Today we obtained our Preliminary Plat approval at the hearing of the Board of County Commissioners. We now have the green light from the county to build Phase 2!

This has been many, many years in the making, but we are now on the verge of building homes for 14 lucky new Heartwood households. Opportunities to live at Heartwood don't come up too often, but next year we'll welcome 14 new households into the community.

We still have 5 of the 14 Phase 2 spots available, but we expect those to fill up fast. Lots of folks have been waiting to see if we would be able to get our county approval. And now we have, which means that June 19 is the deadline to get an $8000 Early Bird Credit. Anyone who commits to being a Phase 2 Homebuyer by June 19 will receive an $8000 discount on their home purchase. Committing to buying a Phase 2 home is really more about committing to community life at Heartwood and that takes time – getting to know the community and determining whether it is a good fit for you. Check out our Vital Information for Phase 2 Homebuyers webpage for details.

So if you've been yearning for more connection in your life by making your home in a community immersed in nature, now is a great time to make your dreams come true.

On Saturday, June 15 at 9:00am (MT time), we'll hold our monthly Phase 2 Zoom gathering. This month we'll focus on what this huge county approval means for the P2 development timeline. We'll talk about the steps that will get us to breaking ground in the spring of 2025. We will also answer any questions you may have about the development timeline, becoming a Phase 2 Homebuyer, or anything else about Heartwood.

Zoom link:
https://zoom.us/j/97340154655?pwd=SVpIWTl0dWxOTmhxT3NsZDFtaFRxZz09

Or you can click here to join the Zoom gathering.


Later this summer, we'll work with Phase 2 Homebuyers, our architect, mechanical engineer, and structural engineer to refine and finalize home designs. That's another great reason to jump on the bus now. Only committed Phase 2 Homebuyers will be invited to collaborate on final home designs.

If you're longing for a greater sense of peace and belonging in your life and a healthier lifestyle fostered by living in community and close to Nature, we invite you to get involved. There is currently one home for sale and a couple of roommate rental opportunities in Phase 1 and only five spots left in Phase 2. To learn more, go to our About Phase 2 webpage.

We will soon be working with our architect to refine the P2 home designs based on feedback from committed P2 Homebuyers. If you want to be part of those conversations and impact P2 home designs, you need to be a committed P2 Homebuyer. The sooner you become a committed Phase 2 Homebuyer, the greater the rewards you'll earn. The order of when you commit determines your place in the lot selection queue. Until June 19, we are offering an $8,000 Early Bird Credit (discount off your home purchase). And maybe the most important reason of all is because we are only building 14 more homes. Once all 14 spots are taken, the opportunity window closes. See our Vital Information for Phase 2 Homebuyers webpage for details.

Click here to go to our Plan a Visit webpage or click here to send an email to Ashley. She can help you reserve one of our common house guest rooms.

With the limited opportunities to buy or rent a home at Heartwood, staying subscribed to these newsletters is your best way to learn about available homes. When home sale, rental, or housesitting opportunities come up, we will announce them here in our newsletter.

As always, if you have any questions, simply reply to this email. We're happy to answer any and all inquiries. We've posted answers to frequently asked questions on the Phase 2 FAQ page and also the general Heartwood FAQ page.

​You've probably been following our long and challenging journey to obtain county approval to build our 14 Phase 2 homes. At long last, we are thrilled to be scheduled to be considered for Preliminary Plat approval at the June 4 hearing of the Board of County Commissioners.

All indications from county planning staff and the commissioners are that we will get our approval, but we're not counting any chickens just yet, even though we fully expect them to hatch on June 4.

Great news, indeed!

To say this has been a long time in coming is an understatement. We first obtained Conceptual Development Plan approval for Phase 2 on December 15, 1997 – over 26 years ago! Are we persistent and committed to completing the development of Heartwood? You bet we are.

Fast forward to more recent history...

Within the past seven years, we collaborated with CDOT to add a left turn lane to resolve the highway intersection issue, amended the Bayfield District Map, obtained Conceptual Development Plan approval again (our old one had expired), obtained Sketch Plan approval, had the Land Use Code revised, and submitted hundreds of pages in our Preliminary Plat application.

