Bay State Cohousing is a group of people living together in a cohousing community. We served as our own developer, designing and building a community of 30 households in Malden, Massachusetts. Our four generations of families, couples, and singles have a wide variety of tastes and interests. The goal of cohousing is to find “the old neighborhood” feeling, where people not only know their neighbors but are part of one another’s lives. It is important to us that our members can age in place and that parents have the support of their neighbors in raising children.

We are not a commune. Bay State Cohousing is a cohousing community. In cohousing, units are privately owned and fully self-sufficient in the same way that condominium units are. As a member and owner, you have your own kitchen, bathroom(s), living room, laundry rooms, and in larger units, bedrooms. When you close the door of your unit, you are assured the privacy of your own space. There is no income sharing. And only the common spaces are shared.

Legally and in terms of ownership, we are organized as a condominium. We differ from a typical condo in design and concept. Our private units are designed around 5,000 square feet of common space. That includes children’s play areas, exercise facilities, art and music spaces, a workshop, decks and gardens, as well as a “great room” suitable for a common meal of 70 people, a kitchen large enough to cook such a meal, and multiple living rooms and multi-purpose spaces. We share and govern these amenities as a community because we believe the joys and efficiencies in such an arrangement are as important as sustainability and living lightly on the land.

We seek a balance between the private and the shared. While engagement with governance and maintenance is necessary, participation in events is by choice. Members pick and choose between events and maintenance tasks. Like most cohousing communities, we share the maintenance of our common facilities and grounds the same way we shared their development. There are weekly common meals cooked by a rotating team of residents who have chosen to participate. Aside from this, our members’ passions and hobbies result in all sorts of movie clubs, game nights, holiday traditions, and outings. Community engagement is expected, but in cohousing there are fairly wide ranges in type and amount of engagement. No one will ostracize you or kick you out because you’re too busy at home or work this week or don’t like gardening.

Bay State Cohousing is a great place to raise kids. Our community has indoor and outdoor children’s play areas, secluded from the street and in clear view from common spaces. Beyond the facilities, cohousing offers particular benefits to children and their parents. In a community of trusted neighbors, children can run freer than is typical in today’s cities. Proximity makes it easier for neighbors to watch one another’s kids, or to take them along to the zoo or museums. Not only does this help busy parents balance everything they need to do, children can grow up knowing many adults as friends. Cohousers report that their children grow up with a better understanding of adult life and are better prepared to take on adult roles when grown up themselves.

We are in a walkable residential neighborhood in Malden, Massachusetts:
4 minutes’ walk to Malden Center MBTA Station:
Orange Line Service to Forest Hills via North Station, Downtown Crossing, and Back Bay
Commuter Rail on Haverhill Line
Bus hub for 20 bus routes
6 minutes’ cycling: Northern Strand Community Trail, a bicycle trail for commuting into Boston or cycling up the coast
5-10 minutes’ walk: Stop & Shop, Walgreens, Dunkin’ Donuts, Bikeeny Cafe, Starbucks and Super 88 Asian Market
5-15 minutes’ walk: Italian, Chinese, Ethiopian, Mexican, Vietnamese, Indian, and American restaurants
5-10 minutes’ walk: Idle Hands Craft Ales, Hugh O’Neill’s Restaurant and Pub, and Faces Brewing Co.
5-10 minutes’ walk: Boda Borg, Wanyoo Gaming Co., 8D Room Escape and Board Games
2-15 minutes’ walk: Beebe School (elementary), Mystic Valley Regional Charter School (K-12), Malden Public Library, running track at Macdonald Stadium.
10 minutes’ walk: Fellsmere Park, with a tree-lined pond and fountains, and Middlesex Fells Reservation, a state park of 2,200 acres with reservoirs and over 100 miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, and horseback riding (Source: Wikipedia)

In individual units, we have open floor plans for flexible uses: even our smallest studio can host a holiday feast. The units themselves range from a 384 square-foot studio to a 1,222 square-foot three bedroom. They include all the amenities of modern, self-sufficient homes. While the design is important to us, it is typical of cohousing to place more focus on sustainability features than commercial housing.

We have prioritized energy efficiency using exterior walls with an R-value of 40. The roof is designed to capture rainwater in barrels for watering gardens. It is also constructed to support solar panels. Highly energy-efficient boilers are used for heating and to bring fresh air into the building using a heat exchanging system that minimizes energy loss.

Yes, we designed with accessibility in mind. Often called “Universal Design,” the focus is on greater accessibility for everyone, because everyone is likely to be disabled at some point or the other. An elevator provides access to all floors. All private units are visitable by a wheelchair.

There is ample underground parking for cars and bicycles. The parking garage is wheelchair accessible by elevator from the interior and a ramp from the street.

Although our residents occupy our 30 units, we are still building a community of people interested in cohousing and in potentially purchasing a unit whenever one becomes available. If you are curious and waiting for the opportune moment, use the “Join Our Mailing List” button at the top of the page or email us at baystatewebsite@gmail.com. We would love to meet you.