NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — When you think of multi-generational living, it might be building an in-law suite onto your home. However, for one community in the Germantown neighborhood, "cohousing" looks a little bit different. Residents of all ages live side by side together.
Diana Sullivan said, "First and only in the state of Tennessee."
Residents at the Germantown Commonsown their own condos, they also share a Common House.
"We have regular meals just like you would in a multi-generational home, and we interact and work together, so we're pretty close."
Sullivan lives at the location and is one of the founders.
"There are developers putting together millennial developments that can come in and be in micro-units and experience common areas where they can be in community. The baby boomers are having to do it themselves right now," Sullivan said.
Instead of calling it a courtyard, Sullivan referred to the communal area as an outdoor living room.
"It's definitely a new concept to to Nashvillians and often they'll say is it a commune? No it's nothing like a commune." explained Sullivan.
Sullivan told us that cohousing helps prevent social isolation.
"What they've discovered is, you're better off to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day than you are to be lonely or isolated," Sullivan said.
The unit we toured is 816 square feet and listed at $375,000. It has two bedrooms, a full bathroom, and half bathroom.
Some people retiring, or those who like the city life, are leaving the suburbs to make this their home.
If residents have overnight guests, they can rent out rooms at the Common House for them to stay there.