Wow, what a journey! And we feel very close to arriving. Despite its name, once we obtain Preliminary Plat approval, we will have the green light from the county to build Phase 2. Obtaining Preliminary Plat approval means that the county approves the lots, the infrastructure (roads, water, septic), everything included in our application — along with conditions that must be followed. The conditions are mostly about actually installing the infrastructure that was included in the Preliminary Plat approval. Once we have installed the infrastructure, we will get Final Plat approval so we can record the plat (creating the 14 legal lots) and then we can build and sell homes.

So what does all this have to do with you?

We are offering an $8,000 Early Bird Credit to anyone who commits to being a Phase 2 Homebuyer within 15 days after we receive Preliminary Plat approval, which would make June 19 the Early Bird Credit deadline. Committing to buying a Phase 2 home is really more about committing to community life at Heartwood and that takes time – getting to know the community and determining whether it is a good fit for you. Check out our Vital Information for Phase 2 Homebuyers webpage for details.

So if you've been yearning for more connection in your life by making your home in a community immersed in nature, now is a great time to make your dreams come true.

We've seen lots of forward progress in 2024. The Phase 2 home designs were unveiled in February. We've continued moving the ball forward to hopefully obtain Preliminary Plat approval on June 4. We've continued to attract many amazing households, with two new wonderful households getting on the Phase 2 bus within the past couple months (Joan & Archie and Eris & Will). We've now got only 5 more seats available on the bus.

​The Path Ahead

​Assuming we obtain Preliminary Plat approval on June 4, the Early Bird Credit deadline will be June 19. We anticipate filling more seats on the bus by then.

Preliminary Plat approval will also mean the commencement of additional preparation to be ready to break ground in the spring of 2025. We'll work with Phase 2 Homebuyers, our architect, mechanical engineer, and structural engineer to finalize home designs. We'll obtain construction financing. We'll hire a builder.

We'll also continue our monthly Zoom gatherings to help people interested in Phase 2 get to know Heartwood members and learn about life here. Stay tuned for upcoming information about our June Zoom gathering.

​Click here to visit the archive of our Heartwood Phase 2 Update newsletter.

​It's been about six weeks since we unveiled our new Phase 2 home designs. A survey of committed Phase 2 Homebuyers and others who attended the Zoom unveiling tells us that the home designs are right on target. See survey result details below.

As you can see in the chart below, each of the models were popular with different households, depending on their needs. Here are some of the comments about why responsdents liked the model they chose.

Piñon
"The designs are outstanding. I want a smaller, simpler house, and I like the idea of having a basement for storage and for possible future expansion."
"Appreciate the passive solar design and the energy efficiency."

Juniper
"Price and size"
"best for aging in place"
"Smallest and one story. Best for aging in place. Good for one person."

Aspen
"Flexibility, Design"
"More bedrooms upstairs"
"We like having more space and the potential to live on one level. And having more than one bathroom for when family and friends visit would be important. Having a mud room would be nice."

Ponderosa
"Size, flexibility, relative value."
"The possibility of splitting the Ponderosa house with another family would make the whole thing much more affordable."
"I am living in a multi-generational household, and want the possibility of some separation. Ideally we would have two units, but that would not be affordable with your house designs, so the ADU possibility would be the next best thing."

​Although, the initial feedback on the home model designs has been very positive, they have not yet been finalized. This summer Matt, our architect, will collaborate with committed Phase 2 Homebuyers to massage the designs. If you'd like to have your preferences reflected in the new homes, you'll want to become a committed Phase 2 Homebuyer.

​In the survey, we also asked whether the estimated price of the model home chosen would work for their budget. Not surprisingly with the large increase in home prices in the past four years, the responses reflected some apprehension about the prices. See chart below.

Although the estimated home prices are higher than any of us would like to see, research into home prices in our area shows that they are right in line with comparable properties.

