Hi Laura and thanks for your reply to my post.
I (Coweeta Heritage Center/Talking Rock Farm) am looking for folks who would like to help start an Intentional Community here on 32 acres in a mountain valley in Western NC. The property has a hydro-electric power system, trout
pond, organic garden, sawmill and more.
I have two travel trailers for temp living while permanent housing is built. I have been
gardening and selling produce at our
local farmer's market in Franklin, NC for a number of years with a good clientele. I also make wooden
spoons and recently sold at the John C. Campbell Folk Schools Fall Festival, where I have taught at the Little/Middle program for 14 years. I have a
workshop set up for spoon making and hundreds if not thousands of spoons cut out and ready to finish.
The valley is mostly wooded in, so it presents challenges for more farming. The area is a tourist haven? So, I feel the property could be developed as an off-grid retreat and healing center with lodging and programming. I've developed plans for a main building, cabins, and hostel. As I am getting older, I would like to see the
land developed and preserved in some way for the future. I would like the community to be a place of healing and as free from the trappings of society as possible. This would not be a place to come to do drugs, abuse alcohol or use tobacco on a daily basis.
The community (Coweeta Heritage Center/Talking Rock Farm) would be based on the principles of Voluntary Simplicity: Using less, so others may simply live. It is quiet here with an abundance of wildlife:
deer, turkey,
rabbits, coyote, and the occasional bear that wanders through. The valley was settled (by white settlers) in the mid-1800's and there are remnants of moonshine stills, log dragging troughs, log structures and more. The valley was abandoned by about 1950 and left to grow up in
trees. My ex lives across the creek and we converse daily; she takes care of my cat and I supply her all the
firewood she needs for the 1839 log cabin she lives in.
I have hosted dozens of woofers here over the years and taught as much as I could about living off the land: wildcrafting, gardening, woodworking and building, etc. I am now ready to settle down and let others help continue Coweeta's tradition of teaching others self-reliance,
sustainable living, and how to live lightly on the land. Coweeta is a place of healing, spiritually, mentally and physically. I feel it is important to have work that is meaningful and satisfying.
To join, someone needs to agree to the principles of the community, visit for a minimum 3 week period and then complete a provisional year stay to become a permanent member. The community will own the land and all buildings so that the community has a say in who comes into the community. Members need to meet a yearly commitment to the community based roughly on the Federal Poverty Income Levels (the community can adjust this based on a family's individual situation, such as a single parent). Members may meet their contribution by in-kind labor, financial support or a combination of the two. Eventually, the community could provide paid work to members once established, or members could work outside in the local community, or start their own business. The future of the community will be in the hands of the folks who join and help build it.
As well as helping build the communities infrastructure, members also need to make a commitment to build a sense of community, through consensus building, effective non-violent communication, trust, and willingness to work together cooperatively for the benefit of the community as a whole.
Coweeta is here, alive and well, and maybe the place that you need to call home. You are welcome to visit here most any time. You can email me for more info:
coweeta@gmail.com
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