deal

You choose one of the next house groups, to be built.

In all probability, you will make your choice according to the green land that lies next to it, and its future use for agriculture, orchard, field, park, and so on.

You meet the families in the group, and decide whether you are comfortable with them.

You go to the land selected for the house-group, and choose a spot where you are comfortable

You decide how much land you want, it can be large or small within a range

You sign up and start paying monthly ground rent, to hold your land

We hope you will choose to work in your house or elsewhere in Fairview.

Make room for a workshop or an office in your house, large or small.

If your workshop is one or more separate buildings in your yard, so much the better.

You decide how big or small your place is going to be and what it will contain (workshops, offices etc)

This means, first decide how big the buildings themselves will be (total square footage)

Then decide how big the yard will be.

Now the bubble of land you have selected has a size and cost. Juggle the numbers until it fits your budget.

You will have a land-tenancy for your land, paid for by a monthly ground rent.

The monthly ground rent is expected to be $250/month for 1/12th of an acre (equivalent to 7 cents per sf). The amount you pay depends on the size of parcel you choose during the layout process.

Beyond a certain maximum, the ground rent per/sf will increase with size of your parcel (to discourage land-grabbing).

You will be expected to pay for construction of your own house, any way you wish. It is your responsibility. Construction price per square foot will be known ahead of time. It is expected to be in trhe range $90 to $125.

Each group is about an acre

It includes 8-15 houses.

The families together establish a common place, the most beautiful spot in the one acre.

A central path is laid down, essentially pedestrian, but able to take a few cars.

The houses are put in position by their owners, one by one, working from the street, back towards the open land.

A vital part of the new approach to housing that is being used for Fairview, lies in the fact that each house group has open land one both sides, and very close.

No house is more than 100 feet from this open land.

The very close access to open land, makes every house and office quite different in feeling from anything that is currently offered in urban areas.

To make your house layout, we start with the garden. Put in in the right place, an outside area where you really like to be.

Next put in the building volumes.

Put stakes in the ground, at the corners, use tape to see the outline.

When you are satisfied, put stakes to mark the corners of your land.

Put the living room where you want it, as yo ustand on the land. Get the size with stakes.

Then the entrance. And so on... until the house is laid out to your satisfaction.

We work with you, to help you make the design that is just right for you, that comes from your dreams, and works practically.

The detailed process we use is a tool available on this website, as part of the price of your land rent.

The fingers of open land next to each house group, ar intended to be productive.

The whole idea of Fairview, is to recreate a productive relationship between people and the land they live on.

Swales will be built on slopes, to increase water retention.

Orchards, vegetables, fruit, are planted and worked by some of the families in your house group.

Animals may be kept

Some places, fenced, mowed and cared for are simply park land.

A stream and adjacent riparian areas are already being cared for in the lower part of the site.

We have the idea of proposing to SFA, that a small lake be built at the core of the community. In other projects, a lake, or abundant water, has an enormously enriching effect on family and community life.

Water holding tanks, and small dams or bunds in the catch basin of the valleys of the site, may be enlarged as part of the green areas between housing fingers.

It may be possible to use local sandfilters near each house group, as a source of irrigation for the cultivated fields.

All houses will be built in a common construction system.

The construction system will allow each house to be different, and will have its own identity just because it is based on your plan, and your approach to its design.

All houses will have up-to-the-minute approaches to solar energy, no-net-energy consumption, highest quality insultation, organic roofs, and use of earth and wood materials when possible.

Houses will be built to a common pattern, so that as a group they will form a beautiful and comfortable unity.

In individual cases if you wish, you may choose to build your house yourself, and would then have wider latitude with its materials.

Zoning approval for the site as a whole, is now in the early stages of the application process. It is hoped that we shall have a green light for construction about June 2003.

You do not need to wait until to apply, and indeed, may apply now to build your house in one of the first house groups.

We expect the layout process for the first groups will start after Christmas, about January 2003. Meetings and discussions can begin right away, as families come on line and identify themselves.