Old friends build their own housing community so they can be neighbours
A sad thing about adult friendships is that once you’ve left school, university or wherever, you often move away to do your own things whether that’s to a different part of town or to a entirely different country.
Instead of once-a-year catch ups, wouldn’t it be great to be neighbours instead – popping round with a bottle of wine, sitting around and watching Netflix knowing your journey home is just a minute long?
Well, a bunch of friends decided that this shouldn’t just be a dream, and built a little community of houses for themselves out in the countryside.
The eight friends (made up of four couples) from Texas, US, bought land by the Llano river around an hour outside of Austin and hired an architect – Matt Garcia – to build four small, sustainable homes.
They’ve also built a communal building which is 1,500 square feet and features a dining room, guest room, kitchen and activity space.
And they’ve suitably named it ‘Llano Exit Strategy’ or ‘Bestie Row’.
Not only do the structures look amazing, but the houses are environmentally friendly too; spray foam insulation and galvanised metal siding keeps things cool in summer and warm in winter, while the ‘butterfly’ rooftops are designed to catch rainwater.
There’s still a bit of work to do, as the bunch plan on planting a vegetable garden next – but they say that as a whole, the experience is like a “Disney movie”:
“We have hare, bobcat, deer, and all kinds of birds,” Jodi, a member of the friendship group, told Garden and Gun magazine.
“As we spend more and more time here, we find more and more.”
“This is a magical place, but it’s arid,” Jodi’s husband, Fred, explains. “We’re doing what we can to reserve as much water as possible for the native trees and grasses.
“Fortunately, they’re beautiful.”
At the moment, the gang aren’t living in the properties full time, so if you fancy staying yourself you can rent the whole complex for from £836 a night on Airbnb.
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