A core group of people first gathered on October 30, 1987 and met regularly thereafter every Friday night for seven years to exchange personal stories and dreams. They had all read Scott Peck’s book, “A Different Drum,” which suggests that the way to world peace is through individuals coming together to share their lives, to work out their differences, and to find resolution to life’s problems through community building. The group grew, attracted interest, and soon many were meeting each Friday night to identify how they might build a meaningful, enduring community.

Two years of meetings focused specifically on issues of a Vision Statement reflecting community values and on creating a form of governance by consensus. In 1992, some member of the group decided to take a bold next step: to buy land, to build homes, to learn how to take care of the land in a sustainable, environmentally sensitive way.

After searching for many months, we found a 64-acre farm seven miles northwest of Pittsboro, North Carolina (about 30 miles west of Raleigh and 12 miles south of Chapel Hill). The land had a history; it had been owned and farmed by the Lutterloh family for many years. Later, it was sold to the Cooke family of Graham who built the two ponds and operated a horse and hay farm. Today, there are two ponds, a spring, five fields, Dry Creek forming our southeastern border, about 40 acres of hardwood and pine forest, and a marked hiking trail. The dream of Blue Heron Farm has become a reality.

The pioneer residents purchased houses that could be recycled. Some were in the path of new highway construction and needed to be moved or they would be demolished. Others were in need of major restoration, although they were of sound structure. Five of the existing 9 homes were moved onto the land and restored to be more environmentally sound with passive solar retrofit, on-demand hot water heaters, etc.

With community consensus, one courageous member undertook renovation of the abandoned 1860’s farmhouse, and eventually, along with the work of other members, turned it into the warm and wonderful home it is today.

The members continued to meet regularly to develop by-laws and form the corporation to which all members equally belong, to make consensus-based agreements to plan roads and install electric lines, dig wells, construct septic fields, establish sites for 15 households, and develop the infrastructure of a small village. They put in thousands of hours of volunteer physical labor, as well, on these projects during Community Workdays.

More detailed information about the Blue Heron Farm Vision and By-Laws can be found on this Web site

Intentional Community: How Blue Heron Farm Works

Over the years the community has developed several
procedures by which it gets its business done and
maintains supportive, respectful relationships among its members. These include business meetings, potlucks, retreats and workdays. The desire of the community members to participate in these functions is partly what makes BHF the community that it is, however attendance is not at all mandatory for any community events.

Potlucks and Social Functions

Members gather together on selected days during the week in a member’s home. Members take turns volunteering to host a potluck. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. In this setting, we share food and catch up. It’s very informal. There is no set routine for where potlucks are held or how long they last. Often, guests from beyond the Farm attend potlucks for social connection and to learn more about intentional community.
Members organize activities such as educational workshops, arts and music events, and social gatherings like talent shows, fire circles and soirees periodically.

Business Meetings

Members meet every two weeks before or after a potluck. The meetings are organized with a facilitator, a process observer, timekeeper, and a notetaker. The meeting begins with people asking for a specific item to be put on the agenda. After the agenda is completed, the facilitator calls for the first item to be discussed. This procedure goes on until all items are discussed or until the allotted time ends. Agenda items that are not discussed because of time constraints are carried over to the next business meeting. It may be necessary to call for a consensus vote for some items under discussion. Any member not present may object to this consensus within two weeks.

Soft Consensus Decision Making and Respectful Communication

Blue Heron Farm community members adhere to the principles of soft consensus decision-making. This means that all members must be in accord before action is taken. The process of decision-making is as important as the decision itself. Refer to the bylaws for the specifics of the process. Consensus decision making gives great power to the wishes of every individual. The idea of “us against them” does not work. It’s just “us.” Every individual has the power to stop any decision until s/he is satisfied with it. This process requires that each member listen to another’s views, ideas and opinions and consider and reflect upon what is said. Shared understanding is the goal so that all feel ownership before an idea is acted upon. The attempt is made to understand the other’s point of view rather than trying to convince the other of the rightness of one’s own point of view. Decisions are not made by voting, as this creates “winners and losers.” Sometimes, this process can take several hours or weeks or months and longer. We have found that the decisions made by group consensus are invariably better than any one individual could have made, as all decisions involve the combined expertise and knowledge of the entire group. Patience, understanding, truthfulness and honesty are essential for participating in an intentional community. During meetings and retreats, a talking stick is passed so that the speaker’s voice is honored and respected without interruption.

