New Permaculture Community Forming on 175 Acres in South-Central Tennessee

I'm a Senior homesteader. Waited until retirement to start my first homestead on 30 acres in SW Virginia. After nearly six years of trying to start a liberty-minded community there and finding a lot of interested people but practically none with the capital, skills, or drive that could advance the development, I became frustrated and sold the farm last summer and spent several months driving from VA to NV looking at existing eco-communities in hopes of finding one that met my criteria. None did. Either they were too socialist, too small, too steep, too dry, not permaculture oriented, had too many restrictions, membership cost more than the value they offered, or had some other negative attribute.

So I went back to the drawing board to design a community that I can love. Libertarian, Voluntaryist, Agoran, Permacultural/Regenerative Ag, in a temperate climate (zone 6-7), and with as few rules and restrictions as possible. A place where members can be free to live as they choose so long as they respect the rights of other members to do the same. No bosses or dictators but each person voluntarily working with other members to develop the community's infrastructure and resources. On any given project, the most skilled person will supervise the team, e.g., if we are building a solar array, an electrician should be in charge, not an herbalist. Likewise, the herbalist might be the best team leader for a hoophouse or food forest project. Community manager and other leaders would be elected periodically from the best qualified members, not necessarily the largest investors.

I currently have a 175-acre property under contract in south-central TN and am looking for prospective members and/or investors. I'm in immediate need of at least one investor (could be more) with $45K available to cover half of the 20% down payment and closing costs. I have the other half plus sufficient funds for initial site work, and I have applied for financing on the 80% balance. Closing is set for end of June.  I'll be moving there 6/8/26 to start prep work on temporary housing, and I have a few prospects who will move later in the summer and fall to help with the initial labor. If any folks on this forum are interested in joining us, please send PM with your email address, your skills, goals and dreams, and I'll send full details.

Been observing your story for a while and looking forward to this next chapter for you.

Well, after driving a couple thousand miles to see the TN property we thought was going to be home for the next decade or two, it turned out not to be what the pictures had indicated.  The amount of excavation work needed to convert forest to ag land would have set us back years, so I cancelled the purchase contract and got my deposit back.

I'm currently visiting my brother at his place in KY and he's keeping me busy with a number of projects he has saved up for me to help him with.  I'm looking for land with some existing infrastructure in TN and KY and have four parcels to look at over the next week or so.  I'll keep you posted.

The upside to KY would be being near your brother and then he could help you with projects too until more community comes together for you.