Just over a year ago, in July 2016, Dorothy moved to Bowen Island becoming Belterra Cohousing’s final, original buyer and fulfilling the dream of Roger McGillivray and Stephanie Legg who started the project more than 10 years before.
Perched on the hillside above Cates Hill Chapel and the Island Pacific School, Belterra Cohousing is home to 52 residents who live in 30 separate suites, in five residential buildings. They own independent, fully-equipped condo-like suites as well as a share of the land and other community assets, including a wood-working shop, Common House with guest bedrooms, commercial-sized kitchen and dining room, as well as a children’s playroom and vegetable gardens.
With sweeping views of the Coastal Range and a peek through the trees at Howe Sound, Belterra residents are pioneers in a type of community living that is gaining popularity throughout North America. The concept of cohousing was developed in the 1960s and 70s in Denmark and has since migrated to the United States and Canada.
Currently, there are more than 200 such housing communities in North America, listed in the Fellowship of Intentional Communities directory. This number does not include dozens of cohousing communities that are in various stages of development, or hundreds of other kinds of communities, such as communes, eco-villages, and religious orders that are also listed in the directory.
Dorothy, who commutes to Vancouver a couple of times a week for work, feels fortunate to have discovered Belterra.
“It’s so beautiful here, and I am lucky to have neighbours who enjoy getting together as much as they value their time alone.” A musician and artist, and retired accountant, Dorothy finds living in an ‘intentional community’ to be sustaining in lots of ways.
“Of course, Bowen Island is a thriving community in itself,” says Dorothy, “but I like the fact that we share meals at least once per week and I can find someone to take a walk with on short notice or, if I am traveling, someone will water my plants and feed my cat.”
Several of Belterra’s residents moved there from outside of British Columbia, but most were living in the lower mainland or on Bowen Island. They brought with them talents, skills, and energy to invest not only in the establishment of Belterra, but to the Bowen Island community as a whole.
One such investment was the decision to use the First Credit Union for most of the mortgages at Belterra. With help from Wendy Wanvig (title?), more than 20 of the 30 home owners negotiated their mortgages with the credit union, thereby contributing to the local economy.
But, the investment didn’t stop there. The credit union pledged to donate $100 to a Bowen charity for every Belterra mortgage, for a grand total of $2,000. $1,000 was donated to the BICS “library to learning commons” project and $1,000 to Helping Hand, a project of the Bowen Island Community Foundation. Acknowledging and memorializing their relationship, First Credit Union also donated a Dogwood tree to Belterra, which is planted adjacent to the Common House for all to enjoy.
