-Hill and was hired as a commercial artist trainee for one of their magazines. Eventually I moved on to freelance work, staying in NYC for a few more years. A short stint in San Miguel, Mexico, to study fine arts, and then an offer to start selling real estate in central CT (don’t ask) led me to a 45-year career in the real estate field.

Married and divorced in CT, I have one son,-Ben, who is now married to Susan, I have one amazing granddaughter, Yana Lynne, turning three in July. Sometime in the late 80s I went back to school and received a MA degree in applied communications. In 1990 I sold my real estate company and decided to head for southern CA with my son and a friend of mine and her two sons, where I lived until 2016. I finally let my CA license lapse this year with the decision to stay put on the East Coast.

In 2009 when the CA real estate market took a giant nosedive into the abyss, I decided to take a year off and moved to CT living with my sister-in-law and brother, studying Adobe digital design at Pratt and SVA. (I still work in Adobe and have had multiple freelance gigs over the years. I love this type of design work and love learning more and more the how-to’s of digital design.) Moving back to my home in CA in 2010, I continued my real estate career working as a listing agent for Fannie Mae for the next 6+ years while the market roiled from the foreclosure debacle. After 6+ years of challenging and emotionally heart-wrenching work, the foreclosure market finally came to a halt. At that point I concluded it was time to move back to NYC in 2016 when my daughter in law, Susan, became pregnant.

Once I returned to NYC after not having lived there for 50ish years, I was shocked at the changes to the city and my perspective on the city. I had discovered the concept of cohousing while living in CA and decided to start a new inquiry. I found the cohousing.org website, purchased a book on cohousing, and started my research. Within a short time frame, I discovered Rocky Corner cohousing in Bethany, CT. I reached out to them and we started communicating. The more we spoke, the more excited I became. Eventually, my son Ben and I drove up to check out the new construction site. We were both equally impressed with it and its proximity to New Haven. I finally decided to make the commitment to purchase, and now here I am in Queens preparing to make my most exciting move to Rocky Corner, ready to experience cohousing and community!

The strand that ties all of my life experiences together is my 50 year search for inner peace that began by being raised in a non-religious Jewish family, migrating across religious beliefs until I eventually discovered “A Course in Miracles” in 1988 and Ken Wapnick (living and teaching in Temecula CA in 2002 and in my opinion, one of the greatest course teachers). I am, to this day, a dedicated student of the course, and what I finally discovered after my life-long outward search is a simple few lines from the book’s introduction “the only purpose of the course is to provide a way in which some people will be able to find their own internal Teacher.” Wow what a concept. Oh, by the way, I also am passionate about photography and great photographers (was hooked when I was given my first 35mm camera at 16 years old). I love art museums, music across all genres, quality movies, learning new subjects, reading—mostly bios and non-fiction—hiking in the woods, staring up at the night sky on a cloudless night, and trying to lift others when called on. I was married to Steve S. for 11 years and after that in a relationship with Margaret B for 16 years.

So that’s it, my 72 years on Planet Earth wrapped up in a few paragraphs. Who knew?

Social Distancing is easy on 33 acres of land. There is ample space to relax outdoors or work together on the land while staying six feet apart.

 

Nature’s stunning beauty is all around us! There is always something new to observe and enjoy – any time of the year.

May 2020 Newsletter

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The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Our common house is almost complete. Step into the open and bright dining room, commercial kitchen, plus three more wonderful rooms for woodworking, crafts and to be determined. All this plus a lounge where we can gather for our morning coffee, warm ourselves at the masonry stove while we catch up on the daily news and share our stories with friends.

Announcements:

We are excited to announce that our first closings at Rocky Corner are scheduled for June! Counting the days till we close is an understatement. Rocky Corner has been a labor of love for many years, and we are grateful to those who have been working ceaselessly to make our vision of cohousing finally come to fruition.

Rocky Corner is an ecovillage, with thirty energy-efficient homes clustered in the center of a thirty-three acre organic farm. Conserving most of our land, sharing food, sharing the common house, sharing vehicles and using sociocracy as our governance model defines who we are. Bethany, Connecticut, is five miles from New Haven, a lively cultural hub. We have recreational hiking trails just outside our doors and cultural events just down the road. As the first cohousing neighborhood in Connecticut, Rocky Corner is attracting people from within the state as well as from New York and Massachusetts and as far away as California.

