​It's been a spring of sunshine and birdsong. And snow and wind. In a word, fickle. We've woken up on more than a few days to a blanket of fresh fallen snow. And we've delighted in many days of warm sunshine, with the kids squealing as they get to play outside in the Village Green, crocuses sprouting up, and adults enjoying their first gardening, tennis, and pickleball of the year.

It's a very special spring this year as we are preparing to break ground on 14 new homes here at Heartwood. As construction draws near, there's been a noticeable surge in excitement. Just this week, we welcomed two new Phase 2 Homebuyers: Lailah and Jenny. Lailah is joining us from Madison, WI, where she serves as a death doula and spiritual-care provider, volunteers in a home for unhoused people receiving hospice care, writes poetry, hikes, and practices Zen buddhism. Jenny comes to us from the Seattle area, craving community and close connection with nature. Heartwood certainly fits the bill, but she'll have to get used to all the sunshine here. She raised triplets at Winslow Cohousing so knows the benefits of community life. Like so many people attracted to cohousing, they are both introverts.

With only four spots left in Phase 2, you will want to jump into action if you've been yearning for a life of close connection with neighbors and with nature. Tomorrow (Saturday, March 15) at 3:00 MT time, we are hosting a virtual tour. This is a great opportunity for you to learn about our community, see our beautiful little slice of paradise, meet community members, and have your questions answered – all without having to actually make a trip to Heartwood. To register for tomorrow's virtual tour, click here.

​Because creating a cohousing community takes such a long time, it means that while we celebrate wonderful new people, we also inevitably end up grieving the departure of some wonderful people. Bruce and Nicole & Jazz have been part of Phase 2 since 2021, but as the years have dragged on obtaining county approval, their lives have shifted and they are now not in a position to relocate to Colorado. We wish them the very best and hope for many visits and possibly a life change that would allow them to become our neighbors one day. 

All of our work these days has a single minded focus of breaking ground this spring. Our architect and engineers are finalizing home designs. Close attention to design details will result in super high quality, high value, energy efficient (ZERH certified), fire-hardened, and beautiful new homes. 

We recently held a hybrid meeting with Phase 1 members in person and Phase 2 members on Zoom to prepare for construction and welcoming 14 new households into our community, bringing our total to 38 households. There was palpable excitement as we are now on the threshold of making this dream we've been working on for so long into a reality.

This week we entered into a pre-construction contract with Sutter Homes, our builder. We have also secured construction financing and are working on construction insurance. We continue to work with the County on ever more permitting. Big, important pieces are falling into place.

As the project intensifies and in preparation for construction, we have hired a great new Assistant Project Manager, Colton. Colton has an engineering, project management, and construction background. He's motivated to learn about state of the art green building and will be a tremendous asset to help us build Phase 2.

Because we have so many people interested in very few remaining spots in Phase 2, the Membership team this week created a new policy to ensure fairness as people scramble to grab those last spots. It's called our 21 Day Grace Period and you can read about it on our Phase 2 Homebuyer Commitment webpage.

​We are continuing to prepare for groundbreaking this spring, which means we are working hard to attract the last four Phase 2 homebuyers. And we are planning a huge celebration – Phase 2 groundbreaking and Heartwood's 25th birthday. The celebration represents our simultaneous nature of being a close-knit established community and also a newly forming community. We'll share info about the big party once we've nailed down the date of our groundbreaking.

There are currently no homes for sale in Phase 1 and only four spots left in Phase 2. Whoever commits next to being a Phase 2 Homebuyer gets their choice from the four remaining lots (see map above).

Up until we break ground this spring, we are offering a $5,000 Early Bird Credit (discount off your home purchase).

If we have any available lots when construction begins, we will have to decide which home model to build on each of those lots. That means that anyone joining Phase 2 after that time will only have the option of taking a specific model on a specific lot. Joining now means more choice.

And maybe the most important reason to join sooner rather than later is because we are only building 14 more homes. Once all 14 spots are taken, the opportunity window will be closed. There will not be a Heartwood Phase 3.

Besides checking out our website, short of coming for a visit, the best way to explore community life at Heartwood is to attend one of our Monthly Virtual Tours. The next one is tomorrow (Saturday, March 15) at 3:00, MT time.

The last time I wrote, we were hoping to be able to announce the hiring of our Phase 2 builder. We were fortunate to have many good local builders to choose from. We ended up selecting Sutter Homes because of their integrity and reputation and their vast experience in green building and building economically at scale. We are very excited to be partnering with Sutter Homes!

Because Sutter Homes works with cutting edge of green building technologies, they are able to build our Phase 2 homes to be certified under the ​Department of Energy's Zero Energy Ready Homes Program. That is tremendously exciting news.

Zero Energy Ready Homes (ZERH) represent a holistic approach to building homes that minimize energy consumption and maximize comfort. ZERH homes are designed to be so efficient that a renewable energy system, like solar panels, could offset all or most of the home's annual energy use, resulting in net-zero energy consumption. The program's emphasis on environmental sustainability make it a natural fit for Heartwood.

Check out our Zero Energy Ready Homes webpage to learn all about it.