I looked at 21 homes for sale on Zillow in our area. Our average for Phase 2 homes is $417/sf. The average on Zillow is $387/sf, so we are about 8% higher. However when one considers that the average age of the homes on Zillow is 20 years old (built in 2004) and the average acreage on Zillow is 3.5 acres, our Phase 2 homes seem to be a better value. They will be brand new, better built in most cases, and employ the latest energy efficiency technologies.

Additionally every Heartwood home comes with a plethora of community amenities including:

• 360 acres of forest and irrigated pastureland
• ​4,000 square foot Common House with commercial-size kitchen, dining room, guest rooms, rec room with ping pong table, exercise room, library, Free Box (our own little thrift store give-away), 1,000- square-foot terrace, and more
• community water wells, landscape irrigation system, and septic system
• 800 square foot yurt
• Village Green with its children’s play structure, fondly known as the S.S. Ponderosa
• 800 square foot organic greenhouse, raised beds, and irrigated gardens
• 50 Mbps high-speed internet available
• 90 horsepower tractor, aka Lucy
• 55.5 horsepower tractor, aka Ganesh
• 25 horsepower UTV, aka Pepe
• henhouse
• barn, hay storage, tack room
• 1,000-square-foot workshop
• hot tub
• 7 miles of trails
• tennis, pickleball, & basketball court
• sledding hill
• bonfire circle
• labyrinth
• prayer circle

We have been hosting a series of informative Phase 2 Zoom Gatherings to help people exploring Heartwood learn what we're all about and our plans for Phase 2, and get to know some of our members. Our next two gatherings will be:

• Sunday, April 21 at 9:00am (MDT): Phase 2 Zoom Gathering especially for families to form connections with other families and explore possible home sharing. (Everyone is welcome, even us older folks. We are a very inclusive, multi-generational community, after all.)
• Saturday, May 4 at 9:00am (MDT): Virtual Open House as part of the CohoUS National Open House Days. Come enjoy a short video tour of Heartwood, meet community members and fellow explorers, and get any questions you may have answered.

The link for all of our Zoom gatherings is:
https://zoom.us/j/97340154655?pwd=SVpIWTl0dWxOTmhxT3NsZDFtaFRxZz09

Or you can click here to join any of our Zoom gatherings.

Recordings of our previous two Phase 2 Zoom Gathering are available at the following links:

• February 24: Unveiling of New Phase 2 Home Designs
• March 9: Becoming a Phase 2 Homebuyer, Development Timeline, and Phase 2 Site Plan

If you have any questions after watching the recordings, simply reply to this email and we'll be happy to answer your questions. You will also find lots of additional information on our About Phase 2 webpage.

If you're longing for a greater sense of peace and belonging in your life and a healthier lifestyle fostered by living in community and close to Nature, we invite you to get involved. There is currently one home for sale and one roommate rental opportunity in Phase 1 and only five spots left in Phase 2. To learn more, go to our About Phase 2 webpage.

We will soon be working with our architect to refine the P2 home designs based on feedback from committed P2 Homebuyers. If you want to be part of those conversations and impact P2 home designs, you need to be a committed P2 Homebuyer. The sooner you become a committed Phase 2 Homebuyer, the greater the rewards you'll earn. The order of when you commit determines your place in the lot selection queue. We are currently offering an $8,000 Early Bird Credit (discount off your home purchase). And maybe the most important reason of all is because we are building only 14 more homes. Once all 14 spots are taken, the opportunity window closes. See our Vital Information for Phase 2 Homebuyers webpage for details.

Click here to go to our Plan a Visit webpage or click here to send an email to Ashley. She can help you reserve one of our common house guest rooms.

With the limited opportunities to buy or rent a home at Heartwood, staying subscribed to these newsletters is your best way to learn about available homes. When home sale, rental, or housesitting opportunities come up, we will announce them here in our newsletter.

As always, if you have any questions, simply reply to this email. We're happy to answer any and all inquiries. We've posted answers to frequently asked questions on the Phase 2 FAQ page and also the general Heartwood FAQ page.