Work Days

On alternate Saturday mornings, community members are called to work together to maintain the infrastructure and make improvements around the Farm. This voluntary activity encourages shared responsibility for each other and the community at-large. Often, workdays focus on helping a community member start or complete a building project or make repairs. Workdays can include house building and repair, site clean up, trail clearing, garden work, road improvement, or planting an apple orchard. Workdays are requested by members through the Farm Manager and then added to the activity schedule of the Farm. Workdays are usually followed by a potluck lunch.

Retreats

A Farm Retreat is a time during which members have an opportunity for reflection and to express themselves more fully. This is intended to occur once a month. A retreat begins with a silence starting at 9 a.m. and follows with a “check-in” beginning at 9:30 a.m. This is a time when members may talk about significant events or feelings that may be having an impact on their lives. It is an opportunity to listen, understand and remain open to people’s common threads and differences and hears their concerns. The retreats typically last four hours and are usually followed by a potluck. Retreats are a significant part of community life, as they are intended to create an environment of trust and caring.

How to Become a Member: The Process

For those interested in joining Blue Heron Farm, we invite you to participate with us by visiting frequently. We are a diverse, child-friendly community. Prospective members are encouraged to attend potlucks, workdays, and business meetings as our guest. (Retreats, because of their personal nature, are usually not open to new visitors.) If, after a number of visits, a prospective member feels there is compatibility and desires to pursue membership further, s/he declares this interest to the community. The community then meets together (without the prospect) to discuss this compatibility and determine if the prospective member(s) would be a good match. If at least one community member feels a strong affinity or connection with the prospective member, then they are encouraged to continue to develop the relationship -building process.

This next stage of the process includes attending business meetings, participating in workdays, joining in potlucks and retreat days. The more time prospective members spend with the community, the more assurance we have that there is a good fit and our expectations for each other are understood and realistic. Finally, after a period of time, usually about three to six months, when the newcomers are ready, they attend a business meeting and ask to become full residential members. At this time they present a written financial statement, including assets and liabilities, detailing their ability to meet their portion of the financial commitments of the community. The community has two weeks to accept or reject this new member request. After two weeks, the newcomers return to a business meeting at which time they are welcomed into the community. If they are not accepted, this is explained at this time. It is quite unlikely, however, that the request for membership would be declined once the process had progressed to this stage.

While considering membership, we recommend, but do not require, that prospective members establish residence on the Farm or in the nearby community so that they can become active in Farm life early in the membership process. We recognize that this requires a certain level of commitment and risk on the part of prospective members, but have found that the best test of how we will live and work together is actually living and working together.

The decision to become a new member of an intentional community is more like getting married/ joining a team / buying into a company/ sharing your life/ committing to a common goal and process than it is like buying a house in a neighborhood. It is an important decision, which should be entered into with full knowledge by both the community and the prospective member.

Sometimes, a rental situation is available at the Farm and arrangements can be made directly with a community member. Once a prospective member is accepted as a residential member of Blue Heron Farm, payment for buy-in is to be presented immediately. These funds will be used to begin infrastructure improvement at the home site selected by the new member.

After the member picks out a site and marks
where the house will go, the community reviews the site location and plans, makes suggestions about which trees to fell, or how the site should be cleared for the dwelling based on their own experiences with the process. Community members are asked to look over a new house site proposal and respond within a two-week period of time after it is presented.

Community Monies

Community members are obligated to pay a portion of on-going operating expenses on the Farm, which at this time amounts to about $87.00 per membership/house site per month.

This fee covers the annual cost of insurance, taxes, road upkeep, field maintenance, equipment maintenance, and all the other community expenses.

(For definition purposes, a “Member” is a household unit and could be an individual, a couple, family or group of families.)

In addition, members are responsible for paying their share of the capital costs of the Farm, including the cost of land and infrastructure to establish a home and residence. These monies are referred to as "buy-in" payments. Basically stated, we equally split the cost of our bank mortgage among the members. They represent part of the share value of your membership. The house a member builds represents the other part of the value of a share.

