Treehouse Village Ecohousing is comprised of 30 households, who have come to Bridgewater from across Canada and around the world to be part of this vibrant multigenerational community. Meet the members of our community!
Burned out by the hectic and ever-changing social environment in a big city, we were looking to find community in smaller-scale environment with more trees than concrete. We looked into intentional communities and narrowed down the list of possible regions to the East Coast of Canada. Lo and behold Nova Scotia had to offer one of a very special kind: Treehouse Village. We love to be surrounded by bilingual and multi-generational people who share the same values but also challenge us to look beyond our own thinking bubbles. We are excited to explore the great outdoors of Canada and embark on many new adventures with our kids and new neighbours.
We are doubling up with our new experiences, by leaping into both intergenerational and collaborative community living! Katy and Michael share appreciation and anticipation of the practicalities and enjoyments we imagine living at Treehouse will bring to us.
We stumbled across Treehouse Village by happy accident in February 2019, just before our son Alfie was born, and we are ecstatic to have found such a warm, generous and supportive community in which to raise him. David is currently forging a career between environmental advocacy and green building, Caitlin recently complete an MA in Cultural Anthropology at Dalhousie, and Alfie is, frankly, adorable.
Although I live in the Annapolis Valley, the South Shore has been calling. I very much look forward to living in an environmentally and socially conscious community where we will share many values, and have abundant opportunities for conversation over meals that I won’t often have to cook! All while living with a smaller footprint: on land with abundant space to roam and be creative on, and in a new home with features that on my own I could not afford, nor imagine.
I’m excited to be part of a community with shared meals and I love watching children play. I also love that I can downsize and still have access to common areas. I was born in Nova Scotia and have studied/worked most of my life in Halifax and Dartmouth. I started a business in photography when everything was shot on film and processed in a magical darkroom. I still work part time and love to shoot when I travel.
We are the “burning souls” of Treehouse Village Ecohousing. It has been our long-time dream to live in cohousing, and we are so excited to realize this in the town we have come to love. Leon is a municipal sustainability planner, Cate is an environmental educator and community developer, and Dylan is a robot designer.
We were looking for a place where our little daughter Nina could grow up in a loving, caring community with other children and adults around, like an extended family. We found our beautiful opportunity in Treehouse Village! Wayne works as a researcher and teacher in green energy and has been exploring co-housing communities for a few years. Nelleke is a linguist and a counselling therapist originally from the Netherlands, and Nina is doing a great job at growing.
Imagine! A home that contributes to living lightly on the Earth. A community who shares their talents, treasures, and time. A location with access to a thriving town and a forest, trails, and the ocean. I’m excited to move to Nova Scotia where I’ll continue to work remotely as a writer and where I’ll contribute to this wonderful, multigenerational Treehouse Village.
From the first meeting, we knew we had found kindred spirits. Our passions include community, health, ecology and beauty and we see all those things coming together at Treehouse. Andrew likes to shape wood, glass and flour (not necessarily together). Susan is inspired by natural beauty and tries to recreate it on canvas, etc.
We are excited to be part of this dynamic community with friends living next door. Matt works in sports analytics and Meg works as a leadership coach and trainer for change-makers. With remote work allowing us to live anywhere, we could not think of a better home than Treehouse Village. We look forward to slack-lining in the woods, adventures around the South Shore, and meals and board games with neighbours.
For us, Treehouse Village is a chance to be part of a neighbourly caring community. We came across the Treehouse Village due to our daughter Caitlin and her family. After exploring the idea ourselves it seemed like an ideal solution, allowing us to downsize while living in an environmentally conscientious village surrounded by wonderful like-minded people. Not forgetting also we are closer to our adorable grandson Alfie. A win win.
My retirement from being a university professor coincided with the sustained increase in Treehouse development work. Now that the Village is built and I am living in it, I am curious to see how my retirement will take shape. Living in our intentional community, built together, in a walkable town and close to the ocean, and very close to my daughter and son-in-law’s farm offers me many options! You will likely find me in the gym, on the water, in the garden, on the farm, writing or painting.
I learned when I lived in student housing that I liked running into people I knew and stopping for a chat – or longer. Living in community offered me the best of both worlds – privacy when I wanted it, and someone usually in the common room when I wanted company. Over the last 30 years or so our culture seems to have turned toward making appointments even for a phone call, and I found myself yearning for community. Being older and more careful, I searched for a community with high commitment to Sociocracy and compassionate communication.
Born in the US, emigrated to Nova Scotia, became a Canadian citizen, and then ended up returning to the US. As I started to get serious about planning my return to Nova Scotia (where both my adult daughters live), cohousing came up on my radar, and not long after that, Treehouse Village came into focus. Living in a tight-knit community, sharing communal meals on a regular basis, energy efficient housing, a great location; it all seemed like a perfect dream.
Adding up the years, we bring over 15 decades of lives lived in villages, towns and cities scattered across Canada, the US and Nepal. We heard about Treehouse, started exploring within a week and six months later moved to Bridgewater to keep our eyes on the construction of our new home, get to know Nova Scotia and delight in the company of nearby Treehouse folks. We think community is the only way to live. To Treehouse we bring an eclectic mix of theology, science, sociology, appreciation of all life’s ages plus enjoyment of cooking, reading, trees and oceans.
I have been a family physician for 33 years with a focus on youth and adult mental health since 2001. I’m now taking some training to become a therapist. I grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, with my Canadian father, Syrian mother and brother.
My family moved to Ottawa in 1976, after the war broke out. I have been living and working in Montreal for the past 20 years. I’m looking forward to moving to Bridgewater as I’m drawn to a smaller city and a community that is environmentally conscious, with many opportunities for sharing.