This Saturday we will continue our series of Zoom gatherings to provide you with the latest info on Heartwood Cohousing's Phase 2 development. It will be on Saturday, March 9 at 9:00am MT time (11:00 Eastern, 10:00 Central, 8:00 Pacific). At that Zoom gathering, we will review:

• Early Bird Discount deadline
• path to becoming a Phase 2 Homebuyer
• Phase 2 development and move-in timeline
• Phase 2 site plan
• other topics that may show up in the survey

The Zoom link is:
https://zoom.us/j/97340154655?wd=SVpIWTl0dWxOTmhxT3NsZDFtaFRxZz09
(Meeting ID: 973 4015 4655; Passcode: pL3Cuz)

Feel free to forward this email to any friends or acquaintances who may be looking for a greater sense of peace and belonging in their life and a healthier lifestyle fostered by living in community and close to Nature in gorgeous, sunny southwest Colorado.

We look forward to seeing you there.

This past Saturday (Feb 24), we kicked off a series of Zoom gatherings to provide you with the latest info on Heartwood Cohousing's Phase 2 development. At that Zoom gathering, we unveiled the four Phase 2 model home designs and also newly updated price estimates. Thank you everyone for the great turnout. We had over 50 people on the call. Wow!

As promised, you can now view our spectacular new home designs on our new Phase 2 Homes webpage. A huge thank you to Matt Worswick, our architect, for his design genius and to our Phase 2 Homebuyers for their invaluable design input.

If you weren't able to attend the Feb 24 Zoom Gathering, we're sorry we missed you. You can view a recording by clicking here.

As we continue work on refining home designs and preparing for future Zoom gatherings, we'd love to get your feedback. Please complete this short survey by Sunday, March 10.

Whether you've been thinking about Heartwood for a while or only recently learned about us, now is the time to reserve your spot in Phase 2. Because there are only 7 spots left, Early Bird discounts are available for only a short time, and only people who have reserved their spot in Phase 2 will collaborate on refining the Phase 2 home designs, this is a great time to get off the sidelines and get into the game. Phase 2 is picking up steam. We expect to break ground in the spring of 2025. Learn more on our Vital Information for Phase 2 Homebuyers webpage.

This past Saturday (Feb 24), we kicked off a series of Zoom gatherings to provide you with the latest info on Heartwood Cohousing's Phase 2 development. At that Zoom gathering, we unveiled the four Phase 2 model home designs and also newly updated price estimates. Thank you everyone for the great turnout. We had over 50 people on the call. Wow!

As promised, you can now view our spectacular new home designs on our new Phase 2 Homes webpage. A huge thank you to Matt Worswick, our architect, for his design genius and to our Phase 2 Homebuyers for their invaluable design input.

If you weren't able to attend the Feb 24 Zoom Gathering, we're sorry we missed you. You can view a recording by clicking here.

As we continue work on refining home designs and preparing for future Zoom gatherings, we'd love to get your feedback. Please complete this short survey by Friday, March 8.

Whether you've been thinking about Heartwood for a while or only recently learned about us, now is the time to reserve your spot in Phase 2. There are only 7 spots left. There are Early Bird discounts available for a short time. Only people who have reserved their spot in Phase 2 by becoming committed Phase 2 Homebuyers will be invited to collaborate on the refinements to the Phase 2 home designs. Learn more on our Vital Information for Phase 2 Homebuyers webpage.

This Saturday we will continue our series of Zoom gatherings to provide you with the latest info on Heartwood Cohousing's Phase 2 development. It will be on Saturday, March 9 at 9:00am MT time (11:00 Eastern, 10:00 Central, 8:00 Pacific). At that Zoom gathering, we will review:

• Early Bird Discount deadline
• path to becoming a Phase 2 Homebuyer
• Phase 2 development and move-in timeline
• Phase 2 site plan
• other topics that may show up in the survey

The Zoom link is: https://zoom.us/j/97340154655?pwd=SVpIWTl0dWxOTmhxT3NsZDFtaFRxZz09
(Meeting ID: 973 4015 4655; Passcode: pL3Cuz)

Feel free to forward this email to any friends or acquaintances who may be looking for a greater sense of peace and belonging in their life and a healthier lifestyle fostered by living in community and close to Nature in gorgeous, sunny southwest Colorado.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Heartwood Phase 2 development is heating up. Lots of progress has been made, which you can read about below under Recent Progress. We've steadfastly moved through many setbacks, including an excruciatingly slow county approval process, skyrocketing construction costs, climbing interest rates, but we are now at a place where we are planning to break ground in the spring of 2025. Construction costs and interest rates have settled down and even dropped a little and our project has moved very close to receiving county approval.

