Homefullness

Zola welcomes Eli Spevak of Orange Splot, Portland, Oregon developer-builder-advisor, who treats development as a mission by paying himself less and reinvesting in community features like common houses and public artwork. Eli argues “housing policy is climate policy,” emphasizing smaller homes, more homes per lot, and “missing middle” housing as both greener and more affordable. He describes policy work that made Portland’s rules more predictable and enabled by-right ADUs, tiny homes on wheels, and up to four homes per lot, plus reforms to occupancy rules. Eli explains partnering with community land trusts to keep some homes permanently affordable through long-term deed restrictions, even within condominium/unit-title projects, sometimes using public funds to buy down prices. They discuss cohousing design elements, gardening, limits on customization, conflict management, and advice for aspiring communities: start small, secure land early, and ensure strong development and finance expertise. 04:08 Support the Show's PledgeMe fundraiser 05:12 Tiny Home for Sale 07:43 Interview with Eli Begins 10:21 Defining Homefulness 12:09 From Habitat to Developer 14:13 Mission Driven Development 17:15 Changing the Rules 19:17 Legalizing Small Homes 27:30 Cohousing Design Essentials 30:37 Designing Privacy Outdoors 30:59 Preserving Site Character 31:29 Angles and Color Variety 32:13 Tenure Models and Experiments 32:28 Gardens and Shared Harvests 33:45 Why Renters Need Gardens 34:32 Unit Titles and Condos 35:39 Land Trust Affordability Tools 39:03 Developer Challenges and Presales 41:16 Training for Community Conflict 44:16 Right Sizing the Community 45:01 Advice for New Communities 48:02 Building a Lean Team 50:34 Planning Education and Fellowship 53:01 Start Small and Scale Up Links: PledgeMe Homefullness Show fundraiser: https://pledgeme.co.nz/projects/9165-homefullness-fund-a-year-of-affordable-collective-regenerative-housing-stories-that-build-a-movement Orange Splot: https://www.orangesplot.net/ Zola's tiny home specs with photos and details: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qL0viFYhq63WgXUUszKFBm0Dc5-1lp0z/view?usp=sharing

In this episode I shine light on the behind the scenes of my own personal homefullness challenge & opportunity, and the same for the show itself. I've got to move: My tiny home lease at the Riverside intentional community near Motueka ends on January 18. I’m moving from Lower Moutere (South Island NZ) to Auckland (North Island NZ) to be closer to my daughter Oriah. This massive change is due to my life partnership ending along with our plans to buy a home together. And, ultimately, living near family is very important for me. What does that mean for my mobile tiny home? I've decided to sell it as it's too expensive to transport to Auckland. I reflect on what I love and will miss about tiny-home living (natural materials, warm lighting, spacious kitchen and bathroom, and my Clivus Multrum composting toilet) and the ongoing land/policy challenges for those owning tiny homes but not the land. I explain my career pivot into HR due to limited funding and work opportunities in housing and community development. My living situation (where and how) in Auckland is unknown as I need to land a job and then choose a neighbourhood not far away (traffic is horrendous in Auckland). Ideally, I would live at Earthsong Eco-Neighbourhood, West Auckland, the oldest cohousing community in New Zealand--getting to live in alignment with my housing values.  My work on the Homefullness mission is continuing work through me hosting the Women’s Revolutionising Housing Network and serving on the committee of the Housing Innovation Society (THIS) and helping organise THIS’ bi-annual hui. And, last but not least, producing this podcast. Most importantly and urgently, this podcast cannot continue without funding, so, this coming week, I’m launching a PledgeMe fundraising campaign seeking about $6,000 to fund 12 more podcast episodes, with pledge tiers where people get “rewards” for their contribution. And, I’m inviting listeners/audience to collaborate with me as a Show and Campaign Ambassador to help raise the awareness and funds.   Links PledgeMe campaign page: https://pledgeme.co.nz/projects/9165-keep-the-homefullness-podcast-alive-fund-a-year-of-game-changing-housing-conversations Video tour of Zola's tiny home: https://youtu.be/-jRhNsalIC8?si=teIJqoBSs2zY0xN5   Time stamps 00:00 Welcome to Homefullness 00:41 Big Move Announcement 01:44 Life at Riverside 02:46 Breakup and New Direction 04:58 Career Pivot to HR 06:43 Tiny Home Living 12:30 Selling the Tiny Home 13:50 Auckland Housing Concerns 15:51 Websites and Staying Connected 17:16 Networks and Upcoming Hui 21:12 Why We Need Funding 25:49 Pledge Tiers and Rewards 27:13 Ambassadors and Final Call    

