Farm Housing and Green Building

Residents of The Farm today live in a many different styles of housing.
Most are single-family homes.

Because all land is held in common, all buildings attached to the land are owned by the Trust.

Individual members do not own a deed to their home, but retain equity based on their personal investment in the construction and maintenance expenses.

The Farm Community

Primary construction for many of the homes took place during the early communal period when each structure would house several families and a number of single people.

After the Changeover, individual members or couples assumed ownership of a home and began investing in the buildings as needed for maintenance and improvements.

The Farm CommunityDuring the communal period, a structure would provide housing for 20, 30, 40 people or more!

Some of the larger homes have now been divided into duplexes.

A number of homes have rooms available for overnight guests.

The Farm CommunityThere have also been many new homes built after The Changeover.

Banks will not offer financing because they cannot repossess the home and sell it on the open market. The community does not provide financing because it does not wish to use the land as collateral with a bank and does not have the financial resources to construct a large number of homes.

This has made the financing of new home construction a significant challenge for the community and for new members.

House Raising on The Farm CommunityQuite often new homes are built by the future owner to keep down labor costs.

Community members sometimes participate in house raising’s during the initial framing phase of new home construction as another way to help keep housing affordable.

Several Farm members are building contractors or have construction skills and are hired by people within the community for new construction and remodeling.

The nearby Amish and Mennonite community also has people in the building trades who have worked in the community on various houses and other buildings.

Most houses within the community have utilized green construction and building principles, from recycled materials to energy efficient designs.

The Community Center
The Deltec Home
The Earth Shelter
Energy Efficiency and Insulation
ICF – Insulated Concrete Forms
The Recycled Log Cabin
Natural Building
Solar Arrays

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