We have received lots of interest in Phase 2 so we are kicking off a series of Zoom gatherings to provide everyone with the latest info. The first one will be on Saturday, February 24 at 9:00am MT time (11:00 Eastern, 10:00 Central, 8:00 Pacific). At that Zoom gathering, we will unveil the four Phase 2 model home designs and also newly updated price estimates. Mark your calendar.

The Zoom link is:
https://zoom.us/j/97340154655?pwd=SVpIWTl0dWxOTmhxT3NsZDFtaFRxZz09
(Meeting ID: 973 4015 4655; Passcode: pL3Cuz)

We've been fortunate to persuade Matt Worswick to postpone his retirement so he can design our Phase 2 homes. Matt is an expert in passive solar and cohousing design. He was our architect for Phase 1. We love the beauty, quality, and energy efficiency of the homes he designed for us. We also happen to think that our common house he designed for us is the best we've ever seen. With the help of the existing Phase 2 Homebuyers, Matt has designed four stunning new models for Phase 2, taking into consideration the latest in environmentally friendly construction technology.

After a tremendous amount of work by our engineer, architect, surveyor, and attorney, we submitted our Preliminary Plat application. All signs seem to be pointing in the right direction because our County Planning Department staff person, County Engineer, and Board of County Commissioners all seem to be very supportive of our project. We just have to jump through the myriad of hoops to get our approval. And we're almost there.

We've had some wonderful households move into Heartwood lately, including a few young families. One of those families even welcomed their new daughter into the world just a couple weeks ago! Penelope was born at home here at Heartwood, a healthy and beautiful baby. A few weeks before the birth, the Heartwood women and girls gathered in our yurt for a Blessingway for the expectant mother, Ashley. All reports are that it was a lovely and touching ceremony, the type that we become accustomed to in cohousing, but seems all too rare in mainstream America. If you'd like to get acquainted with Heartwood members, new and old, check out our recently revised Meet our Members webpage.

We have two main points of focus in the months ahead. We will continue to work with the county to obtain our Preliminary Plat approval, hopefully within the next couple of months. We are also ramping up our marketing efforts so we can welcome in our last seven Phase 2 Homebuyers, a crucial step to obtain construction financing and break ground in the spring of 2025.

Obtaining our Preliminary Plat approval is important to you because we are offering an Early Bird discount of $8,000 to anyone who becomes a Phase 2 Homebuyer within 15 days after we receive Preliminary Plat approval. Becoming a Phase 2 Homebuyer takes time because it involves thoroughly getting to know Heartwood and deciding to commit to buying a home here. For the good of the community and for the good of future community members, we want people to really get to know us by visiting and spending time and we want them to carefully consider their commitment – and that takes time.

All this is to say, if you're interested in Heartwood, now is the time to act. We have limited availability in our guest room reservations and we've had lots of interest lately. To learn about coming to spend time at Heartwood, check out our Plan a Visit webpage.

For more information about getting involved in Phase 2 and Early Bird Credits, check out our About Phase 2 webpage and Vital Information for Phase 2 Homebuyers webpage. 

You may have noticed that we previously had 14 Phase 2 Homebuyers, but now we have only seven. The big delays in the county approval process along with the rising costs of construction and interest rates led some folks to drop out, but the biggest factor has been Phase 2 folks buying homes in Phase 1 when they've become available (a bird in the hand). Since we started working on Phase 2 five years ago, we've had 10 Phase 2 households move into Phase 1.

