| :::Cultivating Community, Energizing Dreams:::
Through a certain lens, our world today looks complex and overwhelming — with images of greed, violence and conspicuous consumption at center stage. As empowered observers, we choose to practice observing the beauty that abounds, guided by the bright light of another truth. We see ourselves as part of an inspired and action-taking contingent working to restore, rebuild, and re-imagine our collective future.
Willow Springs (owned through a Limited Liability Company, Willow Springs NSJ, LLC) is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California, at the seismic intersection of the environmental movement and the Gold Rush. Our work playfully harmonizes our ecological values and entrepreneurial spirit. Through an alchemy of our passion for innovation and the earth we experiment with positive catalytic change.
In this old mining town of North San Juan, the Wild West character of that bygone era still lingers. While gold may have attracted people to this place long ago, we are now honored to be immersed in its impressive mixture of cultural richness and abundance. And although a noticeable lack of ethnic diversity is present, a colorful spectrum of style and opinion continues.
With this world, bio-region, and town as a context, we have embarked on an unpredictable social experiment designed to nourish the seed within each of us and to unlock our innate potential.
:::The Place:::
On an old 3-1/2 acre homestead at the entrance to the town, we have found a modest place to test our audacious vision. Fronting State Highway 49 (linking together the gold strike towns of 1849), the land follows what is thought to be an old filled in creek bed that now saturates the gently sloping meadows during the winter rainy season. Scattered throughout the grassland are houses, barns, garages, and various outbuildings.
With this fabric of old buildings and fertile land as a starting point, we have methodically and intuitively begun to weave in our vision. At the moment, we are sustaining affordable co-housing, a half-acre organic farm, woodwork and machine shops, artist, music, and yoga studios, office space for sustainable invention and architecture, and community food and event space (just to name a few).
As we restore and regenerate this place, we strive as much as possible to use locally sourced and reused building materials, renewable energy, water pumped and cycled on site, and permaculture gardening practices. We see our desire to heal and strengthen the mind, body, and spirit as necessarily intertwined with these practices and a consciousness of place.
:::The People:::
There is a saying that the essence of farming is first and foremost to grow the soil. At Willow Springs, we aspire to cultivate a place where people feel nourished and inspired to unlock the potential energy of their dreams. We believe that within every person lies a unique combination of passion and innate ability capable of sustaining his or her life energy. In providing an environment full of love and evolving natural beauty, we seek to be catalysts in each other’s growth.
We are collectively pursuing many passions from design to farming to artisanal crafts. We are an evolving group consciously creating a place that diverges from the norm, yet stays connected. We believe in salvaging and tinkering; gardening and sharing meals; seeking inspiration for innovation from nature while cherishing its perfection; quietly meditating and raucously jamming.
We are interested in practicing our principles and learning by doing. We embrace the adventure as we experiment with sustainable living. Along the way, we hope to share some of what we learn. Status: We have recently restructured our ownership and are in the process of forming our new master plan. | Community location is placed at the center of the zip/postal code, city/state, or city/country (not based on street addresses) |
