The Farm Community, Summertown, TN
 
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The Farm Community Today - Housing
farm housing

Residents of The Farm today live in a many different styles of housing. Most are single-family homes.

Because all land is held in common, all buildings attached to the land are owned by The Foundation, the corporate entity of The Farm Community.

Individual members do not own a deed to their home, but retain equity based on their personal investment in the construction and maintenance costs.

farm housing

Primary construction for many of the homes took place during the early communal period when each structure would house several families and a number single people.

After the Changeover, individual members or couples assumed ownership of a home and began investing in the buildings as needed.

farm housing

Several of the larger homes have been divided into duplexes.

A number of homes have rooms available for overnight guests.

 

farm housing

There have also been many new homes built after the changeover.

Banks will not offer financing because they cannot repossess the home and sell it on the open market. The community does not provide financing because it does not wish to use the land as collateral with a bank and does not have the financial resources to construct a large number of homes.

This has made the financing of new home construction a significant challenge for the community and for new members.

house raising

Quite often new homes are built by the future owner to keep down labor costs.

Community members regularly participate in house raising's during the initial framing phase of new home construction as another way to help keep housing affordable.

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