All of our work these days has a single minded focus of breaking ground this spring. Now that we have Sutter Homes on board, we are working with them to finalize home designs, seeking to provide the very best quality at the most affordable price. Every option we consider gets filtered based on whether it delivers the most bang for the buck for our homebuyers.

Our goal is to have all 14 Phase 2 homes spoken for before we break ground. In November, we began offering virtual tours on Zoom on the 15th of every month. They have been very popular, attracting many people interested in Heartwood. If you've been thinking about life at Heartwood, you might want to act soon. It won't be long before there won't be any more spots in Phase 2 available. Once Phase 2 is full, opportunities to buy a home at Heartwood will once again be very rare. Our next virtual tour is on Saturday, February 15. Click here for more information and to register.

​We will continue to work to be prepared to break ground this spring. We are working hard to attract the last four Phase 2 homebuyers, secure construction financing, meet various governmental permitting requirements, and complete the thousand details that result in our ready-to-build home, carport, and infrastructure 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 explore life at Heartwood. There are currently no homes for sale in Phase 1 and only four spots left in Phase 2. To learn more, go to our About Phase 2 webpage.

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. With only a few lots remaining, joining sooner means more choices for you when selecting your lot. Up until we break ground this spring, we are offering a $5,000 Early Bird Credit (discount off your home purchase). And maybe the most important reason to join sooner rather than later is because we are only building 14 more homes. Once all 14 spots are taken, the opportunity window closes. There will not be a Heartwood Phase 3. See our Vital Information for Phase 2 Homebuyers webpage for details.

Besides checking out our website, short of coming for a visit, the best way to explore community life at Heartwood is to attend one of our Monthly Virtual Tours.

To fully know if community life at Heartwood is for you means coming for a visit to get to know our people, our culture, and the fabulous land we live on. For more info, visit our Plan a Visit webpage or send an email to Ashley. She can help you reserve one of our common house guest rooms, answer any question you may have, or put you in touch will someone who can.

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. Or if you'd rather talk to a Heartwood member on the phone, feel free to call Julie at 970-759-4209‬. We've posted answers to frequently asked questions on the Phase 2 FAQ page and also the general Heartwood FAQ page.

We have been working hard to get the word out about Heartwood so we can fill the Phase 2 bus in preparation for breaking ground this spring. And it has been paying off. We are very excited to welcome our newest household, Caryl and Pat. They are recreational sailors from the Bay Area and outdoor enthusiasts with a strong connection to Colorado and a yearning for community.

A huge welcome to Caryl and Pat! We are very excited to have them join us and look forward to when they will soon be moving into their new Phase 2 home and becoming our neighbors.

To learn more about Caryl and Pat, scroll down to the bottom of our Meet our Members webpage. You'll also find info about our other Phase 1 and 2 members there.

If you've been thinking about life at Heartwood, you might want to act soon. It won't be long before there won't be any more spots available. We are now offering a new way to learn about Heartwood. We are hosting a virtual tour on Zoom every month on the 15th. So in December, that's this Sunday. Click here for more information.

Obtaining our county approval in June was a huge step towards making our Phase 2 dream a reality. It cleared the way for us to break ground next spring.

This past fall, our architect and Phase 2 Homebuyers met many times on Zoom to refine and finalize model home designs. Now with that step completed, we have shifted our focus to the systems that will make these homes super energy efficient and environmentally friendly. All of the Phase 2 homes will be built consistent with passive solar design principles to take advantage of the 300+ days of sunshine we receive each year. They will also be built consistent with passive house  and Pretty Good House design principles, meaning that they will be all-electric and have super tight and well insulated envelopes and state of the art heating and cooling systems. We've included extensive Phase 2 home design details on our website, which you can access here.

Finding a builder who is as passionate as we are about building high quality, environmentally-friendly homes is of critical importance. To that end, we've been meeting with many local builders and touring their projects to find the right one for us. Hopefully by the time I send our next Phase 2 Update, I'll be able to announce our builder. 

During our November Phase 2 Zoom Gathering, we held a preliminary lot and carport selection with our Phase 2 Homebuyers. Not surprisingly, the lots on the east side backing up to the forest were the most popular choices. (See diagram below.) The good news is that if you'd like to live in Heartwood in one of the Phase 2 homes backing up to the forest, there's still one left.

​All of our focus now is on preparing the way to break ground in the spring. In addition to finding the right builder who possesses a combination of integrity, reliability, green building experience, reputation, and experience building at scale, we are working hard to attract the last four Phase 2 homebuyers, secure construction financing, meet various governmental permitting requirements, and complete the thousand details that result in our ready-to-build home, carport, and infrastructure 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 are currently no homes for sale in Phase 1 and only four spots left in Phase 2. To learn more, go to our About Phase 2 webpage.

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. With only a few lots remaining, joining sooner means more choices for you when selecting your lot. Up until we break ground this coming spring, we are offering a $5,000 Early Bird Credit (discount off your home purchase). And maybe the most important reason to join sooner rather than later is because we are only building 14 more homes. Once all 14 spots are taken, the opportunity window closes. There will not be a Heartwood Phase 3. See our Vital Information for Phase 2 Homebuyers webpage for details.

