We are trying to understand how to best shape Ecovillage Charlottesville with the community (you) in mind. It would help us out so much if you could fill out our survey about what you would like to see in the community. Thank you so much.
Communities
Ecovillage Charlottesville Design Survey
Categories: Announcements, Communities, Design
Tags: 480 Rio Rd, Charlottesville, Ecovillage, low impact, Neighborhood, Tiny Housing
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Local Furniture
Have you bought furniture lately? The first problem is finding something that will last a long time. The second problem is finding something that hasn’t traveled around the world twice. A lot of furniture and cabinetry is made halfway across the world, and to make things worse, some of that wood comes from forests right here! There are still local carpenters making amazing pieces and it doesn’t need to be a dying art; there is plenty of demand. I have spent a lot of time talking with Thomas Johnson about how we need to bring carpentry back as a respected craft. The best way to do that is to support your local artisans with your business instead of the big box stores, but he wants to do more. He has a vision of creating a wood products manufacturing school called Mayflower Landing and rekindle the interest of young people to become masters of this timeless craft.
This is the custom table and bench that Thomas Johnson built just for us. It is solid oak, crafted and finished beautifully, as well as costing less than furniture of comparable quality from overseas.
Categories: Announcements, Communities, Materials, Resilience
Tags: craftsmanship, Resilience
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Tiny House Parking
So you’ve decided to simplify your life, get rid of all the clutter and more into a tiny house on wheels, but there’s one catch: where do you live? It’s tricky. One option is to buy some land, but if you aren’t planning on being off the grid you’re going to need electrical hookup and perhaps a well, maybe even a septic system. All of this gets expensive and a little outside of the original idea of downsizing, especially when there are plenty of people who would be more than willing to rent a little place on their property with everything you need already there in exchange for a little rent and utility sharing. With the transient nature of our culture, we’ve lost a lot of the real social networks that would have once made it very easy to find a place like this. A brand new site called TinyHouseParking is trying to network people living in Tiny Houses with those who have the land and desire to help this tiny movement get some traction!
Categories: Announcements, Communities, Tiny Housing
Tags: community, Intentional Living, low impact, Sustainability, Tiny Housing
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Ecovillage Presentation
This is a presentation which gives a rough introduction to the Ecovillage Charlottesville project. It was built to be an introduction for UVA’s “Engineering Students Without Borders” student group
Ecovillage Charlottesville Update
The latest version of the Ecovillage Charlottesville site plan is finally here! The project has picked up a ton of traction lately, so keep checking www.facebook.com/EcovillageCharlottesville for status updates.
Here are some renderings for one idea of what could be built… House designs inspired by http://www.rosschapin.com/ and http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/
If you feel like drawing your own idea for what the Ecovillage could look like, here are some 8.5×11 printable sketches that make it easy for the ideas to flow onto paper. Please share your ideas!
Categories: Announcements, Communities
Tags: 480 Rio Rd, architecture, Charlottesville, Charlottesville Virginia, community, Ecovillage, low impact, Neighborhood
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The Napoleon Complex
A community of tiny houses! This is a really neat idea if they can keep architectural unity and keep it well maintaned through the years. It will be really interested to see how they make this project happen as it is out of the realm of what city planners and zoning officials have ever seen.
Categories: Architecture, Communities, Design, Tiny Housing
Tags: California, common area, common house, community, Neighborhood, The Housing Lab, Tiny Housing
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Habitat for Humanity of Charlottesville
Affordable housing, healthy environments, and energy efficiency don’t usually go together. In Central Virginia, affordability is often the least attainable goal and is becoming an increasingly big problem for the areas less-affluent residents.
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville is doing an impressive amount in this area to build dwellings that provide all three. Their mission goes far beyond just getting hard-working people into homes; revitalizing entire existing neighborhoods with a focus on walkability, sustainability, community and ownership. They are paving the way with a new standard for peri-urban neighborhood revitalization.
Habitat for Humanity around the country has always been a leader in affordability and it is excellent to see the focus on sustainable, more resilient communities.
Categories: Communities, Energy Efficiency
Tags: Affordable housing, Charlottesville, community, Habitat for Humanity, Neighborhood
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Greater Stonehenge Ecovillage: Part 2
Just over a month ago the first of the new site plans for the Greater Stonehenge Ecovillage were released and since then the interest in the project has multiplied. A lot of great people interested in the project, the Virginia Department of Transportation and Albemarle County have given us a lot to think about and a lot of stellar ideas for how to make it better. We have tried our best to show what we’ve learned in this new site plan. If you have any ideas about how to make it even better, please share!
Located just outside the city limits of Charlottesville lies a six acre parcel of land next to the aging Stonehenge Neighborhood; its gentle south-facing slope and existing structures make it the perfect place for something quite a bit different from a typical subdivision: The Greater Stonehenge Ecovillage. Please check out the newest plan, and tell us what you think!
See the details here on The Housing Lab or The Greater Stonehenge Website
The Greater Stonehenge Ecovillage
Located just outside the city limits of Charlottesville lies a six acre parcel of land next to the aging Stonehenge Neighborhood; its gentle south-facing slope and existing structures make it the perfect place for something quite a bit different from a typical subdivision: The Greater Stonehenge Ecovillage. Please check out the newest plan, and tell us what you think!
See the details here on The Housing Lab or The Greater Stonehenge Website
Categories: Communities, Design
Tags: 480 Rio Rd, architecture, Charlottesville, community, Ecovillage, garden, Greater Stonehenge, greenhouse, low impact, Meadowcreek Parkway, Neighborhood, orchard, shared, Site Plan, walking trails
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Creating Community in Pocket Neighborhoods
Ever wonder why certain neighborhoods become desirable? It’s not the houses, it’s the way they make us interact with each other.
This isn’t a new concept, but I wish it were more widespread. When will developers realize that you are supposed to build neighborhoods for people, not automobiles? Here’s what Zillow has to say on the topic.
Categories: Architecture, Communities
Tags: architecture, community, Neighborhood, Zillow
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The Housing Lab 