Chicago Cohousing NetworkCohousing (called bofællesskaber in Denmark) was introduced there in 1964 by Danish architect Jan Gudmand-Hoyer who gathered a group of friends to discuss current housing options. Over several months, this circle of friends discussed possibilities for a more supportive living environment. By the end of the year, they had bought a site on the outskirts of Copenhagen and developed plans for twelve terraced houses set around a common house and swimming pool. Although the city officials supported the plan, the neighbors did not and the group eventually sold the site without building anything.
It was not until 1973 that the first cohousing sites were built. By the end of 1973, two communities, Saettedammen and Skraplanet, had completed construction. A third community, Nonbo Hede, was completed in 1976 near Viborg. These early cohousing communities were practical first steps toward the ideals put forth by Gudmand-Hoyer, but were never considered the embodiment of all that cohousing should be. Although the initiators had sought a diverse mixture of resident ages and incomes, social and financial realities called for compromise if the projects were to be built at all. By 1982, cohousing was a movement with 22 owner-occupied cohousing communities had been built in Denmark.
Each completed cohousing community faced tremendous difficulties, particularly in the financial realm. In 1978, to assist resident groups through the planning stages, Gudmand-Hoyer and a group of other professionals formed a support association called SAMBO (roughly translated as “live together”). Additional support followed with the 1981 passage of the Cooperative Housing Association Law, national legislation that made it easier and less expensive to finance cohousing. Since then, most Danish cohousing communities have been structured as limited equity cooperatives financed with government-sponsored loans, including ten rental cohousing communities.
After initial skepticism, cohousing has won the support of the Danish government and financial institutions. Banks are particularly attracted because most cohousing units are pre-sold long before construction is completed, a record with which few other housing developments can compete.
Cohousing is now a well-established housing option in Denmark. Not only do new communities continue to be built, but the concept has been incorporated into master plans for large areas of new development. Since Gudmand-Hoyer began discussing his ideas for a cooperative living environment nearly three decades ago, the cohousing concept has evolved. The average size of individual residences in new communities is almost half of what it was at the original projects. While individual residences have decreased in size, shared facilities have increased in relative proportion and importance. Cohousing residents have chosen to cluster their dwellings closer together, especially evident in the new communities that connect ground-level dwellings and common facilities under one roof. The range of unit mixes and the mixture of residents and household types has greatly diversified. Previous criticisms of cohousing as a high-priced option out of reach of common people no longer hold true in Denmark. The increasing willingness of residents to live close together reflects growing confidence in the cohousing concept, as people recognize its benefits and learn from existing communities.
1980 Chuck and Katie meet at the Royal Academy of Art and Architecture at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. While studying there, they discover bofællesskaber (cohousing).
1988 The 1st edition of the book Cohousing comes off the press, 3000 copies are delivered to Katie and Chuck’s basement. They conduct 2 slide shows in Davis and Sacramento, CA. From these, Muir Commons Cohousing in Davis is begun and Southside Park Cohousing in Sacramento is formed.
