Twin Oaks Community, Virginia
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Twin Oaks Community is an
ecovillage An ecovillage is a traditional or intentional community that aims to become more socially, culturally, economically and/or environmentally sustainable. An ecovillage strives to have the least possible negative impact on the natural environment ...
and
intentional community An intentional community is a voluntary residential community designed to foster a high degree of group cohesiveness, social cohesion and teamwork. Such communities typically promote shared values or beliefs, or pursue a common vision, wh ...
of about one hundred people living on in
Louisa County, Virginia Louisa County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,596. The county seat is Louisa. History Prior to colonial settlement, the area comprising Louisa County was occupied by sever ...
. It is a member of the
Federation of Egalitarian Communities The Federation of Egalitarian Communities (FEC) is a group of egalitarian communitiesO'Brien, EllenSome communes have survived -- and prospered -- beyond the '60s.''Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.'' 23 Sept. 1996. which have joined together w ...
. Founded in 1967, it is one of the longest-enduring and largest
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...
intentional communities in North America. The community's core values are
cooperation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English and, with a varied usage along time, coöperation) takes place when a group of organisms works or acts together for a collective benefit to the group as opposed to working in competition ...
,
egalitarianism Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hum ...
,
nonviolence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
,
sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...
, and income sharing. About 100 adults and 17 children live in the community.


Founding

The community was founded on a tobacco farm in 1967 by a group of eight individuals with no farming experience that included Kat Kinkade, who wrote two books about the community. The community's inspiration was
B. F. Skinner Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist, behaviorist, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1948 until his retirement in ...
's novel ''
Walden Two ''Walden Two'' is a utopian novel written by behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner, first published in 1948. At that time, it was considered as science fiction since science-based methods for altering human behavior were not widespread. Such me ...
,'' which describes a fictional
behaviorist Behaviorism is a systematic approach to understand the behavior of humans and other animals. It assumes that behavior is either a reflex elicited by the pairing of certain antecedent stimuli in the environment, or a consequence of that indivi ...
utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...
. However, Skinner's vision quickly faded from prominence at Twin Oaks, as behaviorist principles were abandoned in favor of egalitarian principles. The community struggled greatly during its first few years, from high member turnover and low member income. According to Kinkade, the community avoided the problems of laziness, freeloading, and lack of structure stereotypically associated with communes by adopting a structured, yet flexible, labor system. Modified versions of the community's organizational structure and labor credit system survive. As in Skinner's novel, the original labor credit system utilized "variable" credit hours. Certain jobs were worth more credit hours than others in order to make each job desirable. What the community found once the population reached about 40, is that there was neither universally desirable work, nor undesirable work and the variable credit hour system created incentives that encouraged work. The updated plan uses "standardized" credits; each job in the community is valued equally in credit hours.


Life as a member

Twin Oaks has approximately 100 members. People interested in joining Twin Oaks must attend a scheduled three-week visitor period. During this period, visitors tour the community and attend orientations on various aspects of membership. Unlike most co-housing situations, there is no cost to join the community, nor any rent or ongoing costs associated with living there. Basic necessities—housing, clothing, food, health care—are all provided to members in return for their 38 weekly hours of work. Since 2011, Twin Oaks has consistently had a waiting list, so visitors who are accepted for membership need to wait typically three to nine months before they can join. Before a new member can join, while the community is at its population capacity, a current member needs to drop membership. Historically, Twin Oaks has expanded its housing when it has had a waiting list for a prolonged period by building new residences and expanding the stock of bedrooms available. A member of Twin Oaks works around 38 hours a week. Some labor is directed toward generating income, and the rest consists of domestic work like gardening/food production, cooking, bike repair, building maintenance, cleaning, and child care. Most Twin Oakers perform a wide variety of tasks each week instead of spending all of their time in one labor area. Members can also choose to work outside of Twin Oaks. The income from this labor may go to the community, although some portion of it can go into a member's "vacation earnings". Excess labor done in a week accumulates as vacation time. Though live television viewing is prohibited, Twin Oaks' members have access to the Internet as well as to public computers. Members can also watch movies and tapes of TV programs. People in the community often gather for other recreational activities such as dancing, meditating, discussing literature, staging musicals, and playing board games. Twin Oaks members are religiously diverse. The membership includes
Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
,
atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, pagans,
Buddhists Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth ...
, and others. The community hosts pagan
handfasting Handfasting is a traditional practice that, depending on the term's usage, may define an unofficiated wedding (in which a couple marries without an officiant, usually with the intent of later undergoing a second wedding with an officiant), a ...
s, Equinox parties, and Thanksgiving dinners, and it celebrates June 16, the anniversary of its founding. Interpersonal relationships are also diverse. Multiple types of gender relationships coexist, including monogamy, celibacy, and
polyamory Polyamory () is the practice of, or the desire for, romantic relationships with more than one partner at the same time, with the informed consent of all partners involved. Some people who identify as polyamorous believe in consensual non-mon ...
. Residents live in dormitory-style living quarters spread out across the community. Each member has a private bedroom, but shares public spaces. Member turnover is no longer as high as it was in the community's early years, and many former Twin Oakers live in nearby
Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Quee ...
and Louisa to maintain ties to the community. The community itself acknowledges that it has yet to create the perfect society; it even provides a guidebook entitled "Not Utopia Yet" to visitors. Those who choose to live at Twin Oaks for several years—including founder Kinkade—sometimes feel "trapped" there. This is because members have little opportunity to build up equity or savings.''New York Times Magazine'', 3 August 1997. Daniel Pinchbeck, "Paradise Not Quite Lost," pp. 26-29 The
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
television series ''Utopia: In Search of the Dream'', broadcast on August 15, 2017, devoted an 11-minute segment to Twin Oaks. Members and one former member (the founders' daughter), interviewed by Professor Richard Clay, expressed concerns about the inability to build savings, and complex interpersonal relationships. Clay observed that 20 percent of the membership turned over annually.
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
television series ''Utopia: In Search of the Dream''