If you're interested in a greater sense of peace and belonging in your life and a healthier lifestyle fostered by living in community and close to Nature, we invite you to get involved. There are currently no homes for sale, but we do have spots available in Phase 2. To learn more, go to our About Phase 2 webpage. We also have a lovely house share or short term rental opportunity. Check it out here.

Spring is a great time to visit Heartwood. Click here to go to our Plan a Visit webpage or click here to send an email to Ashley. She can help you reserve one of our common house guest rooms.

With the very limited opportunities to buy or rent a home at Heartwood, staying subscribed to these newsletters is your best way to learn about available homes. When home sale, rental, or housesitting opportunities come up, we will announce them here in our newsletter.

As always, if you have any questions, simply reply to this email. We're happy to answer any and all inquiries. We've posted answers to frequently asked questions on the Phase 2 FAQ page and also the general FAQ page.

All life depends on water. Living here where the Desert Southwest meets the Rocky Mountains means that we tend to value water even more.

Because we rely on our own water wells to supply all of our potable water needs, making sure that our water wells will be able meet the additional demand that will be placed on them with the addition of the 14 Phase 2 homes is vitally important to us.

As Ben Franklin famously said, "When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water."

We recently hired a hydrogeologic engineering firm to study the capacity of our best water well (#5). The study involved drilling a monitoring well a couple hundred feet from well #5, pumping well #5 at a much higher rate than our normal production for 24 hours, collecting data for the drawdown of the water level in well #5 and the monitoring well, and then analyzing the data.

Our current water usage for our 24 Phase 1 homes averages about 2,000 gallons per day (gpd). With the addition of Phase 2, extrapolating out to 38 homes, we anticipate using about 3,200 gpd. To obtain county approval, we need to prove that our wells can produce about 14,000 gpd. (The reason for the huge discrepancy between the amount of water that we anticipate using and the amount that we're required to prove is that the government numbers are based on mainstream usage rates while we, living in the arid Southwest, tend to be very frugal in our water usage.) The actual production of well #5 during the 24 hour pump test exceeded 17,000 gallons, over five times the amount of water we anticipate using and easily topping the amount we are required to prove.

To save money on testing, we didn’t test all of our water wells, only our best one. Adding those other wells only gives us even more water production.

This is absolutely great news. While there is no guarantee that our wells will continue to produce at current rates forever, these test results give us considerable water security assurance.

As additional water security, we have a water safety net in the form of a newly developed water pipeline running not far from our land that we could one day hook up to in the event that our wells run dry. Thus far, we haven't chosen that option because our wells are strong and it is far more economical to produce our own water than to hook up to the pipeline and buy water.

​Besides the hydrogeologic study, we have been busy on other work to prepare our Preliminary Plat application. Some of the other notable recent accomplishments include finalizing our Phase 2 site plan (includes lots, pathways, parking, greenhouse, etc.), working out emergency access details of our Phase 2 pathways and a secondary road with the fire department, and completing soils testing and receiving our geotech report.

If you've been following our progress, you know that county approval and marketing have been our big focus areas. While our march towards county approval has been frustratingly slow, attracting 14 new community homebuyers has gone much better. We currently have 13 of our 14 spots in Phase 2 spoken for.

A huge part of Phase 2 is to gracefully integrate our 14 new households with our existing 24 households to become a unified community of 38 households. To that end, we recently held our first ever, in-person community gathering of Phase 1 and Phase 2 – Heartwood SummerFest. I won't say too much about SummerFest here because Nisargo will be writing a Heartwood Happenings newsletter all about the weekend, but suffice it to say that it was a time of wonderful connection and fun. I came away feeling very excited about each and every one of the new Phase 2 households that will be joining the Heartwood community.

​Our primary work continues to be the work needed to submit our Preliminary Plat application. The application, which we hope to submit in the first week of August, will include details of our site plan and infrastructure (roads, water, sewer, parking, drainage, etc.). Our plan is to complete all of our design work and obtain all of our approvals this year so we're ready to break ground in spring of 2023.

With a spot open in Phase 2, we will continue to put energy into marketing, but with the extremely strong interest in Heartwood, it seems likely that that spot will be taken soon.

