What Others are Saying about
MY HOUSE OUR HOUSE
“The story of how Karen, Louise and Jean created a successful shared home should encourage everyone who has playfully or seriously said, ‘When we retire, let’s live together.’ Read it, and you may find yourself saying, ‘Why not now?’”
– Annamarie Pluhar, author of Sharing Housing: A Guidebook for Finding and Keeping Good Housemates
“This wonderful book is a MUST for mature adults interested in responsibly facing the third phase of their lives.”
– Oz Ragland, retired Executive Director of the Cohousing Association, and Instigator of the Cohouseholding Project
“I am so pleased to see a book that gives practical, real-life examples, information, and encouragement for women who wish to live together in a cooperative household. Thank you, Karen, Louise and Jean, for writing this fine book!”
– Joan Medlicott, author of The Ladies of Covington novels
“Important practical advice for anyone considering a shared living arrangement. Readers are invited to explore the balance between private and public space, personal and social time, independence and interdependence, individual financial well being and shared costs.”
– Maria Piantanida, Ph.D., member, Borland Green intentional community, Pittsburgh, PA
“Bright, witty, deeply sane – this is a wonderful book. I defy anyone who starts reading it to put it down. Even the legal stuff is eminently readable, and that is no small praise. I would be proud to call these marvelous ladies my friends.”
– Liz Gilbey, journalist, United Kingdom
“Men, listen up: Keep this book away from your wives. If they find out how much fun it can be to share a home with their friends, we’re history. These three women bought a nicer house than any of them could afford separately and they annoy each other by being too helpful. I fear it’s over for us, boys.”
– Brian O’Neill, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist, author of The Paris of Appalachia: Pittsburgh in the Twenty-First Century
“My House Our House combines the best of all worlds in one easy-to-read book for those wanting an alternative housing choice.”
– Marianne Kilkenny, Founder and Grand Nudge, Women for Living in Community
“A must-read for anyone considering cooperative housing. It could well become the Strunk and White of the shared living movement. The book transcends being a mere ‘how to’.”
– John Armstrong, business writer and retired Manager of Public Affairs, U.S. Steel Corp.
“My House Our House thinks outside the box on living options. An engaging, enlightening and inspiring read. I highly recommend this book.”
– Nancy Chubb, Ph.D., M.B.A., psychologist and life coach
“I love this book! It is loaded with practical ideas and insights about how to make cooperative living work.”
– Maureen Murray, national speaker, trainer and coach
“Together, these three feisty, courageous women have created a unique living arrangement that capitalizes on strengths, compensates for weaknesses, furnishes a greatly enhanced quality of life – and serves as a true inspiration for us all!”
– Rita Levine, reporter/writer, mt. lebanon magazine
MY HOUSE OUR HOUSE
MY HOUSE OUR HOUSE
Living Far Better for Far Less
in a Cooperative Household
| KAREN M. BUSH | LOUISE S. MACHINIST | JEAN McQUILLIN |
My House Our House Living Far Better for Far Less in a Cooperative Household
Copyright © 2013 MHOH, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9855622-4-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013936267
CIP information available upon request
First Edition, 2013
St. Lynn’s Press • POB 18680 • Pittsburgh, PA 15236
412.466.0790 • www.stlynnspress.com
Book design–Holly Rosborough
Editor–Catherine Dees
Editorial Intern–Marguerite Nocchi
Photo credits:
Front and back covers, pages xiv, 31, 40, 48, 163, 192 – Holly Rosborough All other photos by MHOH friends and family
Printed in The United States of America
On certified FSC recycled paper using soy-based inks
This title and all of St. Lynn’s Press books may be purchased for
educational, business, or sales promotional use.
For information please write:
Special Markets Department . St. Lynn’s Press .
POB 18680 . Pittsburgh, PA 15236
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If I am who I am because I am who I am and you are who you are because you are who you are then I am who I am and you are who you are, but if I am who I am because you are who you are and you are who you are because I am who I am then I am not who I am and you are not who you are.
YASMINA REZA, FROM ART
Table of Contents
Foreword by Louis Tenenbaum
| 1: | Open House at Shadowlawn |
| 2: | Living Alone/Living Together |