Is there interest in organic tiny home RV community?

Are there people out there who are interested in living together in a small tiny home/RV community with common areas as organic gardens? sort of like Village Homes in Davis or other agrihoods ?

Where are you thinking of doing this at?
Some where in the south I would hope sense most rvs are not northern friendly. Love this idea.

Allen Wimberly wrote:Where are you thinking of doing this at?
Some where in the south I would hope sense most rvs are not northern friendly. Love this idea.

Thinking Oregon, California, or Nevada

I think it would could work. I was wondering about using modern greenhouse aquaponics in the Winter. RVs are small and it is great if there's a attached greenhouse or mud room to do things in. Then take off for the mountains in Summer.

Another reason is there's cheap land in remote areas but who wants to be there in an RV alone. Safety in numbers. Good company. And the huge cost of drilling a community well could be shared.

I think this is a wonderful idea.  

Big community building with showers and washers and a big walk in fridge and freezer.  Single well, common bulk purchase for mulch and compost, etc.

The gotcha is waste management.  Mandate composting toilets? Allow RV black tanks?

Do you run water and power to sites or everyone off grid pads with a everyone hauling from community building or community water truck.

So many questions

I like the idea but would want the freedom of ownership. Of a small home site and garden that is. Let's face it, people move, life changes. Something similar to  cohousing but a tiny home cohousing or RV cohousing combined with a community land trust. I've visited a few cohousing communities and like them the most of any I've seen so far. I've been to Dignity village in Portland. It is one of the original tiny home communities, for the homeless or disadvantaged. I don't remember but ownership was not included. Not bad for $0.00 land cost however. City owns the land I believe.

I was thinking communal compost, mulching.. problem with ownership is that it will be harder to pass city/county planning? I guess that can be solved with tenants in common or corporate shares.
optional composting toilets.
septic system like the rv parks, but mandating only natural detergents used? just in case septic fails and ruins the land?
wasn't thinking communal restrooms.. cleanup is messy and add to shared costs.
i believe Village Homes has raised beds that can be used per family besides the community trees.

additionally, I like idea of greenhouse or hoop house. like to have a natural pond hooked to aeroponics and aquaponic beds.

btw, is the cost of well in applications/permitting? I've seen some online videos DIY well drilling...seems possible and cheap.

Good ideas! I think a well permit is a separate step and cost but may or may not be required. Depending on zoning maybe?  If a residence permit is applied for a well permit might be required. Not if it's recreational property which is what I'm considering buying.
 Composting manure and carbon makes sense to me. Maybe a rodent proof ferrocement double chamber "moldering" toilet. Use one side for a year then the other side molders for a year.
The natural pond idea sounds great. I built a natural swimming pond and loved it. What a difference to play in water in the heat. A effective filtration idea was to use a earth bags wall to partition off a corner of the pond, fill with pea gravel and cinder, then plant wetland plants for filtration.
I had a portable well drilling setup and lost it in a move. Dang!

It sounds like you and I need to talk further haha. Where abouts are you right now?

Good Ideals,
Lots of people often bring this topic up.
It's challenging for a myriad of reasons of course.

@jeremy,
You mentioned recreational property. But often that zoning has many restrictions, and does not allow permanent living, no?
I also agree/think that ownership might be a key for many, and at least for pragmatic reasons.

@s lee
Think its a good idea. Tried to get a few of my buddies interested, all family people like myself, but of course life is never that simple, and some live in "fear" of the unknown, rightfully so.
I love the NW, and plan on doing this somehow someway soon myself, I also have a small family, so always adds some challenges.
Sound like you are thinking within city limits? or homestead type?


I had mentioned on another thread that I think one viable option would be to fine land that has separate tax lots, and then the land could be bought together, with each buyer having their own share.
And one could still cut costs down on the well, shared by all, and having it written in the contracts that it would be for the lots, something like that.
I don't know if an existing lot could be easily divided into separate tax lots, I assume not.

Either way, I also like the idea, I think the major issue is putting it all together, getting differing opinions and ideas on the same page.
Thus, my idea above.
I love the idea, like what Paul offers, in that equipment could be shared, and neighbors to help, all with somewhat common goals, would be a great community.

California often has lots of zoning issues, along with OR, especially in the south where there are many affordable lots available.
Nevada seems pretty open, just lacking water, high desert areas.
Previously was looking up at North Central Washington, parts of Idaho, more open to do things, lots are cheaper than most places, but cold weather.

anyway, throwing out some thoughts.