Currently, members pay $212.50 per month towards this capital fund. Total monthly fees (buy in plus operating costs) amount to $286.00 at this time and are automatically debited each month from a member’s checking account and deposited into the Blue Heron Farm fund. From this fund, the mortgage payment and other expenses are paid. From time to time, additional modest fees may be assessed to meet budget expenses approved by the community.

The financial and legal structures of BHF were designed around the idea of living our lives cooperatively as a community. As a result the financial and legal structure is rather complex and unorthodox. As such, it takes time to understand the structure and the intent behind the structure.

We welcome and encourage your questions. The community is an intelligent group of people with varied backgrounds, skills and approaches. You’ll find us to be a terrific resource and sounding board on all topics.

When a new member is accepted, a down payment is negotiated that is between $5,000 and $20,000, depending upon personal resources and the financial statement. This amount represents the estimated cost of putting in a septic system for a home site and community infrastructure investment. This applies toward the total cost of membership buy-in, which today equals about $57,000.

Ultimately, each member will end up paying
the same amount towards this fund, but because members have arrived at different times and some have paid more into the common property because they became members earlier, each membership has accrued different amounts of “share” credit or equity. If the community cooperatively decides we can afford to build a community building or any other infrastructure, there would be additional costs to fund these projects. Therefore, future share value may change. The share value also depends on fully attaining the goal of 15 community memberships. We currently have 10 paying members. We anticipate that the maximum cost of a membership to be about $40,000 based upon 15 memberships. With 10 members, today the total cost of membership is calculated at about $57,000 per member.

Honcho Work

Any member, resident or friend can be a
”Honcho”. This leadership role takes responsibility for any one of the many tasks that need doing around the Farm. These tasks include field mowing, bookkeeping and tax preparation, maintenance of roads, equipment, the septic system, the web site, workday coordination, e-mail communication and response to inquiries.

Legal Structure of Blue Heron Farm

The members of Blue Heron Farm are equal shareholders in a limited liability partnership called Blue Heron Partners, Inc., LLP. The shareholders in BHP own the land and all the buildings on it cooperatively. Rather than individuals owning their own piece of land and home, members own
equity in the corporation equal to the replacement
value of their home plus all of the money they have
paid towards their buy-in. Members have lifetime rights to live in their home and these rights can be deeded to heirs. They can be asked to leave their home and the Farm if their behavior is deemed to warrant removal by community consensus, as stated in the by-laws.

Withdrawing Membership: Leaving the Community

If a member wishes to withdraw, they need first to establish the value of their share. Their share equals the amount accrued as buy-in credit (cash paid towards capital investments but not operating expenses), plus the value of their house.

Appraised value is NOT real estate market driven. History has shown that intentional communities become great places to live. Other communities allowing sale of homes at market value eventually required affluence as a prerequisite for membership. BHF is intent on being a community for those interested in a community lifestyle, regardless of income.

The value of a house cannot exceed the appraised construction replacement value of the house and is negotiated within that caveat.

There is a cap on the value of the land in order to keep housing affordable. This cap is based upon the original purchase price of the land. A home appraisal is based on the construction cost of a similar dwelling in the current home building market. This allows people who had to leave, for example, to care for an aging parent elsewhere, to recoup the value of their house so they could buy elsewhere. A member, however, cannot profit from the local escalation in real estate development and gentrification effect as surrounding property values in Chatham County rise.

Blue Heron Partners, Inc. has first right of refusal on the purchase of the home of any member. If the community does not wish to purchase the house and membership, it can be offered for sale to other individual residential members and others outside the community. A potential buyer must be accepted into the community as a member and go through the membership process before transfer of membership can be made.

When a member leaves the community s/he can be compensated with “share value” money put in and sweat equity. It is not possible to “speculate” or use the community as a method of making large financial gains. Blue Heron Farm has been carefully designed to encourage membership by people who are interested in living together as an intentional community.

To schedule a visit or attend a potluck, please contact Barbara Lorie at 542-2151 or Stephen Hawthorne at 489-3907, or any member of the community.