If you're interested in a greater sense of peace and belonging in your life and a healthier lifestyle fostered by living in community and close to Nature, we invite you to get involved. There are currently no homes for sale or rent in Phase 1, but we do have one spot available in Phase 2. To learn more, go to our About Phase 2 webpage.

Summer and fall are great times to visit Heartwood. Click here to go to our Plan a Visit webpage or click here to send an email to Sandy. She can help you reserve one of our common house guest rooms.

With the very limited opportunities to buy or rent a home at Heartwood, staying subscribed to these newsletters is your best way to learn about available homes. When home sale, rental, or housesitting opportunities come up, we will announce them here in our newsletter.

As always, if you have any questions, simply reply to this email. We're happy to answer any and all inquiries. We've posted answers to frequently asked questions on the Phase 2 FAQ page and also the general FAQ page.

“If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.”
— Loren Eiseley

“A man of wisdom delights in water.”
– Confucius

“Water is the driving force of all nature.”
– Leonardo da Vinci

One that reminded me of our county approval process...
“A river cuts through rock not because of its power, but because of its persistence.”
– Jim Watkins

And one I found especially apropos of community...
“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”
 ― Ryunosuke Satoro

Sadly, but not entirely surprisingly, one of our committed Phase 2 households has decided not to move to Heartwood after all. Their daughter's family (including the most adorable granddaughter you'd ever care to meet) recently moved in next door to them and they now cannot bear the idea of moving away.

When I say “not entirely surprisingly”, it has nothing to do with them. It speaks to the general reality of creating a cohousing community, which is that many wonderful people get involved, but inevitably life happens and some of them will choose a different path. It’s one of the bittersweet aspects of creating a community.

So while we are saddened by the loss of those wonderful people, it creates an opportunity to bring other wonderful people to Heartwood. If you have been disappointed because Phase 2 filled up last fall, this could be your opportunity.

Additionally, with recent trends showing that the spread of the coronavirus is declining, we have decided to reopen our common house guest rooms to visitors starting in April.

If you're interested in a greater sense of peace and belonging in your life and a healthier lifestyle fostered by living in community and close to Nature, we invite you to get involved. You might want to check out these webpages:

• Heartwood Cohousing Homepage
• ​About Phase 2
• Plan a Visit

Our primary work in the coming months will be to submit our Preliminary Plat application. The application will include details of our site plan and infrastructure (roads, water, sewer, parking, drainage, etc.) – lots of decisions to be made and work to be done. Our plan is to complete all of our design work and obtain all of our approvals this year so we're ready to break ground in early 2023.

​Now that we have a spot open in Phase 2, we will put more energy into marketing, but with the extremely strong interest in Heartwood, it seems likely that that spot will be taken soon.

With our guest rooms soon to reopen and spring arriving, this is a great time to visit Heartwood. We are also resuming our 4th Friday Happy Hours on April 22. So if you happen to be in the area, come by and say hello.

If you're interested in a greater sense of peace and belonging in your life and a healthier lifestyle fostered by living in community and close to Nature, we invite you to get involved. There are currently no homes for sale or rent in Phase 1, but we do have one spot available in Phase 2. To learn more, go to our About Phase 2 webpage.

Click here to go to our Plan a Visit webpage or click here to send an email to Sandy. She can help you reserve one of our common house guest rooms.

With the very limited opportunities to buy or rent a home at Heartwood, staying subscribed to these newsletters is your best way to learn about available homes. When home sale, rental, or housesitting opportunities come up, we will announce them here in our newsletter.

As always, if you have any questions, simply reply to this email. We're happy to answer any and all inquiries. We've posted answers to frequently asked questions on the Phase 2 FAQ page and also the general FAQ page.

The really big news is that this past Thursday the La Plata County Planning Commission granted us Sketch Plan Approval for Phase 2. Our biggest approval hurdle is still ahead, but this was a very significant milestone, one that we've been working on for a couple years now.

