Discover A New Housing Model

Imagine living in a small neighborhood where your NEIGHBORS ARE YOUR FRIENDS. Not only that, you have something in common with them. A SHARED STORY. Shared interests. Shared backgrounds. Even better, your neighbors — FRIENDS — have agreed to LEND A HAND where needed. For you, for each other, for the community. 

Matt Thornhill, CEO Cozy Home Communities

Questions Answered:

• Is there any interfacing/ collaboration with the city/ community at large?  For example, do you form partnerships with businesses and/or organizations that offer fitness/ wellness services to encourage engagement, long term learning and intergenerational volunteer opportunities?
• "what is location anticipated closest to wash dc
• Are there any plans for this in the Washington, DC area yet?
• how long does it take typically to build one cozy community?
• Do you have service coordination at these communities?  Onsite person that will provide a connection to services in the area to bring resources to the community.
• "what type of questions do you ask to try and match people for the 8 home community.  eg politics? values?
• And I assume you anticipate relationships and collaboration between the other pods in the community"
• I joined the meeting late so maybe you already addressed this, but are all homes universally designed?  Whom do you need to contact to start a conversation with regard to acquiring land and building approval?
• "Can you talk more about how this is different from the co-housing model? It sounds very similar in principle, with the inclusion of a matching system and a model for people to choose without having to build it themselves.
• My understanding of the barriers to co-housing in the DMV is the high cost of real-estate and property values, that make it prohibitely expensive."
• Does that one acre needed for a community include car traffic? Do you anticipate citizens not having cars?
• Have you worked with AARP / Network of Livable Communities to promote this product?  Do you have a website?
• How about acoustics?  One in 3 seniors over the age of 65 and 2 out of 3 over the age of 75 have hearing loss.  Open plan, high ceilings, wood floors, etc. are very difficult for listening/hearing.  How is this being addressed?
• "You mention a Cozy Home License lasts for 10 years. What happens after 10 years are up? Presumably, people will still be living in their homes at that point.
• Also, how do you think you will deal with property ownership/ re-sale of homes, after original owners have passed away?"
• are there any qualification or restrictions on resale in the future
• If a cozy home is purchased, are there restrictions about reselling?  Must the seller match a new owner to the rest of the residences?
• I wonder about using the construct of “colony” for the communities - speaking of politics, just thinking about some of the negative connotations of colonialism and our country’s story of colonization
• Is Matt knowledgeable about the “Village movement(very popular in DC area - and what has been learned by Cozy Home concept re aging in place
• Great idea and wonderful presentation!  Yes, it would be great to hear how the projects turn out!!
• This is an awesome model.  Thanks for sharing.

Chat Transcript:

12:05:45     From  NEPHELIE ANDONYADIS : Hello Meg! Nice to “see” you here!

12:06:05     From  Meg LaPorte : You too Nephelie!

12:06:57     From  R Hart : Good day all, Rita Hart of Driving Moms & Dads

12:07:30     From  Steve Gurney - ProAging Sourcebook : From Marcie Berg-Katcher to All Panelists 12:02 PM

Looking for a community that our shared story is creativity in the arts - whether that be in the sciences or the arts with a community center with studios - and housing is well built and have all the creature comforts including tech item for a smart house…if other are interested please contact me.

12:10:12     From  Bonnie O'Leary   to   Hosts and panelists : audio is not very clear

12:15:36     From  Joy Loverde   to   Hosts and panelists : Hi Steve... I heard you mention that you are hosting an event on solo aging. Do you know about my latest book, "Who Will Take Care of Me When I'm Old? published by Da Capo. https://www.amazon.com/Who-Will-Take-Care-When/dp/0738219630/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490187548&sr=8-1&keywords=who+will+take+care+of+me+when+i%27m+old

12:17:50     From  NEPHELIE ANDONYADIS : This looks like it’s built on the principles of Co-housing communities. Was that model an inspiration for Cozy Homes?

12:18:19     From  Bonnie O'Leary   to   Hosts and panelists : presenter's audio is not coming through.

12:18:38     From  Marcie Berg-Katcher : Audio is fine here

12:18:44     From  Kenneth Reichardt : I can hear fine

12:18:50     From  Lauren Lawder : I called in with my phone

12:19:04     From  Karen Lekashman   to   Hosts and panelists : How is your model different from the co-housing model?

12:19:06     From  Bonnie O'Leary   to   Hosts and panelists : I'm at the office, so usually it's fine.

12:19:18     From  Martha Metacarpa : It head the current speaker but now Matt

12:19:28     From  Gary Hughes   to   Hosts and panelists : How do avoid fair housing violations as part of the matchup process?

