The original Cohousing Co-operative attempted to purchase the Conningham Camp site but was unsuccessful. During this time the members of the co-operative separated into two groups — those who wished to pursue a rural option and those who wanted to live in town. The urban group unsuccessfully attempted to secure funding from Housing Tasmania to purchase sites in Cascade Cohousing.

Several potential sites were explored, including the old nursery site at Pottery Rd, Lenah Valley; Ridgeway; an old quarry in Lenah Valley; and a site at Salamanca. A site near Ispahan St in Macquarie Street was chosen which had the advantage of being owned by the State Government. The arrangement was to have been that it would be transferred to the co-operative as part of our funding packaging rather than purchased outright. At this stage, the architects did the preliminary plans in order to secure council approval. Unfortunately there was a state election, a change in government, and this ‘gentleman’s agreement’ was dropped. A block in Strickland Ave was investigated, however, it was sold before the co-operative could even start the process of securing the in-principle council approval required by Housing Tasmania to release funds. Another block at 201 Strickland Ave was found and the owner was approached but the land was not on the market, and he was not interested in selling it.

By now it was beginning to seem like the cohousing project was impossible, and the co-operative decided to ‘spot purchase’ separate dwellings. The co-operative decided to buy a house at this time, at 329 Strickland Ave. Then the news came that the owner of the land at 201 Strickland Ave might be interested in selling after all. There was a slump in the real estate market and prices were low. Council gave in-principle approval for the development, Housing Tasmania started negotiated with the owner, and in 1998 the Cohousing Co-operative became the owners of the property at 201 Strickland Ave. At this time the house at 329 Strickland Ave was sold and another one was bought in Ferntree, which as of 2024 the co-op still owns.

Then began the long process of being property developers. First, Housing Tasmania had to tender for architects. James Morrison & Yvette Breytenbach were duly appointed. That was followed by lots of meetings, all together and one on one, with the architects (who had a baby during this time). A major difficulty was deciding where to cut the costs. The co-operative was committed to energy efficient, low-toxicity houses, so weren’t prepared to cut costs on insulation or solid timber. Expenses were reduced by using cheap window frames, ovens and toilets (which could be replaced later), and using ‘sweat equity’ for painting and landscaping (doing it ourselves).

The planning approval was made easier by the fact that Cascade Cohousing had been developed in the same local government area a few years before.

When the plans were finished, and approved by council, Housing Tasmania tendered for builders. The contract was awarded to Maverick Builders. Building took 6 months and in March 2000 the first members started moving in.

Our ‘cohousing’ is the twelve houses and commonhouse at 201-203 Strickland Avenue and the social interactions that the development is designed to facilitate. The dwellings range in size from two to five bedrooms, and the commonhouse contains a dining room, kitchen, lounge / meeting area, common laundry, guest flat and office.

Features of our Cohousing include:
·     common facilities for eating together
·     an office
·     Blue Foods food co-op
·     common areas between the houses
·      common area down the back
·      commonmeals
·      working bees in the common areas
·      front porches facing the common areas

The layout follows a classic cohousing street and courtyard design, with the common carpark at the entry to the property and the commonhouse between the carpark and the dwellings. The overall design allows for ‘happenstance’ or ‘by the way’ meetings between residents, and the effect is of a village-like streetscape without cars and where children can play under kitchen-sink supervision.

The interface between the houses and the common areas is a design feature of cohousing, meaning what happens in front gardens (eg fencing) is different to what happens in back gardens. The front-facing house areas are part private and part public, common-ish. The back yards are private.  

Having the kitchen sinks look out over the common areas is another cohousing design feature applied to most of the individual houses, as is putting the car park on the outside of the site to have a people-friendly car free environment inside, and the way people are channelled through common areas to increase incidental interaction on the way to the houses.