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The Village Place™©

A Community For Sustainable Living

The first phase of The Village Place development will begin on 20 acres of land that will contain fifteen moderate-sized homes,  a 6,000 square foot Commons Building/Lodge, a 2,400 sf. covered Bar-B-Que Pavilion, a 350 seat outdoor Amphitheater, a non-denominational Chapel and Meditation Center, fruit and nut orchards, organic vegetable fields, walking and riding trails, a natural swimming pool, 3 irrigation ponds— one with a fishing pier— connected by a meandering creek that traverses the facility grounds.  The community will also operate a roadside fruit stand, have its own water tower and water pumping windmill for supplying irrigation water from its constructed aquifer.  To supplement its future electrical energy needs the community is planning to develop its own Energy Center and electrical grid system.

 

Unique to The Village Place Community is the fact that there will be no fossil fuel vehicles permitted on the premises.  Electric cars will be the only vehicles allowed on the community grounds by residents and visitors.  All fossil fuel vehicles owned by the community residents will be housed in parking garages at the entrances to the complex.

 

Each home will occupy no more than 2,000 square feet of living space exclusive of its porch and small electric car garage.  Each home will be built, landscaped and strategically positioned to take advantage of minimal thermal loss in the winter and achieve maximum cooling in the summer from the wind, landscaping and surrounding waterways.  All the homes will be designed with a roof mounted thin film solar panel for generating electricity and 100 square feet of framed raised bed space for a vegetable and fruit garden.  Each home will also come furnished with an electric vehicle and an accompanying parking garage at the home as well as a dedicated parking space in the fossil fuel vehicle area at the entrance to the complex.

 

The Commons Lodge, aka “Ben’s Lodge”, will be a three-story building of approximately 6,000 square feet.  On the semi-submerged basement floor there will be a fully equipped workout gym, recreation room,  a root seller for the storage of produce, canned goods and other food supplies.  The basement level will also have space allocated to serve as an emergency storm shelter.  On the ground level second floor, the lodge will have a fully equipped commercial kitchen and a dining hall that can be converted into smaller meeting rooms. The third floor of the lodge will be the location of the community offices and conference room, a small library, a reading lounge and a large balcony that overlooks the natural swimming pool and BBQ pavilion.

 

The Amphitheater, aka “Henrietta’s Play House”, and adjacent village green will serve as a stage for casual meetings and a gathering place for community celebrations, family reunions, stage plays, shows and other outdoor events.

 

The Chapel/Meditation Center, nestled behind the pecan and walnut orchard in a quiet part of the community complex, will serve as a wellspring for refreshing and rejuvenating mind, body and spirit.  It is initially planned to seat 100 to 150 participants.

 

A minimum of 4 acres of the initial 20-acre development will be dedicated to the production of organic agricultural crops – fruits, nuts, vegetables, flowers, culinary and medicinal herbs.  These crops will primarily be sold in the community fruit stand and country store located on the main road about 100 yards from the entrance to the community grounds.  Ten percent of all agricultural food production will be donated to local food banks and those in need.

 

Garden Central, aka the “Ag Center”, consists of a 3,000 sf. Barn, a 12’ X 24’ ventilated Greenhouse and 20 to 30 - 5’ X 10’ raised bed garden plots.  The Barn will provide covered space for farm vehicles, machinery and implements; as well as a closed room for the storage of farming tools, seed and supplies.  The Barn will also be designed to act as the central location for the processing of Community grown vegetables, fruits and nuts.  The Ag Center Greenhouse will provide a controlled environment for growing flowers,  germinating transplants and performing horticultural analysis and research.  The raised-bed plots will be used to grow medicinal and culinary herbs.

 

The Energy Center will consist of an array of solar panels, a vertical wind turbine, a battery of Bloom Boxes, and an experimental wood gasification station for the generation of electrical energy.  The Energy Center will be the heart of the community's self-healing mini Grid.

 

The Roadside Fruit Stand, aka “Aunt Ida’s Store” is located at the intersection of Bellevue and Wells Road in Haughton, LA.  This one acre triangular shaped tract of land will be the site of The Village Place community retail outlet for its organically grown products.  When it is completed, it will consist of a plant nursery, country store, restaurant and roadside produce market.  It will be developed in three distinct phases.  Starting with only a small metal covered tractor drawn wagon for the display of organic produce, it is envisioned to grow into a diversified retail activity center.

 

In the first expansion, a small 2,000 to 2,500 sf. building will be constructed with a 400 to 500 sf. porch.  This building will house sections for produce, health foods, general merchandise and a small country café in the rear of the building.  Exterior to the building, a small organic display garden will be established and large trees planted to shade the crushed gravel driveway that leads to a small plant nursery, outside fruit stand and parking lot.

 

In the second expansion, additional land adjacent to the fruit stand will be developed and a farmers market opened to allow all-comers to merchandise complimenting goods.  When appropriate, the community’s organic farm production will be increased and a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) operation will be established.

Community Features