Community businesses

Twin Oaks' 38-hour work week is divided between domestic and income-producing labor. Twin Oaks operates several community-owned businesses, including Twin Oaks Tofu, Twin Oaks Hammocks, and Twin Oaks Book Indexing. Additionally, members working in the Twin Oaks Seed Farm grow seeds for
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (SESE) is a cooperatively-owned seed company based out of Mineral, Virginia. SESE is a source for heirloom plant, heirloom seeds and other open pollination, open-pollinated (non-hybrid (biology), hybrid) seeds with an ...
. From these sources, Twin Oaks generates around $600,000 per year. This money pays for community upkeep and goods that cannot be produced on site, and each member receives a monthly
stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...
for personal use (i.e., to purchase items that the community does not provide). In news segments, Twin Oakers often attribute the longevity of the community to its engagement in
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
through its tofu and hammocks businesses.


Supporting the communities movement

Twin Oaks has helped establish three sister communities:
Acorn Community Acorn is a farm-based, anarchist, egalitarian intentional community located in rural Louisa County, Virginia, Louisa County, Virginia, United States. It is a member of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities. Acorn was established in 1993 as a ...
, about from Twin Oaks,
Living Energy Farm Living Energy Farm, or "LEF", is an intentional community of eight adult members and four children (as of 2024) on 127 acres in rural Louisa County, Virginia, United States. LEF has pioneered an energy conservationist design that allows its mem ...
, also in Louisa County, Virginia; and
East Wind Community East Wind Community is an intentional community located in the Missouri Ozarks. Founded in 1974, it is a secular and democratic community in which members hold all community assets in common. Each member is also given food, shelter, clothing, medi ...
in south central Missouri. Twin Oaks also hosts annual intentional community gatherings cosponsored by the
Fellowship for Intentional Community The Foundation for Intentional Community (FIC), formerly the Fellowship of Intentional Communities then the Fellowship for Intentional Community, provides publications, referrals, support services, and "sharing opportunities" for a wide range o ...
: The Communities Conference, and the Women's Gathering, both of which take place every August.


Media coverage

The history of Twin Oaks Community is detailed extensively in two books by Kathleen (Kat) Kinkade, one of the co-founders of the community. The first, ''A Walden Two Experiment'', covers the first five years of the community. The second, ''Is it Utopia Yet?'', covers the next 20 years. Another book from the 1980s, ''Living the Dream'', by Ingrid Komar (the mother of a member at the time the book was written), also discusses Twin Oaks' history. About half a dozen dissertations and a dozen master's theses have been written about the community, as well. In 1998, the '' Washington Post Magazine'' did a cover story on Twin Oaks. A 21st century book, ''Surviving the Dream'', by Craig Kurtz (a member from 2007 to 2020), analyzes Twin Oaks' political structure.


Ecology

Twin Oaks seeks to be a model of sustainability. The average Twin Oaks member consumes fewer resources than the average American due to the community's practices of resource sharing and self-sufficiency. Members hold all resources in common except for the personal items they keep in their bedrooms. For instance, members share housing, a fleet of 17 vehicles, and a large "clothing library". Twin Oaks members consume 70% less gasoline, 80% less electricity, and 76% less natural gas per capita than do their neighbors.


References


External links

* {{authority control 1967 establishments in Virginia Ecovillages Egalitarian communities Intentional communities in the United States Populated places established in 1967 Rural community development Unincorporated communities in Louisa County, Virginia Unincorporated communities in Virginia Utopian communities in the United States Federation of Egalitarian Communities