 

 

We spent Sunday, May 4, working on the garden-planting potatoes and garlic. The fields are ready for more work and we are anxious for our first crop.

Meet two of our soon-to-be Rocky Corner Residents!

Shanee: I was born in Boston, MA. My family moved to the suburb of Newton when I was a toddler. Worcester, MA, where I went to college, was an important influence in my life, as was a six-month internship at an ecumenical anti-apartheid center in South Africa in the mid-1980s. I became a clinical psychologist in my mid-30s and worked in several locations in the US (DC, Denver, Boston, and primarily NYC), both in the public sector (schools, clinics, etc.) and private practice. I also worked internationally in contexts of ethnic and political violence, including over 2.5 years as the psychologist for the UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone and two years as psychologist/trainer with Center for Victims of Torture (an NGO), first in the refugee camps of Guinea (serving mostly Liberians) and later in a clinic in Jordan (mainly with Iraqis). I am a registered poetry therapist and mentor/supervisor in poetry therapy, and hold a MFA in creative writing from The New School. I have taught at several universities but have not felt drawn toward a mainstream academic career path. In recent years I have reinvented myself as a late-blooming literary scholar: writing (hopefully) original interpretations of classic novels and submitting these for publication in scholarly journals (with some success). I was living and working in Sierra Leone when I met my daughter Yana, who was 7 at that time. I first became her guardian and then legally adopted her. I have been raising her in the US since she was 11, while at the same time doing our best to maintain a soulful connection to her homeland and birth family. After living in a cramped apartment in New York City’s East Village, we moved to a small town in rural western Maine in 2016. Yana entered her first year at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT and I combined teaching and practicing psychology with becoming a student again, immersing myself deeply in English and American literature, and earning a BA in English at the University of Maine (just completed). I love the Great American Songbook (listening, as well as singing), theater (mostly as an audience member, but I have also acted in several community theater productions with the Sandy River Players here in Maine), reading (primarily contemporary poetry and classic novels), and travel (worldwide). I’m excited to move to Rocky Corner because of the warm, friendly, and caring future-neighbors; the proximity to nature; the chance to spend time with new friends without having to drive anywhere; our beautiful newly-built house; and the chance to be less than 2 hours from NYC and only 15 min from New Haven while also having the simple pleasures, peacefulness, and human connections of a small rural town which we’ve learned to cherish in Maine.

Yana: I was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and came to the US with my mom, Shanee, when I was 11. My major hobbies are reading (a wide range), creative writing, dance, and art (drawing, painting). I also like track/field and tennis. I enjoy travel: my mom and I have taken some wonderful trips during summer vacations. I first learned to cook at age 6, and have been cooking ever since. I make a mean matzo ball soup, and have also experimented with the cuisines of Korea, Morocco, and other nations, in addition to West African dishes. I live a mostly secular life but am spiritually conscious and have cultural ties to all three Abrahamic religions, i.e., Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, a fact of which I am proud and which I hope can facilitate building bridges across differences, which is one of my core values. I am known as an “animal whisperer” (including but not limited to cats, dogs, and hens) because animals gravitate toward me and I love them in return. However, my mom has refused to let me get a pet. Therefore, I look forward to spending time with animals at Rocky Corner. In mid-May 2020 I will graduate from Wesleyan University, where I have majored in French Studies and got to spend my spring semester of my junior year in a study-abroad program in Paris. I am fluent in my native language (Temne) as well as in Krio (lingua franca of Sierra Leone) along with English and French, and am near-fluent in Spanish. Since March 9 when Wesleyan switched to distance learning, I’ve been at home with my mom in western Maine where we both do everything within our power to stay safe and well by going out only if there’s a compelling need, wearing masks, and physical distancing (we prefer the term “physical” distancing” to “social” distancing because we feel it’s more accurate). I’m excited to move to Rocky Corner co-housing because I know I will enjoy the natural beauty, the gardening, and connecting with new people. I also like the design of our new home. I am planning to find a job in CT starting in summer 2020. By the way, please don’t ask me what I plan to do with the rest of my life because right now I’ve yet to finish my final exams!

 

 

Gathering at the farm at Rocky Corner for a productive day of work!

April 2020 Newsletter

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Spring arrived at Rocky Corner, Connecticut’s 1st Cohousing Community.

Greetings for a Happy Easter, Chag Sameach Pesach, and
Ramadan Mubarak to all of our family, friends, and neighbors!