Besides perusing our website, short of coming for a visit, the best way now to explore community life at Heartwood is to attend one of our Monthly Virtual Tours.

To fully know if community life at Heartwood is for you means coming for a visit to get to know our people, our culture, and our place. For more info, visit our Plan a Visit webpage or send an email to Ashley. She can help you reserve one of our common house guest rooms, answer any question you may have, or put you in touch will someone who can.

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. Or if you'd rather talk to a Heartwood member on the phone, feel free to call Julie at 970-759-4209‬. We've posted answers to frequently asked questions on the Phase 2 FAQ page and also the general Heartwood FAQ page.

Once upon a time Heartwood was overflowing with children. Many of the founding members were parents of young children so shortly after move-in, back in about 2002, we had maybe 25 kids running around. Fast forward 20 years and those kids had grown up and flown the coop. We found ourselves inadvertently starting to look like a senior cohousing community.

We had experienced the benefits of kids growing up in a pedestrian-first village. Kids had the freedom to roam freely with a pack of friends under the watchful eyes of loving neighbors. That freedom and the deep relationships with community kids and adults resulted in young adults who were self-confident, capable, caring, and extremely good communicators and collaborators. We selfishly wanted more young families for the richness they bring to our multigenerational community fabric and unselfishly because we knew how much richer the lives of the families would be in our community setting.

We expended considerable energy to attract families and it has paid off. In the past three years we've welcomed four young families into our little village and the family snowball is gaining momentum. Families, of course, want to move close to other families so their kids will have playmates. That momentum is carrying over to Phase 2. In the past couple months we've welcomed two families into Phase 2.

Natalia and Alex are a Durango couple with two little girls so their move to Phase 2 will be a short one. They love the natural beauty of the Four Corners area and all of the adventures it offers. And they look forward to their girls growing up in a rich multigenerational, supportive community.

Rejoyce and Noah will be joining us from Ohio. Their three kids range in age from teenagers to early 20's. They are drawn by the natural beauty of our land and the opportunity for self-awareness, personal growth, and collective transformation that happens in relation with others.

A huge welcome to both of these new families! We are very excited to have them join us and look forward to when they will soon be moving into their new Phase 2 homes and becoming our neighbors.

To learn more about Natalia, Alex, Rejoyce, Noah, and our other Phase 1 and 2 members, check out our Meet our Members webpage.

Obtaining our county approval in June was a huge step towards making our Phase 2 dream a reality. It cleared the way for us to break ground next spring.

To prepare for home building, we've been working with our architect and Phase 2 Homebuyers to refine and finalize model home designs. The architectural work now shifts its focus to the systems that will make these home super energy efficient and environmentally friendly. All of the Phase 2 homes will be built consistent with passive solar design principles to take advantage of the 300+ days of sunshine we receive each year. They will also be built consistent with passive house design principles, meaning that they will be all-electric and have super tight and well insulated envelopes and state of the art heating and cooling systems. We've included extensive Phase 2 home design details on our Phase 2 Homes webpage.

In order to continue to deepen our relationships with our future Phase 2 neighbors, in October we hosted a fun-filled Autumn Fest weekend. Many of the Phase households along with several households interested in Phase 2 joined us for apple cider pressing, a lovely and soggy work party, games, pumpkin carving, hiking, and amiable meals together.

After welcoming two new families onto the Phase 2 bus, we now have only five spots still available in Phase 2. If you have dreamt of a healthier lifestyle, rich with relationships, in a gorgeous natural setting, this is a great time to check out life in our little community. Once Phase 2 is sold out, opportunities to buy a home at Heartwood will once again be few and far between. The best way to begin your exploration of community life at Heartwood is here on our website.

​Our most important professional partnership in developing Phase 2 will be with our home builder. We have been conducting an exhaustive search of local builders to find just the right one who possesses a combination of integrity, reliability, green building experience, reputation, and experience building at scale. We plan to hire our home builder within the next month.

And of course it takes a lot of money to build 14 homes so we have been working on obtaining a construction loan. Things look good on that front. We've got a verbal commitment for a private loan and should have the details worked out within the next couple of months.

We're about to roll out a new virtual tour that will make it easier than ever for people to learn about Heartwood. Next Friday, November 15, at 3:00 MT time, we'll be hosting our first ever virtual tour of Heartwood on Zoom (5:00 Eastern, 4:00 Central, 3:00 Mountain, 2:00 Pacific). If that may be of interest to you, mark your calendar and watch for an email with full details.

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 are currently no homes for sale in Phase 1 and only five spots left in Phase 2. To learn more, go to our About Phase 2 webpage.

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. Up until we break ground this coming spring, we are offering a $5,000 Early Bird Credit (discount off your home purchase). And maybe the most important reason to join sooner rather than later is because we are only building 14 more homes. Once all 14 spots are taken, the opportunity window closes. There will not be a Heartwood Phase 3. 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, answer any question you may have, or put you in touch will someone who can.

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.

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.