As the founder of Tranqvillium, a desert eco-village and Sustainable Living Educational and Research Community I am giving away 2.5 acres of semi developed land in the center of the Mojave in California to the right group of people. I am sure the first thing on your mind is “Nah, there must be a catch” Well, there is.
I have spent the last six years developing the site into a habitable small village, with the help of many visitors and work exchangers.
In the process, we have built several geodesic structures, a water tower, solar electrical system, a small scale model of food production, sustainable heating and cooling methods and more.
The operation is extremely low budget, and as such, a very slow progress.
However, as of this spring, I feel it had reached a level when it’s ready to welcome participants who are interested in becoming members of the community, live on the land and participate in the work of the board of directors of the non-profit that owns the assets of the community. Within the next 12 month I will relinquish all ownership rights (officially) and everything on the land (and the land itself) will become the property of the non-profit organization. Every adult resident of the Community will be a member of the Board of Directors controlling the non-profit. This way no one will have individual ownership of the land (the owner is the non-profit organization) and everybody will have control over it.
Our goal is to assemble a dedicated and hardcore group of at last 13 people through the course of the next year, who care about sustainable off grid living, and educating others about it. The structure of the community is egalitarian, consensus based, and income sharing.
Egalitarian means that all permanent residents of the community are also members of the board of directors and have one vote in all questions brought before the board. Everybody’s work is valued the same rate regardless of the nature of it.
Consensus based means that the agreement of all board members is needed for a decision to pass.
Income sharing means that all income produced by the community is distributed between the members of the community after the general expenses of the community are covered. The egalitarian nature of this income sharing means that the distributed income is shared between the members at an equal rate regardless of what their chosen tasks are.
The Mojave Desert is not an easy place to live. Some days in the summer can be as hot as 120 degrees, and winter nights can drop as low as 16 degrees. We have built and still are building heated and air-conditioned spaces, solar electric systems, automated system controls, above and underground greenhouses and many more features all under the egis of sustainable living, natural building and permaculture.
We have drawn inspiration and direct information from Paul and Wheaton Labs and also Geoff Lawton and his “Greening the Desert” project in Jordan.
If you feel that this is an environment that you may want to live and thrive in, get in touch with us by submitting an application at the link on our website, or commenting/asking questions here.
If you feel you are interested in more details, please feel free to ask here or visit our website at https://tranqvillium.org
There is no entry fee, no purchase, eligibility to become a part of the project solely based on dedication, and commitment to the idea of sustainable living and its popularization. Skills are definitely considered as an advantage, but not a requirement.
Check it out here: https://tranqvillium.org/
