Our family moved from California to join the Champlain Valley Cohousing community in July 2007. We have two children, a daughter born in 2003 and a son born in 2006. We spent six years in the San Francisco Bay Area, followed by one year in Grass Valley, California.
What we want
We have been interested in co-housing for many years. Jenny discovered it while living in Denmark during her twenties; Per began envisioning creating community with friends in high school.
We like living with other people who experience joy from nature and who are committed to caring for and being connected to each other as well as the natural world. As parents who strive to provide a TV/media-free environment for our children, we appreciate living among others who respect our approach. We cannot imagine a better situation for our children–they love having friends just outside their front door and they have a strong sense of connection to all of their neighbors. They are also able to experience a freedom and autonomy on our shared land that simply wouldn’t be possible in many other settings.
Who we are
Jenny, born and raised in the Midwest, is forty-one years old. An Oberlin College graduate and an educational therapist by training, she currently works as the implementation and training manager for an educational software publisher. Apart from having a professional life she loves, she enjoys good food, good theater, walks in nature, and time spent with friends and family.
Per, born in Norway thirty-eight years ago and raised in New Hampshire, is a trained special education teacher who teaches at the Lake Champlain Waldorf School. Prior to embarking on his work as a Waldorf teacher, he worked for eleven years in public education. Per has been interested in Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy since he was a teenager. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1998 and earned a Master’s in Education in 2006. He particularly enjoys outdoor education, dancing contact improvisation, and facilitating group process. Per’s love for the outdoors is rooted in his childhood—as a boy, he was able to run outside and explore the many acres of woods in his backyard. He is grateful for the fact that his children are having this experience in childhood as well.
Our daughter is a lively, sensitive, and curious nine-year-old. She is a social person who values and appreciates her friendships. When not playing with friends, she enjoys writing stories, drawing, dancing, and being a mother’s helper for babies and small children. She attends the Lake Champlain Waldorf School.
Our son is an inquisitive and enthusiastic six-year-old. He loves books, drawing, Legos, being with friends, and having adventures in nature. He also attends the Lake Champlain Waldorf School.
We feel blessed to be here. It is gratifying to be a part of a community in which our whole family has been able to put down roots and continue to grow.