Families move into Tierra Verde – just in time for the holidays
Published 8:00 am Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Four families celebrated Thanksgiving in their new homes at Tierra Verde, the fifth affordable housing neighborhood by Lopez Community Land Trust. With babies on their mother’s stomachs, and armloads of belongings, the families moved in last week. Last minute beds were being made for a pair of twin boys, blinds put up on the windows, and a human train of friends carrying their belongings into the homes.
Each homeowner was responsible for 24 hours a week of sweat equity during the construction process which began in April. Earlier in the year they also trained in working with tools, learning about land leases, occupancy agreements, budgeting, etc. These homeowners formed a housing cooperative, each household owning a share, that is, their home, with the land underneath the homes owned by LCLT. This helps ensure that the houses always remain affordable.
Interns from New York, New Hampshire, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Seattle, and more helped build these homes, as well as Boy Scouts, Camp Nor’wester campers, and community volunteers. Mitre Box was the construction company with Pamela Pauly as construction supervisor and Sandy Bishop as Project Manager.
The homes are passive solar, with four kilowatt roof-top grid-tied solar electric, state of the art heat pumps for hot water, highly insulated windows with super tight air sealing, high efficiency windows and blinds, rainwater catchment for landscaping, and exterior earthen plasters. These are two bedroom homes with a flex room (room without a closet) and an average of 875 square feet.
These families include six adults, two of whom were raised on Lopez, and nine children, six of whom are in Lopez Schools. They are variously employed in Island Body and Fitness Center, Village Cycles, Healing Energy Arts of Lopez, and as a recording musician. The director of the Happiness Initiative (www.happycounts.org) visited as they were moving in, and the homeowners’ smiles confirmed that joy is found in Tierra Verde.
