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Formed: 1967 Established: 1967
This page last updated:2/21/2013
Twin Oaks Community
Louisa, Virginia,
United States
Holiday water play
 Twin Oaks is an income-sharing community of 100 people living on 450 acres of farm and forestland in Virginia. We were founded in 1967, and our lifestyle reflects our values of egalitarianism, ecology, and nonviolence. We welcome scheduled visitors throughout the year. We are economically self-sufficient.
Members work in our community businesses--making hammocks and chairs, indexing books, and making tofu. These businesses provide about one-third of our work; the rest goes into the tasks needed to support a rural village of 100 people--organic gardening, milking cows, equipment and building maintenance, office work, and more. Our work schedules of 44 hours each week are very flexible. In return for member's labor, the community provides all basic needs, including housing, food, clothing, etc. Twin Oaks has an intricate community culture.
Our everyday lives include many recreational activities--social and support groups, performances, music, games, dance, and art. Our culture values tolerance of diversity and sustainable living. We share our vehicles, we build our own buildings, and we share houses of 10-20 people. Some of us work actively for peace and justice, ecology, and feminism. Each summer we host a Women's Gathering and a Communities Conference; see our website for details.
We offer a three-hour tour on many Saturday afternoons; please call during business hours or email to reserve a place. Our three-week visitor program is a prerequisite for membership and must be arranged by letter or email well in advance of the proposed stay. Information about visiting is available on our website or by mail.
 
Contact:
138 Twin Oaks Rd
Louisa, Virginia 23093-6337 United States
Phone: 540-894-5126
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Community location is placed at the center of the zip/postal code, city/state, or city/country (not based on street addresses)
Interview with member Valerie Renwick, part one.
This page last updated:2/21/2013
 
Visitors Accepted
Visitor Process: Read our website visiting section and then correspond with us to arrange a Saturday tour and/or a three-week visit. Arrangements must be made well ahead of any visit.
Network Affiliations:
FEC: Federation of Egalitarian Communities
Statement of Housing Non-discrimination:
No Answer Provided
Population
Members(adults and children):
100
Non-member Residents:
0
Open to new members:
Yes
Government
Decision Making:
Other
(by current planners, with input and veto by membership)
Identified Leader:
No
Leadership Core Group:
Yes
Labor and Money
Financial Style:
100% income sharing
Labor Contribution:
Expected
(Weekly work quota, 44 hours.)
Join Fee:
No
Regular Fees:
No
Land and Buildings
Rural
Area:
450 acres (182.1 hectares)
Land Owned By:
The community
(Formally owned by Twin Oaks Community Inc.)
Number of Residences:
8
(Dormitory style housing, each member has private room. )
Cohousing:
No
Food, etc.
Percentage of Food Grown:
over 50%
Share Community Meals:
Nearly all meals
Dietary Choice or Restrictions:
Diet is up to each individual
Dietary Practice:
Omnivorous
Alcohol Use:
Seldom used
Tobacco Use:
Seldom used
(Only a few acceptable areas for smoking tobacco.)
Social Factors
Common Spiritual Practices:
No
Educational Style(s):
Public schooled
:: Home schooling
 
 
Holiday water play
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Become an Editor Current editor(s): jmccunep, valerie
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Comment from paxus on 3/31/2011 (Reader Rating: 0)
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Dearest Eric:

Twin Oaks has a generous child care program and usually we are able to fill up our available kid slots with children who come from the people who live here. We have two pregnancies right now.

At this point the community has a waiting list not just for kids but for adults as well. And there is currently a visiting family with a couple of kids, who hopefully will live here.

But it is true that we are not open to every age child at every time. And the kids make up an important part of our population.

Paxus at Twin Oaks
31 Qaddafi Falls 2KXI

Comment from ericgrose on 3/30/2011 (Reader Rating: 0)
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We were surprise to learn that children are generally not welcome at Twin Oaks, (though we heard recently they were looking for 7 year olds or something like that). A community that doesn't welcome children is not sustainable.
Comment from paxus on 6/20/2010 (Reader Rating: 0)
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Well there are lots of things to say about Twin Oaks. And i will use this space to point to a few of them. My personal favorite (because i wrote it) is an article written for a now defunct academic journal which can be found at www.waldentwo.org/island.doc

Back in 1999, the Washington Post Magazine did a cover story on us which you can read at tinyurl.com/washpostto

Recently we have been the subject of some video coverage at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HffKdrLz1k

and the recent CNN piece can be found at tinyurl.com/cnnto

There is a huge website at twinoaks.org and we have regular Saturday Tours from 2 to 5, but call first 540-894-5126 ext 0 to reserve a place.

Or consider coming to the communities conference in August communitiesconference.org

Paxus in Nashville
20 Red 10

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