Who We Are

Cobb Hill is a co-housing community comprised of people learning to live lightly on the earth while forming a connection to a community, the land, and a working farm. We strive to live joyously while remaining conscious of our impact on the health of the planet and our responsibilities to those who share life upon it. Twenty-three households are clustered on a hillside in rural Vermont. Our community includes a working organic farm, environmentally built houses, the Sustainability Institute and numerous farm-related enterprises (Cobb Hill Cheese, maple syrup, bees, sheep, etc.).

Members own their homes plus a share in the commonly owned land, barns, and common house. We pay taxes to the town of Hartland and participate in town and Upper Valley life. Cobb Hill members—approximately 40 adults and 20 kids—are a varied group of individuals. We work as farmers, professors, teachers and students, environmental policymakers, cheese-makers, full-time parents, and directors and volunteers at local non-profits.

Donella Meadows, the founder of the community, called Cobb Hill a “live-work experiment.” We work at sustainable land management while attempting to live the skills of community: responsibility, compassion, communication, consensus building, conflict transformation, appreciation of diversity, and love.

Life at Cobb Hill strives to be frugal in terms of quantity, rich in terms of quality. We attempt to achieve a sane balance between privacy and communality, labor and leisure, freedom and order. Decisions are made, insofar as possible, according to what will be best for the community, for the land, and for the world over the long term. We strive for these ideals and fail regularly—leaving issues unfinished and conflicts unresolved. Our work is to keep at it, learning from our mistakes and discovering a way of living that doesn’t always come naturally.

The main thing that has attracted us, and that continues to bind us, is the community principles. Some of us are dedicated to the farm, others t

o forming more deep and lasting relationships with other individuals, others to finding viable alternatives to the current mainstream models of energy use and land development.

Our inclusion of a farm and forest is not accidental or recreational: we believe that we are interdependent with nature and want to reflect that in our lives.

If you seek membership, you will be asked both what you want from the community and what you bring to it. These are good questions to keep in mind if you contemplate a future at Cobb Hill.