Hi Jim,

I believe the growth of agrihoods has to do with fact that most people are not ready to give up their good-paying jobs to try out the farm life. And having diverse career backgrounds really does make for a good community. That's why Village Home and agrihoods succeed... so i'm open to city limits even if the land costs more... California makes sense for tiny home/RV community because you can spend time in the open community space/garden for much of the year. Where in NV were you looking? the couple of places I visited around Tahoe all have easy drilling for water.
As for zoning, I was thinking just buying a RV park and convert it... do you see any issue with that? 1 issue I see is possible existing contamination of the land.

Hi S. Lee,

I think your assessment is right on.
I have a buddy who has a 1/4 acre and farms, but is also a teacher, and he has no interest going off into the country or homesteading.

I had not really entertained this thought before I saw curtis stone, the farmer up in canada, speaks all over, and others like him, making decent money just farming.
Now I think it's a great way, mainly because my wife would want to be in some type of community for herself and the kids, which makes a lot of sense.
I just don't like having neighbors withing shouting distance, unless I knew them well, or were good friends with them.

I'm a so cal boy so I love cali, the deserts and mountains, love the tahoe area and the sierra's, did a lot of backpacking back in the day.
Some of my family are in Oregon, and I lived there for a time. So I love the NW in general. But also, prices seem to be within reach the farther out or farther north one goes.

An RV park would seem to be a good idea, everything already there. Soil, regenerating it, always think about that, and the other issues as I have searched out land.
That is what got me interested in permies, the idea of regenerating everything and all that good stuff.

I think the one main obstacle is always the zoning. Over the last year or so I occasionally read about counties and cities blocking Tiny Homes, as well as other things similar to what happened in NV with regards to the solar. Govt and Big Biz seem to fighting back in some places.


So I have looked mostly in the NW, and across the states as well, although my roots are in Cali and the NW.

Very interested in co-creating or joining a tiny home/RV community that includes communal living spaces (e.g., kitchen, washer/dryer, social/reflective spaces, yoga/meditation), as well as regenerative/permie, organic gardening/pea patches/medicinal herbs and access to well, solar, and electric (with grey-water possibilities/septic if needed).  One option is to purchase an existing RV park and to convert it over time.  Another is to start fresh with a piece of zonable land and build out from there. If you already have the plan, I'd love to join and contribute strong business skills, organic gardening/farming skills, and ability to launch and manage new ventures (with others); not so great at real estate zoning and property management skills. Love the idea of calling forth younger permies/regenerative farmers to live with older generations together in community.  Currently considering selected spots in Washington, including Northwest, Spokane, as well as Montana and Idaho.  

We currently have property in  Oregon. We hadn't planned on moving on to it until next spring but the interest in this thread has spurred us to consider putting our plan in motion a bit earlier than we had planned.
We are full time bus deellers looking to offer an opportunity to other RV'er, van dwellers,nomads,etc.
The income potential is there but not established so all members would have to provide for themselves. But no other investment would be required other than physical labor.
If anyone is interested please contact us. I hope this is not considered hijacking a thread.

I'm definitely interested in this. Currently in colorado and would consider any states surrounding here. Been looking for land but can't move on it alone. I'm a single mom and live in a skoolie. Would love to create an opportunity for tiny home dwellers and marginalized at risk people to live cheap and healthful.

My dream is to have a homestead run with community and have a little runway and plane, to teach flying and maybe be a designated pilot examiner, too, and spend my other time tending the land. I'm not a loner though so I need others to join me. I keep telling my favorite friends but they're slow moving. I actually don't feel like I can do it til my son is grown. I simultaneously can and  Can't wait!

We are currently looking at formal cohousing developments to see if they are a more stable alternative for our retirement years. And then possible buying a piece of land nearby to do permaculture activities on (and to store my RV and bus on). It would be amazing if we could buy land attached to a formal cohousing development and be able to walk to the land. Or even slowly build our own dwelling and have a option to relocate from the cohousing if desired. Living in comfort while building would be nice. Ive already tried living in discomfort while building several times lol.  It’s a nice pipe dream. We are attracted to the careful planning and legal structure of the formal cohousing developments. The legal work can cost tens of thousands so sharing that expense makes a lot of sense. Personally would prefer rural or semi rural with public land attached but that’s another pipe dream.  Using a existing RV park is a interesting idea. A few years ago someone offered me a small park in Eastern Washington middle of nowhere for a tiny price. I imagine it’s soaring in value these days with so many people looking for a lifeboat alternative.