Video - The Cordwood is going up!

This is video of the construction from November. It continues to advance and looks beautiful!

New ownership structure

While the initial building was going on, we reviewed and revised our ownership structure. To prepare for home ownership, we divided our membership into three classes: homeowners, business members, and community members. While each class of members has an equal say in general meetings and the overall governance of the cooperative, homeowner and business members have additional rights and responsibilities for use of the property. This allows these members to build a home or own a business in the ecovillage.

Startup building and financing

The past year has been an exciting time for the Yarrow EcoVillage. In June we received our first building permits for new buildings (two duplexes) at the south end of the two hectares designated "Ecovillage Zone." We began installing infrastructure (roads, water and sanitary systems).

The initial work was financed via member funding. We also applied for a major construction loan. It was a long wait for the latter funding to come through. This was a by-product of the fact that we were doing many things for the first time and it also had to do with the global financial crisis. In consequence, we had to slow our building process.

Owner-financed work did continue, though. We completed the foundations for the duplexes in July and erected the frames, celebrating the milestone with a timberframe raising ceremony (Richtfest) in early August. We also have a good start on the cordwood masonry walls. It looks fantastic!