 

 

TOGETHER, we can create the world we want to live.

Community feels more necessary than ever these days. At Rocky Corner we are thankful for each other and all that we share – land, flowers, food, good times & bad:  a joy that is shared is doubled; a sorrow that is shared is halved.

We welcome another season of regeneration, renewal and self-reflection.

PROGRESS REPORT
We’re almost there, and so glad to be able to share our (virtual) togetherness with more zoom meetings than ever, plus zoom social gatherings, happy hours, and virtual tours.

STAY HEALTHY – STAY SAFE
The homeowners’ association is formalized and we’re preparing for the real hard work of becoming the community that we have all dreamed about.

A few homes are still for sale!

If you join us now you get to plan the rest of the community with us, from the ground up…literally.

April is National Poetry Month

“The solar circle poem can be read in any direction, or simultaneously with various voices at a ‘distance,’ or it can be cut out and spun like a wheel. You choose where to begin and end.”
—Juan Felipe Herrera
https://poets.org/poem/social-distancing

 

New Haven’s Wooster Square Park doesn’t disappoint with Spring’s big show of cherry blossoms….this year and every year, reminding us that soon we’ll be able to enjoy it immensely in person(s)!

 

Cohousing E-News February 2020 Article: SPOTLIGHT on Rocky Corner

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https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Cohousing-Now—133-February—The-Power-of-2.html?soid=1115496913910&aid=-VcyE9XIeNI

On a recent afternoon, Rich Wilber stood at the window of his nearly finished home looking over a muddy February landscape. He saw the fruit trees and berry bushes; naturalized pollinator plantings and tidy garden rows; and neighbors grazing on ripe fruit—all of which are in the plans for his community, but not yet reality. It takes vision and heart to see a lush green landscape in the middle of a construction site.

Fortunately the members of Rocky Corner cohousing have an abundance of both. As they look over their 33 acres in rural Connecticut, the vision is clear. “Creating an edible landscape, regenerating soil, and increasing biodiversity are goals that are part of our vision statement,” according to Rich. The edible landscape interspersed with their 30 homes and large common house will enable them to live sustainably. The permaculture plan includes a working organic farm that can provide produce for common house meals; and each household will have access to a large garden plot. This will be a place where all the residents of the land—people young and old, animals and plants—thrive together.

Part of thriving is commitment to a collaborative lifestyle that leaves space for plenty of individual preference. Many members are eager to get their hands in the dirt. They can’t wait to plant seeds that will grow with their community, and they know that they will have some neighbors who aren’t able to get into the dirt or just don’t want to. “That’s fine,” says Beth Bradley, Rich’s nextdoor neighbor. “We want everyone to gravitate toward what they love—and once in a while clean a toilet.” Their shared work agreement is a guideline for how many hours are needed from each person.
They point to their longstanding study and practice of sociocracy as a source of their overall success. They like that the work is distributed among small, efficient circles with defined authority, making it possible for everyone to speak and be heard in every round; and they believe they make better decisions than they would without it. “When we have a decision that we thought was pretty good, and someone objects, we work through it; and we always end up with a better decision,” says Beth. Sociocracy has already led to a culture of working hard to create the community together.

As in most cohousing neighborhoods, the common house is the center of activity. Maker spaces designed for arts, crafts, and woodworking are planned. Rich looks forward to swing dancing in the dining room. Beth can’t wait to be leading everyone in singing songs she has written. Residents will use a commercial kitchen for common meals and can rent it out to create food products to sell.
Rocky Corner folks have had a vision to create housing for different income levels. Thirteen of the 30 homes are income-qualified affordable units, subsidized by a $2.6 million dollar grant from the State of Connecticut. Those homes are reserved by people of all ages with limited incomes. Even the buyers who are paying market rate prices realize that cohousing is benefiting them financially. Energy-efficient houses, shared vehicles, food from the land, and more ways of sharing will keep money in many pockets.

With 18 homes nearing completion and 12 more planned, Rich and Beth are eager to meet the rest of their neighbors. As committed buyers arrive, funds become available from the bank to start the next building.
In the meantime, they are waiting for topsoil to be spread and plotting where to plant the trees and perennials they will bring with them from other properties. It’s an exciting time as they watch their community take shape, already enjoying strong bonds and shared vision for stewarding this land and nurturing one another. If you’d like to join them, you can find everything you need to know at www.rockycorner.org

 

March 2020 Newsletter

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It’s closing time!!!

