Features

Brindledorf brings rental co-housing to Silver Spring

STORY AND PHOTOS BY WHITNEY BEERS

The Brindledorfers are seated around a green patio table, 12 of them crammed into space for four. There are plenty of other places to sit in the park-like six-acre yard–these folks just like each other.

When Sue and Nancy Eynon-Lark bought Brindledorf, their Silver Spring mansion and its outbuildings, they wondered if their vision for it would work. Would the roofs leak? Would anyone want to live there? Would they go broke? Had they gone mad?

Though they didn’t intend it, the two women found themselves part of a trend taking root in communities everywhere: co-housing.

The idea was to provide housing for teachers in an area where affordable rental space is difficult to find. The Eynon-Larks imagined a community where residents would exchange ideas and have amenities available to them that otherwise might be prohibitively expensive.

Originating in Denmark, the movement toward community living is sweeping the U.S., with over 100 "intentional communities" active in the country. Maryland has at least four groups that are either active or forming, Brindledorf among them.

Co-housing communities are characterized by private spaces with access to common areas, such as kitchen and dining areas, recreational facilities, and shared grounds. Involvement in the community is key; decisions are made by consensus rather than by a hierarchical structure.

In many such groups, an agreement to participate and abide by certain rules and processes is drawn up and signed by residents. Brindledorf does not fall into that category.

"We grow in bits and pieces, [talking] in the parking lot or over a glass of wine on the patio. Decisions evolve informally, during our regular interaction with each other," says resident Julie Stephens.

People drawn to communities such as Brindledorf are usually interested in preserving both the environment and a more cohesive way of life. Appropriately, Brindledorf’s buildings and grounds were saved from spiraling neglect and possible annexation by developers.

The property, originally called Lure Lake Farm, was purchased last December, after the Eynon-Larks searched for more than two years for just the right place. Formerly owned by Elizabeth McCullough, Lure Lake once encompassed the land now parceled into the Fairland neighborhood. The original house on the property was built in 1860, with a larger home built 20 years later.

Though the bones of the buildings were good, years of neglect had taken their toll; the place was a mess. Renovation began as soon as the ink was dry on the settlement papers, and by January, renters began moving in to the various "suites" around the property.

First on the scene were Gladys Smith and her 12-year-old daughter, Kimara, relocating from New York City so that Gladys could finish her doctoral program at Howard University.

"My family in Harlem though I was crazy. This is the country compared to New York City," says Smith.

But Smith agrees that the growing community is especially good for Kimara. "She has a house full of mothers."

John Lynch and Jennifer Moore found their way to Brindledorf in the middle of an ice storm, coming all the way from Ohio. Jen came east to work on Capitol Hill, while John is finishing college at Catholic University. Whitney showed up next, relocating with her dogs from a winery in northern Baltimore County.

Over the next two months arrived a screenwriter, an engineer, three students, an archaeologist, and yes, a smattering of teachers. The Eynon-Larks watched and waited, the fate of the community out of their hands.

"There was not and is not any formal plan for getting along," says one resident, "but sometimes people just figure things out for themselves."

Each residental suite includes a bedroom, sitting room, bathroom, and its own heating. There are couches and a television in the communal living room, and a hot tub out back. Some suites have outside entrances, and five adults and a teenager share the kitchen in the main house.

Would communal living work in the land of apartments and condos? Residents had no formal agreement to work, eat, or socialize together.

"I didn’t know what to expect when I first came here," says Christina Kotlar, inhabitant of the attic suite. "I wasn’t sure who my neighbors were going to be in such close quarters. I’m grateful that everyone is so caring and helpful–you want to be able to depend on the people that live around you, and here you can."

Christina and some of the other residents often share meals, and she has space in the community’s garden.

"This is the way communal living should be, where people naturally extend themselves without a lot of rigid rules. Everyone chooses to be respectful and polite," said a recent houseguest.

Residents have completed several projects together, including the construction of an old fashioned woven fence around a large herb garden. They used antique tools found in the farm’s smoke house to chop up vines and till the garden. Beyond the satisfaction of material accomplishment, such group efforts can also have a more lasting, personal impact.

"I found Brindledorf during a serious transition in my life," says one resident. "Having people around, being part of a community like this, turned out to be a very positive environment for me."

Residents at Brindledorf with pets share responsibility for the animals, and there’s always someone home to help with homework or fix a snack.

Christina, the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants, taught a class to residents in the art of Pysanky, Ukrainian egg painting, last Easter. In another month, the garage will be cleaned and painted and used as a permanent studio.

"We might not all be teachers, but we all want to be here," she says. "We’re enjoying each other’s talents, and benefiting enormously from them."

For more information on Brindledorf (including where the name comes from!), visit www.brindledorf.com.