Perry Rose, LLC Denver, Colorado

Hearthstone Co-housing

Co-housing communities provide a balance between personal privacy and living amidst people who know and care about each other. Individual homes are gathered around a shared courtyard. A "commons house" includes facilities such as a large kitchen, dining room, a children's playroom, laundry facilities, guestrooms, library, and sitting area and workshops. Each home is entirely self-sufficient with a complete kitchen but resident-cooked dinners often are available in the common house for those who wish to participate.

Co-housing typically appeals to young families, single parents, older couples and others who want the economic benefits of individual home ownership, but in a setting that provides a "kibbutz" like community.



The Hearthstone co-housing community is comprised of 34 attached homes ranging in size from one-to-four bedrooms, approximately 650-1350 finished square feet, priced from $145,000 to $245,000, gathered around a 4800-square-foot common house. The co-housing project was initiated by Highlands' Garden Village Land Co. LLC (HGV Land), which included co-housing in its master plan. When first presented to the neighborhood during the approval process, the idea was met with skepticism. However, a group trip to nearby co-housing projects dispelled doubts. Once the PUD was approved, HGV Land brought in Wonderland Hill Development Company, an experienced co-housing developer, to assist the formation of the co-housing group, to plan its' community, to obtain financing, and construct the project.
Co-housing projects typically are designed by their future residents. The co-housing group selected Matt Worswick of Synergy Design and Katie McCamant of The Co-housing Company to serve as their architects. They also worked with Wonderland, who designed (and named) Hearthstone. Construction began when future residents committed to purchase 75 percent of the units. The project is now completed, sold-out, and occupied. HGV Land LLC is committed to building not only a physical urban infill community at Highlands' Garden Village, but also a social community. Hearthstone provides a superb example of residents' self-organizing to both shape the plan of their community, and the ways that they live in it.