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Humans living in harmony with nature and with each other is really the goal of sustainable, environmentally-friendly design. And it is hardly a hip and modern idea, not unless you think the Stone Age is trendy. Long ago, people banded together in groups to live and work together as one community, rather than as individuals. Now, Castlepoint Numa is bringing this ancient idea into the modern era with an innovative design.
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A rural area of Ontario, Canada is slated to become the home of a brand-new development that is built around a working farm. Rather than being the property of one owner or one family of owners, this is a community where many people will come together to plant and harvest food and other organic crops. They will work to build a community based on regenerative agriculture and sustainability.
Related: Regenerative architecture in Japan is 100% off-grid
Originally, the land was going to be a golf course. Now, it will become Thornbury Acres, a farm-to-table community where everyone is connected to each other and to nature in a mutual relationship promoting health and well-being. Residents here will own their own homes, but will also share the responsibility for the maintenance and production of crops and other needs of the community.
There are 37 available homes and each one will come with its own 800 square-feet plot, so each homeowner can grow their own crops in their own soil, as well as have a hand in the community farming efforts. Around 60% of the land will be used for agriculture and recreation. That includes more than four and a half miles of walking trails.
The design includes spaces for the barn, a pond, a seedling facility, a windmill, pollinator gardens, herbal gardens and an apiary for bee hives. There will also be spaces for orchards, you pick berry farming and crop rotation fields. There will also be market plots, an existing aspen forest that is being left intact and a large barn.
It is a complete community that will have its own sewer system and it’s an intriguing idea that’s hard to ignore. Once, people managed to build civilizations by starting with settlements like this one. Who knows how this new agri-community will help shape the future?
Images via Thornbury Acres