The fairly mild winter allowed us to continue construction at a steady pace and we now have actual CLOSING DATES that suddenly feel very close.  Too close perhaps for those who now have to think about putting homes on the market, begin planning a move with all that this entails.  And, if you’ve lived in the same house for the last few decades, it can be daunting, to say the least.  Many of us want to downsize and have lots of things to donate or re-purpose; so Rocky Corner set up a spreadsheet where community members can list items that they want to donate or share with others and the community.  Our Common House can use dining room and living room furniture, kitchen items, washers and dryers, art supplies, tools for the workshop, yoga supplies, toys for kids, and on and on.  The community garden will need tools and garden supplies.

In addition to organizing the move, families with children have to think about new school enrollments, venues for after school programs, sports, and many other things.  Bethany, CT, is a town of close to 6,000 residents that has very good schools and student activity programs.  For teens and young adults, the city of New Haven offers high schools, community colleges, and universities (the Yale campus is located in New Haven).

Click here for more information on Bethany and the area http://rockycorner.org/bethany-the-place/

Are you a good fit for our community? 

A few spectacular homes are still for sale at Rocky Corner!  We are looking for individuals and families to complete our growing cohousing community and invite you to join one of our upcoming info sessions and site tours, including a model home.

Rocky Corner is an ecovillage, with thirty energy-efficient homes clustered in the center of a thirty-three acre organic farm. Conserving the land, sharing food, sharing the common house, sharing vehicles and using sociocracy as our governance model defines who we are.

Bethany, Connecticut is five miles from New Haven, a lively cultural hub. We have recreational hiking trails just outside our doors and cultural events just down the road.

As the first cohousing neighborhood in Connecticut, Rocky Corner is attracting local people from within the state as well as from New York and Massachusetts. We are finishing up the construction of our thirty homes. Move-ins for many of us will be this spring. We are proud that thirteen of the thirty homes are income-qualified affordable homes.

See ‘Announcements & Upcoming Events’ for dates of upcoming info sessions and how you can register to attend.

Cohousing is….

Shared Space
Shared Time
Shared Values

It is COMMUNITY AT ITS BEST !

If you are interested in joining a community of like-minded people, we invite you to visit us – we may just be the community you have been searching for.

This month, we’d like to introduce you to one of our founding members:
Marie Pulito

Marie views herself as a lifelong learner – always questioning and adapting. That is why she is a Unitarian and a future cohouser. She first was attracted to cohousing about 25 years ago knowing it would be a safe neighborhood for her gay family that included her partner, Brenda and their daughter, Alani. Today, she is still looking for an accepting community, but more importantly, she wants a way of life that is ecologically sustainable.

Rocky Corner fits her past and present vision – knowing her neighbors, being open, building eco-homes, growing food, using and learning sociocracy to help get the work done. She loves the values of sociocracy – transparency, equivalence, effectiveness. Her profession for the last 30+ years is maternal-child nursing – work that fits her personality and that she loves. She views Rocky Corner in the same way, it fits and she already loves her neighbors. “Let’s learn and grow together!”

 

 

 

February 2020 Newsletter

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A few homes are still available.  Join us!
Call or go online today to schedule an info session and land tour or check us out on Zoom.

Drone view of Rocky Corner construction

Construction at Rocky Corner continues throughout the winter months thanks to mild temperatures this year.  This allows us to move forward, and first closings are scheduled for this Spring! We still have homes available in all four models, so there is still time to purchase here. We know that once we are sold out, it will be a long time before homes become available again for resale, so if you have been thinking about and dreaming about cohousing and Rocky Corner in particular, we encourage you to act now before the doors close to buying here. Hear what future resident Pat has to say: https://youtu.be/MtTQ6u9CeYg

There has been great interest from our neighboring Brooklynites, and we periodically sponsor events at the Park Slope Food Coop. Just a few weeks ago, we collaborated with a cohousing community from Northhampton, Massachusetts, on a standing-room-only event.  Interest in cohousing is steadily increasing, as people realize the importance of community more and more, at any age and at any stage in life!

