Meet our community

We currently have 10 equity member households.

Al and Linda

Kris and Marc

We live just north of Peterborough on an acreage that is about halfway between Buckhorn and Burleigh Falls, with a view of Lower Buckhorn Lake and some lovely woods and meadows with hiking trails, all of which are named after former pets. We’re already sort of practicing cohousing in a small way, because we share a large duplex with Mathew and Becky, who now live next door where Kris’s mother and father used to live. Kris also grew up with a different form of cohousing - our property was briefly a commune, complete with its own geodesic dome (which has since been torn down, unfortunately). We love to travel, and have spent many of our vacations researching cohousing developments all over the USA and Canada. We love our dog, Bella, Winter and Summer sports, and relaxing with a well-earned glass of wine at the end of the day!

Gayl

I grew up in Toronto but spent my summers as a kid in Nova Scotia. Probably because of having both urban & rural experiences in my formative years I feel very comfortable in both cities and in natural settings. My husband died several years ago so I live alone & have no family living nearby. Two of my three children live in Toronto as well as two grandsons and another daughter lives in Calgary. I have volunteered in a variety of ways from the time I was a child, throughout my life, having learned when young to be aware of and care for others in my communities, especially those less fortunate in any way. While I have been on Boards of various organizations, I prefer to support rather than lead now. My interests in my retirement are varied: travel, particularly adventure travel, reading, environmental issues, eco-justice, photography, walking & hiking, gardening, chronic illness and disability issues and cooking. I enjoy a wide range of documentaries with a special interest in those exploring geological, geographical formations, history, and nature of all kinds.

Aukje

I've been interested in cohousing for many years. Don't remember when I first became aware of it, but it was at least 15 years ago. I actually tried to start a cohousing community in Hamilton, but couldn't find enough people to work on it with me. After moving to Peterborough, I found out that there was a small incubator group here that was exploring cohousing. Eventually KCC was started with more and more people joining. I'm so happy to have found both a wonderful city to live in and my cohousing dream. I lived in and around Hamilton Ontario for most of my life and spent a fair bit of that time teaching at Mohawk College - first in Job Readiness programs and later in the Social Service Worker program. When I retired I decided to move to Peterborough. My one son had been living in Peterborough for some time already and now I have two grandchildren here as well. I have two other grown children - one in Hamilton and one in Toronto.

Pati

I think I’ve been aiming for cohousing ever since moving out of residence at the University of Guelph and realizing I missed the sense of community it offered. I enjoyed sharing a common room where anyone might arrive at anytime, and halls where bumping into people I knew was a normal part of everyday living. First I tried moving friends into my grad-student slum apartment building in Toronto. That worked pretty well, but common space was restricted to the fire escape. Later, in Nicaragua, I was happy to live in a neighbourhood that had a lot of outdoor common space. When I lived in Atlanta I was in a house, and visited friends’ houses. We gathered by appointment, as people seem to do these days, and although I liked the gatherings, I missed living with the likelihood of seeing friends as a normal part of walking from one place to another. I became even more committed to finding some sort of community.

Linda and Arthur

We met in 1975 and spent much of our early adult lives on a large hippie commune called "The Farm." It's a long story! Linda grew up in Montreal, while Arthur is from Louisiana. Arthur's married daughter from a first marriage lives in Arizona. We have 2 children together, both married. After leaving the commune, Linda became an Accredited Life Skills Coach and facilitated Women's Personal Growth groups. Arthur worked as a Social Worker, a Marriage and Family Therapist, and managed a team of counsellors at a non-profit agency. Now retired, we enjoy booting around in our travel trailer, summer camping, and spending time in Florida during the winter. Linda plays tennis, enjoys vegetable gardening, dancing, yoga, and is learning to play ukelele. Arthur also plays tennis and loves playing guitar and singing.

Jean and Ralph

We met in Nepal while working on separate rural development projects. Discovering we lived only blocks from each other in Toronto, we decided that was fate and we began our life together in the late 80s. After Nepal we lived and worked in Pakistan (3 years) and northern Ghana (4 years). In between these assignments we returned to Canada to oversee the building our log house on the Oak Ridges Moraine near Bethany Ontario. Not yet ready to retire after Ghana, we consulted from home base for over a decade – Jean in Latin America and Southern Africa and Ralph in East Africa and South Asia. We are now fully retired and have somewhat become home bodies – with a little help from COVID. For the past 10 years or so our shared “project” has been the renewal of our landscape – restoring woodlands and grasslands and maintaining a network of trails for personal and public enjoyment. We have been deeply engaged in this process with Kawartha Land Trust which is now taking over ownership and management of much of the property. Perhaps this will allow us to revive interests we have long set aside – reading, textiles and wood finishing – and, not least, allow us to participate more fully in building our new and exciting “neighbourhood” - Kawartha Commons.

