Montanoso

What if you could live in a small community with shared values. Where friends, amenities, and nature are just steps away. A community that self-determines its own values, land use, architecture, and urbanism. Where you can start renting immediately and slowly build a stake in the community. A place that makes it easier to raise a family. That’s Montanoso.

Located in Texas Hill Country, Montanoso is a decentralized autonomous organization building a traditional village in the timeless way.

Cities are a centralizing force. How can you reverse that trend and move towards physically decentralized cities? Cities are labor markets. Remote work along with new technologies such as Starlink and VTOL aircraft give rural villages access to large labor markets. The future of cities is an archipelago of self-governing collectives with their own culture, design, urbanism, and lifestyle preferences.

The Village

Having small encounters with neighbors and seeing familiar faces helps engender a sense of community. A dense, walkable town with shared amenities and third places facilitates those encounters.

Montanoso owns twenty-one acres of land in Blanco County featuring a two acre hilltop on which we’ll build a dense and walkable hilltop village. Density is important for casual daily interactions. Many ills of density can be solved. Homes will be soundproofed and built with sturdy materials so you won't hear your neighbors. Cars are parked outside the village and the interior is pedestrian only.

The village is surrounded by a managed landscape so you're never more than a few steps from nature. Go for a walk in the lowland trails to recharge and clear your mind. Have a picnic in the wildflower meadow.

We're targeting an eventual size of 12-15 homes, built over 10-20 years. The private homes will be modest in size and decor. Rather the money will be spent improving the village's common shared amenities: schoolhouse, library, commercial kitchen, dining hall, etc.

The village will have retail space, offices, and hotel rooms available for rent by residents. The goal is to put as many of your daily needs within walking distance as possible: remote-work office, school, family, friends, nature, activities, etc.

Montanoso will be built in Christopher Alexander's timeless way. A town is built by people going about their daily lives, so we need people living onsite in order to learn how to build the village. The property has an existing three bedroom home, so we'll start by building small homes to accomodate more guests.

Plan

Launch land use map to collectively decide how the property is used. Define main street and right of ways. Members will be able to enclose sections of the property for exclusive use.
Build infrastructure utility spine. Following the public right of way, the utility spine will provide electricity, water, and septic connections.
With the property rights software in place we'll be able to divide and conquer. Members can work in parallel to build the village.
- Build small one-bedroom homes for guests and visitors. Designed for short and medium term stays. Rent to members of the Montanoso, Cabin, and the Other Life communities.
- Build shared amenities such as a small meeting space that can later be used as a one-room schoolhouse. Build trails, raised bed gardens, etc.
- Build larger homes, offices, guest suites, and more amenities so that people can make Montanoso their permanent residence.

Lifestyle

Homesteading-lite

Attracted to the homesteading lifestyle but don’t want to be completely self-sufficient? Montanoso will offer opportunities to grow your own food. Raised garden beds will be available for residents to rent. Livestock will be grazed on the land and used to regenerate the soil. Perhaps someone will become a beekeeper and produce honey for the village while pollinating the wildflower meadow.

Cottage Industries

Hopefully over time as the village grows we’ll start to develop cottage industries. Someone might become the town fermenter offering homemade kimchi and sauerkraut. Another resident might bake bread. These items can be sold in the neighborhood pantry, along with food stables and locally sourced meats. An abundance of small, affordable retail spaces within the village will offer residents opportunities to run part-time businesses.

Homeschooling and Microschools

Parents of Montanoso are looking to provide a more tailored education for their children and an escape from the public school system. Children don't need the anxiety of climate change alarmism, school shooter drills, and gender ideology. Children of Montanoso will be taught agency and optimism.

The one-room schoolhouse can be used to instruct children of all ages. Rather than age segregate kids, let the younger kids emulate the older kids and the older kids instruct and help the younger kids. A member of the community can provide early childhood education or the parents can pool their funds to hire one.

Young children will have much more play time. Children will be free to roam and explore the 21 acre fenced property. Older children pursue more self-directed learning. They can read books, take online classes, apprentice with adults in the community, have a part time business, and attend guest lectures.

Software

We're building the software stack for villages, co-ops, and intentional communities. The village design, development, and governance rules will be determined by votes of the token holders. Development will be decided collectively through a land use map. Housing will be leased in a hybrid rent/own model, where the more tokens you own the cheaper your rent.

Media

FAQ

Is this a cult?

No. Residents maintain their own religion and faith, which is the best inoculation against cults. Futhermore we encourage friends and family to visit the village frequently.

Is this a commune?

No. Montanoso is hyper-capitalist and built upon markets. It’s a playground for experimenting with new types of markets.