At the event, we showed the new cohousing documentary entitled The Best of Both Worlds. Check out the trailer to this video:

Say hi to Lori S. from Queens, NY. Lori has been a resident of NYC for over 30 years. Originally from Germany, she came to this country in her mid 20s and first lived in Philadelphia. When she visited New York City for the first time, she immediately fell in love with the Big Apple and its diverse population and moved there soon afterwards. Lori works for a German-owned family office in Manhattan. She commutes to work daily by bicycle, weather permitting. On evenings and weekends, Lori can be found at the local YMCA, where she attends yoga and Pilates classes. She has diverse interests and loves learning new things. “If someone took the time to write a book, a song, or create a work of art, it is usually worth checking out.”

Lori has been intrigued by cohousing for many years, and when she discovered Rocky Corner and all that it has to offer, including its proximity to NYC, she immediately attended an info session and site tour, where she met some of her future neighbors and other visitors, and was convinced that this is the right community for her. Lori was thrilled to find out that the 33 acres of pesticide-free farm land will have community and private garden areas. The 4,500-square-foot common house, with its commercial kitchen and dining area was the icing on the cake. She looks forward to sharing many of her vegan recipes with her new neighbors. Lori, like all of us, is concerned about climate change and was excited to discover that Rocky Corner is more than 500 feet above sea level.

All of us are eager to move into our brand-new homes at Rocky Corner and start building our community on site instead of long-distance via Zoom sessions!  We are excited to be a part of Rocky Corner cohousing, the first of its kind in Connecticut—close to New Haven and NYC, yet rural, quiet, and peaceful! We have hiking trails, an organic farm, and a wonderful community of like-minded folk. We hope you will come for a visit and join our community! 

“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is in you.” —L.R. Knost

 

January 2020 Newsletter

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Welcome to the New Year at Rocky Corner—
a neighborhood with a farm
and Connecticut’s first cohousing community

So much happened in 2019 and now we’re planning for 2020 to be even better!  We’ll all be moved in by spring and starting our real lives together as a community.  There are a few homes still available if you’re thinking of joining us!

Come see if we are the right community for you! 
www.rockycorner.org

Our winter solstice celebration was fun—and early—with the sun rising and the firepit going, the singing and the celebrating of another year of regeneration, renewal and self-reflection.  Then brunch warmed us up with vegan sushi along with latkes, apple pie, cookies, and other yummy homemade treats.

PROGRESS REPORT

More than half of our homes are up, getting final touches, getting ready for move-in.  The walkways and utilitiy trenches are using up our rock – but we have so much rock!  Naming us “Rocky Corner” was no idle chit-chat!!  The walking and hiking paths have all been zoned in and we’re ready to go.

The homeowners’ association is formalized and we’re preparing for the real hard work of becoming the community that we have all dreamed about.

Our last few homes are still for sale.  Anyone who joins us by the Spring still gets to plan the rest of the community with us, from the ground up…literally.

On January 7th a crew from a Pennsylvania barn company showed up early and got right to work putting up our new metal sided pole barn. In the beginning it will have enclosures for both chickens and for Dave and Alfie (the alpacas), space for storing farm equipment and supplies, and a small second floor space that could be used for a variety of purposes. We are  excited to get our equipment under cover. The barn is planned to be off-grid, powered by solar, and will be insulated so it stays comfortable. Our good friend Bobcat will be helping us install the solar. We’ll need some help in the coming weeks and months to insulate the walls, install stair railings, tool racks, and stalls, and run the wiring for lights and outlets.

Sociocracy

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The 12 years I have been associated with the Rocky Corner project have been years of tremendous growth for myself. It’s amazing to me that I could grow so much during my 6th decade of life. I am more comfortable with myself, with my ability to be a leader, an active doer. I have learned to respect and listen to others as we have forged ahead with this tremendous new neighborhood that I am so proud of.

I think the processes of decision-making and of working in groups have taught me the most. In an attempt to make these processes better Rocky Corner adopted a governance model called sociocracy. Our first training in sociocracy occurred in January, 2012 with American sociocracy pioneer, John Buck. Also present at that training, acting as helpers and learners too, were Jerry Koch-Gonzalez and Diana Leafe Christian. We have worked with both Jerry and Diana since 2012 because their focus for sociocracy was its use in community, cohousing specifically.

Jerry Koch-Gonzalez and his colleague Ted Rau recently started a very practical and public organization called Sociocracy for All (SoFA). In their own words “ Sociocracy For All is a non-profit social enterprise that provides easy access to resources, training and implementation of sociocracy.” They want to bring sociocracy “to the world”. I think they are doing just that in a way that is honest and affordable.

