Nestled away in a leafy London suburb, with residents aged from 58 to 94, New Ground may seem like an unlikely feminist utopia.
At New Ground there are 25 flats with 26 residents. Homes overlook a garden blooming with wildflowers, berries and an orchard. The common meeting room is used for weekly dinners, film nights and yoga classes.
The women manage everything themselves and tasks are divided up among teams of volunteers responsible for maintenance, gardening, communications, cleaning and legal issues.
“The women who started this were adamant that they didn’t want to sit in a day-room singing Daisy Daisy and Pack Up Your Troubles for the rest of their lives,” says Maria Brenton, UK Cohousing Network’s senior ambassador. “We were fiercely opposed to the ageism and paternalism, the infantilisation of older people by social care services.”
I would love to live in a communal place like this for women. We need more of this!
I love this!!! Thanks for sharing.
Making a co-housing space has been a bit a dream of mine. I feel like it's so important.
This gives me Golden Girls vibe. Love it.
This is AWESOME