12:23:18     From  Steve Gurney - ProAging Sourcebook   to   Joy Loverde and all panelists : joy this is great - lets get you on a discussion!  schedule time on my calendar at https://calendly.com/proaging and we can brainstorm

12:24:32     From  Meg LaPorte : YES!

12:24:45     From  Joy Loverde   to   Hosts and panelists : will do

12:25:35     From  R Hart : That's hilarious????

12:30:32     From  Joy Loverde   to   Hosts and panelists : Hey Matt... "Caregiver" not "Caretaker"  ????

12:31:42     From  Joy Loverde   to   Hosts and panelists : define hard assets please

12:31:49     From  Tiffani Brooks : Pleas explain the role of the care taker agin

12:32:16     From  Joy Loverde : got it

12:32:40     From  Joy Loverde : where are you building?

12:34:04     From  Bonnie O'Leary   to   Hosts and panelists : It can be helpful to remember that one in 3 seniors over the age of 65 and 2 out of 3 over the age of 75 have a hearing loss.  Acoustics are very important; high ceilings and open plan, wood floors etc. are very challenging.  How are you addressing the acoustics issue?

12:36:42     From  Marcie Berg-Katcher : Is this a franchise? - as you mentioned a license as part of your benefits.

12:36:51     From  Meryl Kobrin : Is there any formal agreement reached between citizens in terms of how the community runs? What happens when there are vacancies a community?

12:37:22     From  Karen Lekashman   to   Hosts and panelists : What is the ideal size of a parcel to build a community?

12:37:25     From  Kenneth Reichardt : DELMARVA would be a great location.  Maryland Virginia eastern shore!

12:39:15     From  R Hart : I love this

12:43:06     From  Karen Dotson : Similar set up called Shepherd Village in Shepherdstown, WV.  Love this idea.  https://www.shepherdvillage.net/

12:43:48     From  Mary Wontrop : To tag on to the question of franchise and ownership are there HOA dues and what is the approximate amount.    As for the rentals are they individually owned then rented or are they owned by the community?

12:44:43     From  Steve Gurney - ProAging Sourcebook : https://www.cozyhomecommunity.com/

12:46:05     From  Tiffani Brooks : Independence is the key. You definitely don’t want to make the citizens feel dependent

12:46:43     From  Pauline Watson : Thank you for this great presentation. What is the difference in the concept you are presenting and s senior community like Sun City and other Senior community, they do have some of the services. Also any plans for building in the low country of S.C??

12:48:45     From  Joy Loverde : Is there a process to "evict" disruptive citizens?

12:49:05     From  NEPHELIE ANDONYADIS : ^^^ Great question Joy.

12:50:23     From  NEPHELIE ANDONYADIS : One of the challenges of Co-housing is that it take a lot of work for a group of people to move through the process of design/development, and it’s expensive to figure out. This seems like a bit of a “template” to help people choose the choosing model without having to invent the wheel themselves.

12:50:49     From  Joy Loverde : can the legal documents you just mentioned regarding disruptive citizens be modified per community?

12:52:41     From  Karen Lekashman   to   Hosts and panelists : Another cohousing community is mountainviewcohousing.com in Mt. View CA

12:53:53     From  Marcie Berg-Katcher   to   Hosts and panelists : Hi Matt, love to chat about this project with you…718-374-3378

12:54:02     From  NEPHELIE ANDONYADIS : thank you for this presentation! So interesting!!!

12:54:33     From  Meg LaPorte : I agree, Steve, that could work well.

12:54:35     From  Janet Dopsovic : This has been a very informative presentation and interesting concept. Thank you Matt and Steve.

12:54:43     From  NEPHELIE ANDONYADIS : Age Friendly DC has been advocating for Accessory Dwelling Units. My feeling is that something like this, essentially a co-housing model would be even more beneficial.

12:55:26     From  Ruth DeHart   to   Hosts and panelists : Thanks Matt. You have done such good work throughout your career. Admire this innovative project. Ruth DeHart

12:55:57     From  Joy Loverde : Matt... what would you say is the top unique feature of cozy communities? what is something they do that no one else does currently.

12:56:28     From  NEPHELIE ANDONYADIS : Just to clarify, moving to a cozy home still means selling your home, and not necessarily staying within your community (e.g. the one you raised your kids in, or live in now)

12:57:36     From  Meg LaPorte : Thank you! Very interesting!

12:57:41     From  gabriele hourticolon : P.S. Any "Native American" may consider Europeans to have colonized the "New World" ...

12:57:51     From  Karen Lekashman   to   Hosts and panelists : Great concept - great presentation.  Thank you!

12:57:54     From  BOB HOFFMAN   to   Hosts and panelists : Thanks Matt for the honesty - please come to DC area!!

12:57:59     From  Joy Loverde : thank you

12:58:09     From  Steve Jakubowski : Thanks for this! I'll be following!