About House on Holgate

The “House” isn’t just a building.

Of course that’s part of it, but it’s bigger than that.  Unlike most living situations, House on Holgate encompasses three major areas of conscious design: the property, the people, and practices.

The People: the individuals and unique households who live on the property: past, present, and future. The Property: the physical building and grounds. The Practices: the combination of rules, traditions,  and agreements which establish norms for life in the house.

• A mixed group from different places in the country, backgrounds, and interests.

• A majority household of long term residents (1+ year) with space available for one or two short-term (6-12mth) young adults.

• Limited occupancy: Have fewer occupants than the maximum, in order to allow for some breathing room and retain a high quality of life

Unschooling Roots

• Many, if not most, Housemates are connected to the Unschooling Movement. Unschoolers, Homeschoolers, and Lifelong learners are particularly encouraged to consider moving in.

• Owned and operated by Evan Hunter Wright, grown unschooler and Senior Staff member of Not Back to School Camp.

• Close knit community with shared experience & values in common

Intended Housemates

• Those who don’t mind sharing space to make a high quality of life more affordable.

• See the house as merely where they live, which is to say they have – or intend to create – rich, motivated lives outside of the house.

• Are considerate of others and willing to make accommodations in order to live in a shared space.

A beautifully renovated 5 bedroom house with a yard and garden.

Entirely remodeled kitchen designed for shared living. Minutes from downtown Seattle and urban culture but nestled in one of the cities oldest residential neighborhoods with wild forested parks, community gardens, and a spectacular swimming lake within walking distance.

• Sits on the crest of a hill with nearby views of downtown Seattle, Lake Washington, Mount Rainier, and the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges.

• 2 blocks behind the house: one of the city’s top community gardens & urban garden education centers

• Directly in front of the house: a major city park with  forested walking trails, community gardens, & summer lake swimming

• Major bus routes within 1 block. Light rail station within walking distance (2o min ride to the airport, 15 mins to the center of Downtown)

• Restaurants within 1 mile include: chinese ethiopian vietnemese thai italian french mexican indian caribean

When living with others we can get into patterns that aren’t always conscious, intentional or even defined.

This particularly, is true of a group house. Without clear expectations up front, a shared living situation can become needlessly frustrating and tiresome. That’s why the house “Practices” are as important to House on Holgate as the people and property. Rather than throwing a handful of folks into a building and crossing our fingers that it all works out, we believe there is a better way.

The HouseGuide

The HouseGuide is a collection of information and instructions for living in the house. It is available to anyone living in the house and touches on everything from explaining how to do a specific chore to best practices for interpersonal communication. The contents of the HouseGuide reflect years of research into the best shared-living traditions. This research includes site visits to intentional communities and interviews with members of both dysfunctional and happy group houses, as well as books and articles. It’s all written down in black and white so that our house practices are:

Clearly Defined

To avoid confusion, murkiness, & misunderstanding. This also reduces conflict, makes moving into the household relatively painless, and increases the free time residents have for things other than the house.

Transparent

Because the house practices are defined they can be – and are – made available for anyone in the house to look at at any time. This also means potential housemates can obtain a clearer idea of what they are getting into and make a more informed decision about moving into this house than would be possible in other living situations.

Smart

The practices intend to facilitate a healthy, happy and sustainable homelife. They draw heavily on wisdom acquired from other shared-living situations and address the most common challenges before they happen.