Myra and Tom

We moved to Peterborough in 2002, where we have been ever since, living a (sort-of) urban homesteading life, centred around gardening, raising chickens, and DIYing everything (more or less). Tom and I met at a dance camp, and social dancing remains a big part of our life. We are dance callers, teachers, and organizers, and we travel all over the States and Canada to dance and teach , as well as being active in the dance organization in Peterborough. We are avid cooks, bakers, and cheesemakers, and have taught all three in workshops in Peterborough. Our dog Tayo is a therapy dog, and Myra is his chaffeur/assistant, visiting nursing homes, schools, and other places where folks are happy to see him. Myra enjoys preserving and fermenting, weaving baskets, making quilts,  and reading. Tom enjoys gardening, woodworking, pottery making, cooking, fishing, and stained glass.

Erika

Liking the idea of aging in place with peers drew me to KCC initially and meeting new and interesting people keeps me here. I’m a mother of two, not yet a grandmother, with interests in travelling (I speak Spanish, French and German), gardening, reading, cooking, soon-to-be cyclist and currently a vaccinator for the Covid team.

Grew up in Montreal, have lived and worked in Tonga, Peru, Germany, Vancouver and San Diego, live in Pbo. Came out of retirement as an RN to help vaccinate for Covid.

Active alumni members

These former Equity members have generously stayed on to help us out with secretarial, social, and other support tasks. We wouldn’t be where we are without them!

I was born in New Brunswick and grew up as an ‘army brat’ living in Germany, England, and Manitoba during my formative years before ‘settling’ in Ontario. I have lived in Toronto for over 20 years now; I love many aspects of the city but I have a hard time believing I'm still here! My career has seen me working in many different sectors including sustainability and mental health - both of which are extremely important to me. I love animals of all sorts - at home it's me and my dog Oscar who takes up as much of my time (and apartment space) as I let him. My free time sees me hiking as often as I can, baking bread for family and friends, and watching football (soccer) at my local pub.

Patrice

I grew up on Balm Beach on Georgian Bay, which was great in the summer, not so great in the winter especially for a teenager. But growing up there - swimming, fishing, camping. skiing, skating and being so close to the water - made me a lover of the outdoors. I came from a big family of 7 kids (good Catholics) with 23 years between the oldest and youngest. In school, the sciences were always my big interest. When my youngest son started school full-time, I went back to school to become a nurse. After graduation, I worked bedside on a surgical orthopaedic floor but quickly realized that working nights was not going to work for me so I started working as an Occupational Health Specialist looking after the employees of first Enbridge and then the former Central CCAC. At the end of 2015 I retired and started travelling thru the southern US states in the winter and also in Canada and the northern states in the warmer months. I’m passionate about travel and would like to combine more of it with my other passion of cycling. I also love to quilt, garden, cook, bake, and read. I have 3 strong, independent kids, 2 grandchildren and a third on the way. My kids are spread out between Vaughan, Calgary, and Peterborough. I learned about co-housing thru a podcast on CBC. It sparked my interest and thru online searches, I found KCC. I like Peterborough with its access to water and cycling trails. I look forward to living in community with people who are like-minded and also for the giving and taking, the social interaction, affection, and sharing that is part of what co-housing is all about.

Becky and Mathew

We used to live in the suburbs of Toronto (with detours to Edmonton and Calgary along the way), where we raised our three lovely daughters. Recently we moved to the Buckhorn area, 40 minutes north of Peterborough, where we share a duplex with Marc and Kris, who are also some of the earliest members of Kawartha Commons Cohousing.It was Kris’s passion for the idea of cohousing, and the close sense of community that it fosters, that got the two of us interested in it. In the year or two since KCC has been up and running, we've made many close friends with the group, and we're active on several different committees. It's only going to get better. We're close to finding a site, and we're looking forward to sharing meals, hobbies, social activities, and other passions with everyone in the group. It won't be long until we start building our dream community.

Marg and Stew

We are blessed with six grandchildren 3 boys and 3 girls ranging in age from 11 to 2 They are the joy and challenge of our daily lives as we find the energy in our senior years to think quickly, and play. Their very focused parents are thankfully employed in these pandemic times. They are committed to the nurturing of their children and are appreciative of any support that we are able to offer. Building community has been a passion of ours for many years as we frequently shared our home of 34 years in Kingston Ontario. We learned of KCC from Shelia three years ago and have been growing and learning with the vision ever since. We value the connectiing tools of Non Violent Communication and frame work of a community practicing sociocracy. It is our dream that co-housing become a way of life for us and many in the future.