Zola interviews Emerging Realtor, Desmond, about building equitable neighborhoods through development, strategy, and education. He frames “homefullness” as rebuilding true community—neighbors knowing each other, gathering informally, and designing the built environment to support that social “software,” not just housing “hardware.”   He advocates a smaller-scale, toolbelt approach to development—right-sizing projects to what a community says it needs, from single-family homes and Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs, like Granny Flats) to 15–50 unit mixed-use, mixed-income buildings where higher-rent units can help subsidize attainable ones. A core part of his work is education: he’s developing a practitioner-led curriculum to make it easier for everyday people to become community-minded developers, pairing training (including community engagement) with real-world funding pathways like a pitch day with lenders and potential City of Raleigh support such as donating city-owned lots. Desmond highlights community land trusts as a key tool for keeping homeownership affordable in perpetuity. He recommends resources including The Color of Law, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Strong Towns, and the “Happy Urbanist”, plus learning from groups like Strong Towns and the Incremental Development Alliance. Links: Desmond's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desmondcdunn/ r.plan: https://www.linkedin.com/company/r-planninggroup/ Timestamps: 02:57 Why Place (Southeast Raleigh) Matters 04:25 Porch Culture and Belonging 05:57 Sprawl and Social Division 07:51 From Psychology to Real Estate 09:26 Flipping vs Community Housing 11:52 Community Engagement Pivot 13:20 Small Scale Toolbelt Development 16:05 Advocacy and Accountability 19:05 Representation and Lifelong Mission 20:04 Teaching New Developers 24:50 Land Trusts and Mixed Income 27:07 Barriers Funding and City Hall 33:21 Staying the Course 37:36 Celebrations and Inspirations 40:09 Books and Learning Resources 44:14 Final Call to Community Action 45:59 Closing Reflections

Sustaining Homefullness: Building a Collective Future for Affordable, Regenerative Housing This special Homefullness Show episode because it is a call for collaboration to keep this show alive and the Homefullness programmes to thrive. It's also about clarity on the transition of Homefullness as a separate entity to Common Ground. Zola explains why Homefullness and Common Ground focus on “homefullness” rather than homelessness: Supporting affordable, collective, regenerative housing in Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond. She shares her background in community development, Habitat for Humanity, community land trusts, ecovillages, natural building, and her own experience struggling to secure quality housing as a migrant and later single mother amid intense rental competition. She outlines the three current Homefullness projects—Women Revolutionising Housing (hui and peer network), the Homefullness Show (28 episodes on models like land trusts, cohousing, cooperatives, and policy/finance), and a proposed community-focused housing property development course.  To date, this work has been done under Common Ground and has been self-funded since 2019.  Zola says she no longer wants to or is able to sustain this purpose-driven work on her own. She invites supporters to join governance, sponsor/fund, contribute via Patreon, an upcoming PledgeMe campaign, by sharing stories. There is a a survey for people to indicate their interest to contribute (see link below). Zola estimates about $18,000 is needed to continue these programmes through June 2027; otherwise, she will pause the mission. Zola will shift Common Ground to be re-branded as a business offering training-consulting-facilitation to improve collaboration, communication and conflict transformation for businesses, organisations, groups, and families. Homefullness contribution survey: https://forms.gle/MkzBqaY9ieDFSC9s7 Document to see the details of the Homefullness programmes and budget: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h-cqTSL_xWwv5E5sByV_fEItBACl2LtylWC5Ztc2qsY/edit?usp=sharing Homefullness is currently at this URL: www.commonground.net.nz Patreon to be a paid member for as little as a cuppa coffee a month: patreon.com/commonground_zola   Time stamps 00:49 Why Homefullness Matters 01:51 Housing Models That Inspired Me 04:40 From South Africa To NZ 05:53 Starting Common Ground 06:36 Single Mum Housing Struggle 07:58 Programs Under Homefullness 10:21 Costs And Patreon Reality 11:17 Call For Co Creators 13:41 Funding Plan And Budget 16:47 How You Can Help 18:04 If Funding Falls Short 18:19 Next Chapter For Common Ground