If you are interested in reading about sociocracy from a person living and teaching it daily, check out Ted Rau’s blog at Medium.com

And explore SoFA’s website

Submitted by Marie Pulito

Rachel Carson

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I’m deep into reading a biography by Linda Lear titled Rachel Carson, Witness for Nature. Carson’s most acclaimed book prior to Silent Spring was The Sea Around Us which I must admit I have never read. According to the biography, the night in 1952 when she accepted the Burroughs Medal for The Sea Around Us she said,

“Mankind has gone very far into an artificial world of his own creation. He has sought to insulate himself, in his cities of steel and concrete, from the realities of earth and water and the growing seed. Intoxicated with a sense of his own power, he seems to be going farther and farther into more experiments for the destruction of himself and his world.”

Although cohousing has existed for decades, I feel our Rocky Corner neighborhood is an experiment in turning around the destruction that often comes with new construction. Since the beginning of this project, and ongoing since then, “earth and water and growing seed” have been our focus.

Many of us think our future guide to approaching “earth and water and growing seed” will be permaculture. If I was going to change that phrase using the idea of permaculture, it would be “Human and earth and water and growing seed.”

Wonder if we could come up with creative ways to use this as our motto going forward. A song, a mural, a logo…Anyone?

-Submitted by Marie Pulito

 

Our solstice celebration

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Hi all,
A few pics of RC neighbors celebrating the setting of the Cold Moon (December’s full moon) and the almost simultaneous sunrise under beautiful clear sky dotted with a few wispy clouds.
Thanks to all for hot cider, songs,, poems,  instruments, sparklers, fire, and friendship!!
Best wishes to all for the holidays,
Rodger and Pat

And from Anastasia, . . .
On an early, brisk morning,

When the air was clear,

We gathered in glee

On the land that’s so dear

To greet the sunrise

And keep the light of it near

In the darkness of night,

Dissolving doubts and fear.

The full moon was picking

Through the trees up above

As the fire was kindling,

Warming bodies and hearts.

So we sang, and we danced

On the frost-covered grass

As the rays of the sun

Began lighting the path . . .

To be continued . . .

 

Beginnings of our Rocky Corner Farm

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Our growing season at Rocky Corner is coming to an end. Our first field of mixed vegetables can be seen in this wonderful drone photo taken by Rocky Corner friend Domingo Medina. He and Brenda Caldwell are learning about our soil, how to enrich it with amendments, how to help the microbes become healthier and thrive. Soil has a microbiome that helps plants to grow, just like humans have gut bacteria that keep us healthier.

Domingo runs Peels and Wheels Composting in New Haven. Residents and businesses subscribe to his service. Using a cargo bicycle (Wheels!), he picks up kitchen scraps (Peels!) and other biodegradable materials left at the curbside. Domingo pedals it all to his composting enterprise at Phoenix Press Farm. This is the property below the large wind turbine you can see from the I-95 Quinnipiac River Bridge. Peels and Wheels compost is produced with solar powered  aerators that speed up the decomposing process.

We are building a relationship between Peels and Wheels and Rocky Corner farm so that his beautiful, rich compost can be one of our key soil-building amendments!

 

Framing has begun

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It’s beginning to look real. The first building has all three home types (one-bedroom type A, two-bedroom type B, and a type C, which nominally has three bedrooms, but this one has two bedrooms and a study).

The slab is insulated from the ground and wrapped in a vapor barrier that will extend up and over the whole building. All of the underground conduits and pipes are in place, and the carpenters are working fast.

The builder, the architect, and the structural engineer are checking to be sure everything is tight and sound.

And the main thing is that now we can stand in a home and get a realistic sense of the interior spaces.

Walls framing for first building, mostly complete.
First building being framed at Rocky Corner. Rich is standing where his bedroom windows will be.

Slab happy!

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The heavy rain storm last week was a challenge for our builders, but they have persevered and five homes are ready to be slabbed. What I mean is that they have placed the pipes, the forms and the insulation and are ready to pour the cement on Monday. The weather looks perfect for the weekend so everything should go as planned. I don’t think we will be out there with a champagne bottle to christen the pour, but a few of us may go to watch. This is Nancy and Rich’s home in the photo. so they may want the front row seats!

