Benefits & Considerations: Katywil benefits to homeowners
It’s never been easy to predict the future, but it now seems more difficult than ever. Global warming, political instability in the Middle East and elsewhere, our fragile national and global economy, peak oil, and the likelihood of unfunded or under-funded Social Security and Medicare are just a few of the factors we now face.
Our goal at Katywil is to mitigate as much as possible the effects of these factors for those who live here. The modestly sized, more efficient, passive solar and superinsulated houses, for example, along with possible micro-hydro- and photovoltaic-produced electricity greatly decrease anticipated steep rises in utility costs. The very-low-maintenance house exteriors and the small lawn space at Katywil will reduce buyers’ maintenance costs. Should we evolve as a community and agree to share vehicles, then car insurance, car payments, and fuel costs will shrink.
An existing house at Katywil currently serves as the common house, supplying social space, guest rooms, a library, storage, and a crafts and woodworking space. A second community building is planned.
Planned on-site gardens, berry patches, beehives, and fruit and nut orchards will lower food costs—even more if we decide to, say, add chickens. Community dinners and parties bring friendship and connectedness. The village, designed for community feeling, but privacy, can offer the advantages of a private home and the benefits of living in a sustainable community.
The site’s natural beauty and its rural, but not isolated, location, near the Greenfield, Amherst, Northampton, and Berkshires social, arts, and academic communities can be healing to the soul. Living at Katywil is a lifetime investment. Its houses feature an open, flexible floor plan great for young families or couples, as well as empty-nesters.
We’re also using local or regional materials where possible, minimizing transportation costs, and employing low volatile-organic-compound (VOC) wood, tile, paint, etc. It’s all planned with green in mind.