Something else that's new and might be of interest to you...
We've now added photos and brief introductions to our 14 Phase 2 committed homebuyers on our Meet our Members webpage. When an amazing group of future neighbors! Check it out.

​That really big approval hurdle I mentioned above is our Preliminary Plat approval. Our primary work in the coming months will be to submit our Preliminary Plat application. The application will include details of our site plan and infrastructure (roads, water, sewer, parking, drainage, etc.) – lots of decisions to be made and work to be done. Our plan is to complete all of our design work and obtain all of our approvals this year so we're ready to break ground in early 2023.

If you're interested in a greater sense of peace and belonging in your life and a healthier lifestyle fostered by living in community and close to Nature, we invite you to get involved. There are currently no homes for sale or rent in Phase 1 and no spots left in Phase 2, but the Phase 2 Waiting List is now open. To learn more, go to our About Phase 2 webpage.

Click here to go to our Plan a Visit webpage or click here to send an email to Sandy. She can help you reserve one of our common house guest rooms.

With the very limited opportunities to buy or rent a home at Heartwood, staying subscribed to these newsletters is your best way to learn about available homes. When home sale, rental, or housesitting opportunities come up, we will announce them here in our newsletter.

As always, if you have any questions, simply reply to this email. We're happy to answer any and all inquiries. We've posted answers to frequently asked questions on the Phase 2 FAQ page and also the general FAQ page.

Absolutely huge news – we now have committed homebuyers for all 14 Phase 2 homes. That has huge positive impacts on the development of Phase 2. When we design our homes, we will be designing them for 14 specific households and not guessing what future residents may want. Banks are likely to give us much more favorable terms on our construction loan because we are 100% pre-sold. The integration of Phase 1 and Phase 2 will continue with all of the members now onboard.

We're very excited about our 14th P2 household, Felice and Chris Pierce – yet another amazing P2 household. Welcome Felice and Chris! Their daughter Margaret's family is also very interested in possibly living at Heartwood. More and more young families have been moving into Heartwood, which is a very positive trend because of the strong value we place on being a multigenerational community.

With all 14 Phase 2 spots now taken, we have opened our Phase 2 Waiting List. We've got a ton of work to do before we actually build Phase 2 homes so there's a fair chance that a committed Phase 2 homebuyer's plans may change and a Phase 2 spot will open up. Check out our About Phase 2 webpage to learn about getting on the Phase 2 Waiting List.

We are currently working on a new plan for our emergency access. The three neighbors to our west have agreed to grant us emergency access easements, which is excellent news. Our next big county approval step is obtaining Sketch Plan approval. Unfortunately the County Planning Department has lost a number of key employees so they are short-staffed, which means that our project is moving very slowly. We're hoping that we can receive Sketch Plan approval in December, but there's a fair chance that it won't happen until January.

With all of the 14 P2 Homebuyers now onboard, in anticipation of their working on home designs (after Preliminary Plat approval) and living in community, we have begun Communications and Consensus Training during our monthly P2 Zoom Gatherings. Our mainstream culture doesn't do a great job of preparing us for cooperative communications and decision making so we've found over the years that it's incredibly valuable to provide that training. Not only is it a fun way of getting to know each other, it also provides skills that spill over into all parts of life, not just here in the neighborhood. Cohousing truly has ripple effects.

If you're interested in a greater sense of peace and belonging in your life and a healthier lifestyle fostered by living in community and close to Nature, we invite you to get involved. There are currently no homes for sale or rent in Phase 1 and no spots left in Phase 2, but the Phase 2 Waiting List is now open. To learn more, go to our About Phase 2 webpage.

Click here to go to our Plan a Visit webpage or click here to send an email to Sandy. She can help you reserve one of our common house guest rooms.

With the very limited opportunities to buy or rent a home at Heartwood, staying subscribed to these newsletters is your best way to learn about available homes. When home sale, rental, or housesitting opportunities come up, this will be the place where they are announced.

As always, if you have any questions, simply reply to this email. We're happy to answer any and all inquiries. We've posted answers to frequently asked questions on the Phase 2 FAQ page and also the general FAQ page.