Robin Allison is the founder of Earthsong EcoNeighbourhood in West Auckland, a 32-home, medium-density cohousing community on 1.2 hectares. It is guided by permaculture ethics, eco-building, and social sustainability, with an educational commitment to share learning. Zola and Robin discuss “homefullness” as individual autonomy plus shared belonging, intergenerational support, accountability, and personal and collective growth opportunities by working actively with diversity and conflict. Robin describes Earthsong’s resilience work with the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), concluding urban and community resilience depends on cultivating and fostering wider caring and connected neighbourhood relationships. A team at Earthsong is launching a film and workshop, “Neighbourliness for Resilience,” which is offered to groups wishing to generate discussion and solutions for their own local resilience. Be in touch with Robin to request a screening and workshop for your community or area. Earthsong offers tours to groups (by demand) and the public (quarterly).  Robin offers seminars on cohousing governance and design, her latest offerings being in Japan.  Her book Cohousing for Life is available to get learnings from her experience of developing Earthsong and tips for aspiring intentional community developers (and groups).   Zola at Common Ground is offering a number of services to support councils, housing organisations and professionals, and leaders and groups aspiring to create an innovative housing projects. Beyond housing, Zola offers services to those wishing to add more connection and harmony to their workgroups--finding and deepening the common ground amongst all members to work and live better together.  Services include:  Connection Labs (playful, interactive workshops) which include communication that increases connection and understand, teambuilding that increases cooperation and effective work flows, somatic activities to increase body wisdom, and Playback Theatre as a playful way to increase empathy and social cohesion. Advisory, Consulting, Facilitation and Speaking services for team and groups (related to housing and team-building) Women Revolutionising Housing network: supporting women curious about and leading innovative housing ideas and projects. Residential Property Development for Community-Focused Housing, a curated course for lay-leaders and professionals Join the Homefullness Patreon Community to support the podcast and Zola's work building a movement for housing systems change Timestamps 01:19 Announcements and Updates 03:12 Meet Robin and Earthsong 03:41 Cohousing and Permaculture Ethics 06:54 Defining Homefullness 10:03 Diversity and Discomfort 12:31 Resilience Research Insights 15:20 Neighborliness Film and Workshops 17:19 Governance Skills for Society 25:38 Cohousing Training and Tours 31:26 Conflict Skills and Meetings 41:12 Personal Note and Future Cities 45:17 Closing Thanks and Vision   Links: https://www.earthsong.org.nz/ Home page and newsletter sign up: https://www.commonground.net.nz/ Working together--how I support teams and leaders: https://www.commonground.net.nz/work-together WRH: https://www.commonground.net.nz/women-revolutionising-housing-network Property Devp course: https://www.commonground.net.nz/property-devp-course Newsletters: https://www.commonground.net.nz/common-ground-newsletter Connection Lab Playshops: https://www.commonground.net.nz/connection-labs Homefullness Community: patreon.com/commonground_zola CG FB: https://www.facebook.com/CommonGroundAotearoaNZ/ CG LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/commonground-nz CG YT: https://www.youtube.com/@CommonGroundchannel