 

 

Two reps from Home Energy Technologies came to the site to review the requirements for Energy Star certification. They are excited about our project and find us in compliance with everything from lighting (all LED) to air barriers to insulation. Our foundations exceed the > R10 Energy Star insulation requirement for slab on-grade. We will have R16! If you don’t know about R values, an insulating material’s resistance to conductive heat flow is measured or rated in terms of its thermal resistance or R–value — the higher the R–value, the greater the insulating effectiveness.  R16 reduces the heat flow (in or out) by 95%.

Why are we doing slabs rather than traditional New England basements? The slab in every building at Rocky Corner is a heat sink. It will absorb heat during a sunny, winter day. The slab will gradually release the heat during the day and into the evening which will naturally warm up the house. That means less need for other heat sources that cost money. Free heat!

Lots to be proud of and to brag about. Rocky Corner homes will rock when it comes to energy efficiency!

 

 

Under the slab

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Panorama showing pipes coming up through compacted fill layer. Insulation and concrete will be added next.
Panorama view of work on Grape and Cherry clusters. Through the magic of Google’s automatic panorama maker, that’s the same machine twice and the same guy three times. If it were only so easy to be in three places at the same time!

The site contractor is backfilling and compacting the trenches where the under-slab utilities were laid for the first cluster of homes. When this step is complete, peripheral shaped trenches will be prepared for the haunches (shallow frost walls). These will be lined with a four-inch insulation layer that extends across the whole platform under the concrete slab.

 

Starting infrastructure work on the first cluster of homes

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Compacted structural fill with homes outlined on the top surface

The dark gray material is structural fill compacted level. The fill is cleaned and crushed recycled concrete. The next step is laying out the underground services (pipes and conduits) that will poke up through the concrete slab into the living space. The plumber needs to be able to pinpoint where those pipes come up relative to walls. Al, our construction manager’s ever-resourceful site superintendent had the clever idea to lay out the locations of all the walls using metal studs spiked into the fill. Unlike stakes and string, the studs aren’t going to move, and the plumber can measure accurately from them.

After trenches are dug and the pipes are in place, the trenches will be refilled and compacted again.

Stacks of rigid foam insulation

The next layer up from the fill is four-inch-thick rigid, closed-cell, high-density polystyrene foam insulation. Here it is, stacked and ready go to for the first two clusters. The concrete slabs will be poured on top of the foam.

Rocky Corner’s vision = Permaculture

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Permaculture is a design process that works to meet human needs while increasing ecosystem health. We have definitely designed Rocky Corner to meet our needs as people while thinking of the Earth and our own land every step of the way.

The ethics of permaculture includes three important values:  Earth Care, People Care, and Resource Share. We can find all of these in our vision statement.

Rocky Corner’s Earth Care:

“We are devoted to preserving, protecting, nurturing and regenerating the natural environment.

  • We are committed to learning about and adopting practices that minimize consumption of energy, water, and other natural resources.
  • We strive to balance farming and community life with the preservation of wildlife habitats.
  • We consider the Rocky Corner community, the wider human community and the health of the Earth when making decisions and choices.”

Rocky Corner’s People Care:

“We are dedicated to fostering a friendly, open, vibrant, mutually supportive atmosphere.

  • Our communications, relationships, actions and behavior are honest, direct, respectful, nonviolent and caring.
  • We are committed to equal access to power in decision-making. Our primary way of attaining this goal is by using sociocracy.
  • We strive to create a neighborhood that is supportive and inspiring for individuals and families.
  • Our community promotes the physical and emotional health, safety and security of our members and guests.
  • We make space in our lives for play and artistic expression. We encourage continual learning, skill sharing and teaching.
  • We seek out and are open to new ideas and to all interested people who share our vision and values and are able to share fully and fairly in community responsibilities.”

Rocky Corner’s Resource Share:

“We actively sustain our community and maintain our property by sharing work and responsibilities.

  • Our community is planned, designed and managed by the members with attention to aesthetics and in a manner that supports our vision.
  • We work cooperatively for mutual benefit.
  • We make ownership as affordable as possible.”

I personally love our vision statement. It took us about a year to identify our mutual values and then write this into a statement that turned out simple and eloquent.

The work we are doing now to create Rocky Corner is still focused on our values. I am proud of all of our future residents, working so hard and keeping the vision alive.

CONTACT US welcome@rockycorner.org